In this final article of my ongoing weight loss diet mistakes series, we’re going to go over a weight loss diet mistake that I see time and time again and I want to lay this puppy to rest for good.
It’s a big weight loss diet mistake that even some of my doctor clients have made in the past, so if you make it don’t feel bad.
Today’s 3rd and final easy to follow weight loss diet mistake is the idea of ‘saving calories’. This is a big one come those “cheat days”, or around holiday time.
The idea is that you can skip breakfast or lunch because you’re going to a party that evening and you want to eat as much as you can without worrying about it.
Makes sense, right?
Calories are calories and if you need 2000 for the day, why does it matter if you get them all at once or spread them throughout the day?
Trouble is your body doesn’t really work that way. It can only process and use so many calories at any one time and all those calories your body can’t process get stored as fat.
Plus, if you use this rationale, you get to the point where you’re so hungry that you overeat and consume a lot more than those 2000 calories in that one sitting.
I’ve heard this rationale by clients who like to go to buffets.
They think that they can skip their other meals because they’re going to get a lot of calories in that one sitting at the buffet.
Too bad you can get well over 2000 calories with half a plateful at a buffet line.
Plus think about this…
…when you tell yourself you’re “saving calories” for a big meal later on, what kind of meal are you going to be eating?
My guess is it’s not very good for you.
Maybe a pasta dish along with some foofy foofy drinks.
That pasta dish is probably over 1000 calories in itself with all the heavy sauces and all those noodles and the foofy foofy drinks can be well into the hundreds, if not 1000 calories because of all the juices and creams used, plus the alcohol is at least 100-200 calories.
The numbers add up very, very quickly. So even though you think you’re doing yourself a favor, you’re actually doing yourself a disserve and killing your weight loss plans.
I hear this weight loss diet mistake quite a bit through the month of December with all the Christmas and holiday parties.
People want to eat, drink and be merry and not worry about adding too many fat pounds, so they skip breakfast and lunch, or only eat a couple pieces of fruit, and then go CRAZY come party time.
Sorry to disappoint you, but that just doesn’t work.
That doesn’t mean you can’t let your hair down and live a little by eating some of your favorite not so good for you treats, but you can’t skip all your meals then eat like you’re Rosie O’Donnell come last call at the buffet line.
All you have to do is learn to eat smaller portions of the not so good stuff, while still getting plenty of the good stuff.
If you want dessert, that’s cool, just make sure you eat a healthy, fat fighting, but smaller, meal before that piece of pie…
…and make sure that piece of pie (or whatever your favorite is) is small. If it fills up the entire plate, or is as big as your head, DON’T EAT THE WHOLE THING!
Make sense?
I certainly hope so because I’m kind of hungry and talking about pie is making my mouth water. If I don’t stop now, I just might have to run across the street and get a piece of yummy pie!
So, to re-cap what we’ve learned over the last 3 articles covering 3 of the most common weight loss diet mistakes I see my clients making.
1. You need to have a plan
2. Don’t misunderstand what ‘low carb’ means
3. And last, but not least, you can’t save calories
