How To Avoid Common Diet Mistakes

When you decide that it's time to lose weight, you want to see instant results. So if you can't seem to get that waistline to budge or you seem to have reached a weight loss plateau, read through these common diet mistakes to see how you can avoid them and start dropping the pounds.

Step 1

Drinking your calories. A big misconception among dieters is that as long as you eat healthy, the weight will come off. But you need to drink healthy too. You can consume a lot of your daily caloric intake just by drinking a beverage other than water. Juice, milk, coffee, pop - you name it, they all add to your waistline. And the worst part is, they are filled with empty calories that don't leave you feeling full. Avoid the diet mistake of drinking high-calorie drinks.

Step 2

Not eating enough. Many dieters also believe that if you cut your calories drastically, the pounds will melt away. What many don't realize though, is that you're sending your body a message that it needs to conserve fat stores. Think about it - if you're not eating enough, your body thinks you're starving and starts packing away vital food supplies. You'll never see the weight come off if you don't eat enough of the right foods. You need to eat enough healthy food every day so that your metabolism is always in high gear. Avoid this mistake, and you'll quickly start seeing results in the mirror.

Step 3

Blaming your genes. "I have my grandmother's hips!" We've all heard them - those excuses that help us to justify why our diet isn't working. Unfortunately, genes aren't always to blame. Actually, genes are rarely to blame. Just because you have the same body type as a family member doesn't mean you should expect to look the same. Proper diet and exercise can take your body size and shrink it, even if you have your grandmother's hips. Keep working out and avoid using the diet excuse that you were destined to be fat.

Step 4

Not eating breakfast. This is perhaps the most common diet mistake people make. They think that if they don't eat breakfast, their bodies will burn up extra fat stores instead. Wrong! If you don't eat breakfast, your metabolism actually slows down. You're jeopardizing all of your hard work from working out if you don't get that metabolism racing right at the start of your day. Eat a large, healthy breakfast too. It will keep you feeling full longer so that you won't be tempted to snack before lunch. And having a little food in your belly to start the day will ensure that your metabolism gets right to work burning away your extra inches. This is definitely one diet mistake that you must avoid!

Step 5

Giving up. Dieting takes time. Your celebrity body isn't going to appear overnight. And so the whole process of dieting can be long and stressful. What's important is that you don't give up. Continue on your healthy weight loss plan, avoid common diet mistakes and eventually, you'll see the results you worked so hard to get.