The DO NOT Guide to Weight Loss......

So you decided enough is enough, and you want to lose a few extra pounds, please beware if you following any of the following misconceptions.

Extreme Exercising – countless hours of cardio
Short term, extreme exercise will provide results; however it causes severe wear and tear to your body, causes dehydration, and mentally turns exercise into punishment. Another disadvantage is that our bodies are highly adaptable – Your body will know that it is expected to work for X amount of hours per week so it will start reserving energy (fat sources) to accommodate your activities.  Weight loss will plateau and the only way to start the weight loss to continue….you guessed it, add more exercise.

Diet pills
We all want that magic pill, secret formula, easy way to achieve our desired physique – however just reading the warning labels on some of the diet pill bottles is enough to scare anyone off: “May cause high blood pressure, seizures, rapid heartbeat, palpitations, heart attack or stroke.”  If that’s not reason enough, most ingredients in the pill are not FDA approved and everything that you consume filters through your liver (most of these supplements cause liver damage).  Is the ideal body worth your health?

Cleanses, juicing, replacement drinks.
Cleansing, Juicing and Replacement Drinks – again the results will be short term.  Most times swapping drinking for eating decreases your calorie intake for the day = scale weight loss.  Most of this loss is from water, stool, and less food consumption.  This can also cause dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, affect your sanity/food cravings, and is not a realistic long term way of eating.

But I’m eating “healthy”
“But I eat organic; I just eat fruit all day; I only snack on nuts;  I eat a huge chicken caesar a day; when I have a treat it’s only dark chocolate…….and I’m still not losing weight.
Bottom line…calories are calories.   Did you know that 20 almonds equate to 120 calories (trust me – that is not a handful and will not satisfy you either.)?  Your healthy chicken caesar salad has dressing 85 calories in a tablespoon (standard serving size is 2oz….4 tablespoons.)  If you do the math plus add the calories from your chicken, croutons, and cheese – your “healthy meal” is most likely over 500 calories. 

I am not knocking these foods – they do have better nutrients and good for your health and shouldn’t be avoided, but rather just be mindful of the amount of calories you are consuming from these foods.
 
I’ll just cut my carbs – I always lose weight that way
 It is true, again you will lose weight quickly on low carb diets. But like cleanses and juicing, majority of the weight loss is water and muscle….not fat.

When you finally lose what you want/or give up and return to your normal diet water is restored and weight quickly returns, but mostly as fat.

Also, cutting out entire food group leads to a higher risk of binging. Which will push you further from your weight loss goals.

Do some research - ask people you know for advice - ask for help put please do not try these methods on yourself.  I have been guilty of trying them all and trust me when I say that they all worked short term, but I eventually gained back what I lost plus some when I tried to return to normalcy.