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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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Not paying attention to food quality
Cutting calories too low
How they hurt: If you cut your calories too low, simply put, you're depriving your body of the fuel it needs to function. Sure, you may lose weight at first, but it will eventually slow down your metabolism and you'll lose calorie-burning muscle mass, says Sass. Plus this can lead to other unwanted side effects, like a weak immune system and trouble sleeping -- not to mention dry skin and hair. She also notes that research has shown we burn 50 percent more calories metabolizing whole foods versus processed foods. "I've had clients break a plateau or start losing weight by eating the exact same number of daily calories, but switching from processed foods to whole foods, so quality is really key," she says.
The fix: Swap out those 100-calorie cookie packs for 100 calories of whole food, like nuts, lean protein or even starchy veggies -- your waistline (and your taste buds) will thank you. Also, know how many calories you should really be eating. A 1,200-calorie diet is thrown around like it's some magical weight loss number, but in reality you need a minimum of 10 calories per every pound of your weight goal if you're inactive, says Sass. That number goes up to 15 if you're moderately active. To put that in perspective, Sass says if your goal weight is 125 pounds and you are moderately active, you should be munching on 1,625 calories a day.
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