NOT EATING ENOUGH

~NOT EATING ENOUGH~ 

This is in my opinion, the number one biggest mistake people make who are trying to get in shape and lose fat.  MANY many MANY people make this mistake. Well, it just kind of makes sense because when we are trying to lose fat/weight we should eat less right?!  Yes, if you are trying to lose weight, we would need to eat less.  But so many people jump into it so hard core so fast that they are actually going to do more harm than good in the long run.

Making drastic changes to your diet in terms of cutting calories can, in the beginning, make you feel tired, mentally beat and from personal experience feel CRANKY and ornery to those around us because of such drastic drops of blood sugar levels.  It makes sense right? ….. you can't just Monday morning say, "Ok here we go, the diet is on!"  and you cut out 1,000 calories per day of what your body is not use to.  Of course it's going to get pissed.  You need to put yourself in your human body shoes and think about that.  THIS is the mistake that happens….. you cut calories so drastic so sudden that your body will get alarmed and start to prepare itself to hold on to fat stores.

Then ON TOP of that I'm sure you have added in some sort of exercise to help with those fat loss goals but with a low-calorie diet and the exercise, you are looking at water and muscle loss and not fat loss.  Our bodies are smart, and they will reserve fat if it feels the need to do so.  It will gladly give up muscle first and store that fat nice and tight. So when you get on that scale after week one and see you have lost 6 pounds already, I am willing to bet none of it was actual body fat.

Go into a weight loss plan slow and steady.  Start by simply cutting 300-500 calories off from your daily intake.  After a couple weeks, see how your body responds.  Then make it a solid 500 calories off each day.  A 500 calorie daily deficit amounts to a weekly deficit of 3,500 calories, which is exactly the amount of calories stored in 1 pound of body fat.  Once you have established that 500 calorie deficit which could take weeks/months (pay attention to how your body is responding to the diet and the training)  then make a decision of what is working best for you.  Do you need more calories or less?  Then take it with small steps~ 100 calorie increments to reach your goals.  Rather than make dramatic and unsustainable changes.  And avoid setting yourself up for weight re-gain!

Have a diet that contains protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs > you NEED these!  Don't be a girl  who thinks living off salads is the only way to do it!  Carbs are SO SO good for you!

Weight loss shouldn't be a race.  The slow and steady ones always win!  What are you in a hurry for anyway?  Get it done the right way this time.