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Is Your Diet Making You Fat?The surprising mistakes that are costing you big time in your efforts to slim down |
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Saving up your points for a big meal
Going all out on the unlimited fruits
How they hurt: When you go for long periods without eating, you eat away at your energy reserves (like your lean muscle tissue -- not exactly what you had in mind while doing strength training at the gym). It can also slow your metabolism way down, says Sass. Then, when you indulge in that huge meal at night, many of those calories will go straight to fat cells because you won't be burning enough calories to compensate for that meal while you sleep. (Side note: Sass says this is how Sumo wrestlers gain weight, which, I'm assuming if you're reading this, isn't your end goal.)
As for the fruit situation, since it has a zero point value, it's easy to think that the banana you had with breakfast, the apple with lunch and the grapes as a snack won't really impact your weight loss goal. In reality, these are carb-filled sugar bombs that are sneakily sabotaging your efforts. Sheth advises that a serving of fruit is tennis-ball sized and contains about 60 calories. But keep in mind -- fruit is often much larger than that, as evidenced by those colossal apples at the grocery store.
Sass says that, since points are based on fat and fiber content, eating a lot of low-point or no-point foods will result in total carb overload (our words, not hers).
The fix: The first one is easy: Either space out your meals evenly over the course of the day or eat larger meals before your active hours and smaller ones before your more sedentary ones, advises Sass. When it comes to fruit, Sheth says that they can be a part of your weight loss efforts -- as long as you eat them in moderation. Stick to one to two servings a day, and try munching on non-starchy veggies instead.
SEE NEXT PAGE: The Low-Carb Diet: A Rebound Carb Binge Fest Waiting to Happen
