How Not To Lose Weight

We often talk about the best ways to lose weight and get fit, but we should discuss the wrong ways to try to lose weight. There are so many fads, gimmicks, false information and out dated weight loss methods floating around that many people risk failure and ill health by trying to lose weight without the proper guidance.

Too often people say “I have tried everything to lose weight, but nothing works” when really they mean “I have done 50 crunches and bought some low fat energy bars and I am still overweight”.

Most people use the wrong methods to try to lose weight. To avoid you falling into the same trap, here are the most common ways to fail at losing weight:

1. Starve Yourself – Ever since Beyonce Knowles mentioned that she went on the Lemonade Diet / Maple Syrup (which is actually just a fast) other people have wanted to try it too. There are three reasons not to do this diet: 1. It is unhealthy. 2. You will put the weight back on again after the starvation process has finished, and maybe more weight than you lost. 3. It is unpleasant!
2. Perform Lots Of Sit Ups – Many people still think that performing exercises like sit ups and crunches will help them to lose weight. This is simply not true, it has never worked, and never will. Firstly, sit-ups are not good for your back, and if you are overweight and do not have strong abdominals, you are even more likely to have an injury. Crunches are much better for strengthening the abdominal muscles, but strong muscles does not mean fat loss. Spot reduction is not possible. Instead you need to exercise the whole body intensively. If you do not get out of breath or sweat, you are not working hard enough.
3. Skip Meals – Skipping meals to lose weight will just make it harder for you. Our bodies are designed to burn fat for energy when we need extra energy, but store fat when times become hard and food hard to find. The longer you go without eating, the less body fat you will burn off per hour (this is your metabolism). By eating more frequent meals you can actually help to keep your metabolism higher and burn more fat. But, it is vital that you ensure more meals does not mean more calories. Spread your food intake out throughout the day.
4. Join a Gym Without a Plan – Every year tens of thousands of people join gyms to lose weight without actually giving any thought to how they will do this. Joining a gym is not a magic cure for being overweight. You have to work just as hard to lose weight in a gym as you do at home. Also, the key to successful weight loss is reducing calories. Many people join a gym, workout pretty hard, and then have a large meal afterwards to reward themselves. Even worse, some people start having extra food “to give them the energy” to workout in the gym later. These are fatal mistakes. If you are overweight, you are already eating too much food, you do not need more to enable you to exercise. Also, avoid “protein shakes” unless you are also severely restricting calories. Many people in gyms will sell you a protein shake, but not tell you that they do it to make a few extra bucks.
5. Buy Magic Pills – There are lots of magic pills available, all of which try to boost metabolism or reduce the body absorbing dietary fat. If you are not already exercising and eating a healthy diet these pills are a waste of money and time.

There are many other way to fail at losing weight. If you have any good stories on ways you or a friend failed to lose weight, then share them here!

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