Depending on your metabolism and lifestyle habits, losing your first pound of fat can be simple for some, but tough for others. The truth is that a lot of people struggle to reach their ideal weight, be it due to genetics, laziness, or bad dietary choices. Weight loss is a gigantic industry, and Americans spend over 60 billion dollars a year trying and lose weight effectively. Surely there are going to be a lot of people who are out to exploit this lucrative industry with a bunch of quick-fix solutions, shady weight loss pills, and other harmful methods.
There are hundreds of these type of shady websites online who lure weight-loss beginners like yourself online. Some claim that you will lose a pound of fat per day, while others go far enough to say you will lose a pound of fat every 12 hours. This is not just false but can also be extremely dangerous to your health. Healthy weight loss consists of losing not 1-2 pounds of fat but 1-2 pounds of “body weight” per week. This could be a combination of fat, muscle, water weight and so much more.
If you want to lose weight in a healthy manner, it is best to not plunge into it but to do some research beforehand as to not cause unnecessary stress to your organism. As a general rule, it is recommended to avoid any chemical solutions that are advertised for fast weight loss. What you want, is a steady approach that may take more time, but is healthy and safe in the long run. If you are interested in weight loss supplements, you can’t go wrong with what nature provides.
There are great herbal solutions, such as natural appetite suppressants that are filled with vitamins, and work to curb your appetite without making your metabolism go havoc. Supplements are only one branch of the dietary regiment. There are a lot of other places where a lack of knowledge can result in less than optimal results for your body.
In this article, we want to help you navigate the terrain.
These are the 8 of the most common mistakes people make when trying to shed weight quickly & lose their first pound of fat.
1. Thinking Scale Weight Is Most Important
Especially when going for a dramatic weight loss before and after comparison, people tend to focus on their scale weight obsessively. Weight is influenced by a variety of different factors. Including fluid retention, how much food is in your system, and muscle mass.
One’s weight can vary up to 1.8 kg (this is about 4 pounds) throughout a given day, depending on how much you’ve eaten, and how much fluid is in your system. Or women, water retention is also greatly influenced by their hormonal levels, which can fluctuate depending on the time of their menstrual cycle. If you are working out diligently but struggle to see changes on the scale, and are chasing your first one pound of weight loss, there is a good chance that the culprit is water weight.
2. Not Drinking Enough Water
When trying to look for information on how to get slimmer, oftentimes you will find that weight loss programs accentuate how one eats. There is an extensive focus on weight loss foods, calorie intake, and other related things. However, It is of great importance to not forget the importance of getting enough hydration when trying to shed pounds healthily. One should aim to drink at least 2 litres of water a day, which is roughly 8 glasses. Water is important for the body to be able to maintain its vital functions and for the chemical process of actually burning fat for energy efficiently.
Additionally, drinking water can curb your appetite. Oftentimes people confuse hunger with thirst when they are dehydrated which can be a cause of overeating unnecessarily. Once you decide to lose weight, be sure to not slack on your daily water intake.
3. Eating Too Fast
If you are set out to achieve consistent weight loss, meal plans of a healthy nature surely are important. It is also true that how you eat makes a big difference. Gulping down food rapidly Is not only annoying, but it is unhealthy too. When eating food too quickly, the body has no time to send accurate signals from the belly to the brain if one is full. For the body to send out satiation signals it takes around 15 to 20 minutes. Therefore, it is best to try to develop a respectful, relationship with food in which one eats mindfully.
4. Not Getting Enough Sleep
In case you have been struggling to see results in your weight loss journey, it could be your sleeping habits that are hindering you. Sleep deprivation can sabotage your waistline in many ways, the most evident being prone to reach for that fast-energy snack, which is usually less than healthy. Being sleep deprived is also known to hurt one’s metabolism, which in turn can result in low energy, lack of weight loss motivation, and so forth. It is a vicious cycle that is best avoided.
5. Removing Fats from Your Diet
Uneducated weight loss tips often recommend cutting out of fats from your diet. There are several types of fats, and some are necessary for your body to function properly. Healthy, unsaturated fats are necessary for the absorption of vitamins D, A, E, and K. They can be found in nuts, fish, and seafood. On top of that, they have omega 3 fatty acids which are extremely healthy. What you want to avoid are saturated fats. These can be found in foods such as cakes, desserts, and palm oil.
6. Thinking Liquids Are Innocent
A recent study has shown that 21 percent of calories in a usual American diet come from liquids only. Depending on your particular likes, it might be smart to rethink your drinks. Especially popular drinks like a Starbucks coffee can have between 300 to 600 calories! Even an innocent-seeming orange juice has 190 calories for every 12 ounces. Even the best diet for weight loss can falter if you don’t rethink what fluids you are drinking daily.
7. Skipping Meals
Obsessive weight loss or calculators for calories are drastic solutions that will end up biting you in the behind. Rather than drastic measures, one should aim to switch the whole lifestyle approach to a healthier lane. Skipped meals often result in overeating on the next food intake. Studies actually show that people who consume breakfast weight less than people who skip it. So if you want to lose your first pound of fat, don’t take shortcuts, but make lifestyle changes. Eat a balanced diet and exercise to create a calorie deficit.
8. Thinking Weight Loss Is a Drag
The best weight loss tip of all is to try and have fun while doing it. Working out does not have to be something you dislike. Find ways of breaking a sweat that you find exciting. This may be playing soccer, dancing, or going for long walks with your dog. Think out of the box, create your own ways of burning calories!
We hope to have given you a good insight into some things that are best to be avoided when trying to achieve weight loss and lose your first pound of fat. We wish you the best of luck in your endeavours to lose weight and achieve a better physique. If you have any tips on how to lose weight effectively, and what has worked for you, please share them in the comment section below!
