With the colder weather comes the natural tendency to eat greater quantities of food as well as more fatty foods. This is really something that nature intended because in the warmer weather, when fruits and vegetables are abundant, our bodies are designed to consume these foods more than meats, butter and other more fattening types of calories. But in the winter the reverse is true with more people eating the higher caloric foods that are higher in fat content.
This is actually a good idea because fruits and vegetables are more cooling, water energy foods. Meat, including organ meats, flesh, butters and other higher calorie foods are more warming, fire energy foods. So nature designed this into our physiology so we can naturally keep our energies in balance during each season.
With the speed of modern transportation this natural balance has been upset which allows us to consume either high calorie, warming fatty foods or lower calorie cooling foods all year long. So if during the warmer months when our bodies are not working as hard to keep us warm, we are eating the higher calorie foods (meats, butters), etc. then we are packing on more calories while our bodies are not burning as many of those calories off as would normally occur in the cold weather. While it's true that we are less active in the winter, studies have shown that we actually can burn more calories just by keeping warm than previously thought. Studies also show that air conditioning in the summer may also be playing a role in the modern increase in obesity. If we eat too many warming foods during the warm months, then we are causing our bodies to generate too much fire energy when it needs to be cool. Abusing this principle is one reason why so many diseases occur in our civilized world.
Even though there is so much information available about weight loss, the same diet mistakes are being made over and over every day. We are not talking here about little slipups where you ate a slice of pie that was not on the plan, but big mistakes that lead to failure to lose the weight that you want to lose. Understanding these errors can help you develop the attitude that will lead to permanent weight loss for you.
1. The All Or Nothing Attitude
All or nothing dieters will often pick out a complicated diet that is almost impossible for them to maintain. Before beginning, they will search the kitchen for anything that does not fit the plan and throw it in the garbage. They are planning to be the perfect dieter, and so they will be, for one day, three days, seven days or even a couple of weeks. Then, inevitably, something happens that means they cannot keep to the diet one time. Immediately the whole thing is ruined in their eyes and the diet is over. They go to the store and buy all the things that went into the garbage last week and proceed to gain back all the weight that they lost, as fast as possible.
If you are this kind of dieter you need to ask yourself some tough questions. Do you really want to lose weight permanently, or just lose a few pounds so that you can enjoy putting them back on again? The way forward is to make small changes to what you eat so that you have a slow but steady weight loss.
2. The Attitude of Sacrifice
Another common mistake is to view your diet as a period of sacrifice. You do not allow yourself the foods that you enjoy most while you are on your way to your target weight. You may have a great diet plan and be very successful in losing weight, but what happens when you reach your goal? You have not learned to eat 'bad foods' in moderation so as soon as you start, you are likely to go out of control. It is better to include a little of everything in your diet and learn to enjoy it in small quantities. Yes, even chocolate!
By allowing yourself to have your "cheat days" you help to keep yourself from mentally craving or lusting after those foods that you grew up on, this helps prevent binging. I often have some ice cream, some chocolate here and there myself. But I have very small portions when doing so, just a bite or two here and there and that's all. This way I don't feel deprived and don't have that temptation to go nuts after a period of weeks or months and totally overeat and ruin all the progress that I've made.
One thing I did to help facilitate this is that I went to a local store and picked up some very small bowls. These bowls are about the size of a small tea cup saucer and only hold about 8oz of liquid. By keeping portion sizes small but having a variety of food, the mind is tricked into thinking that you're eating a lot of food. You might have 5 or 6 small bowls out on the table, but since each one is small you're not really eating that much food. By reversing the American standard you will find that it is far better to have a mostly vegetable based diet with meat as a side dish.
3. Goal Failure
Setting achievable goals is vital in any weight loss plan. Goals should be clear, realistic and set out in writing. While you probably do have an ideal weight in your mind, unless you are only very slightly overweight it is probably too distant to be useful. A more useful goal would be to lose two pounds per week for the first five weeks and then one pound per week after that. Some weeks you will lose more and some less, some weeks you may even gain, but if you track your progress on a graph you will see that ups and downs are natural and do not stop you progressing steadily toward your major goal.
If you have been making these mistakes, do not worry. The most important point in dieting as in so many other things is to move on. Learn from your failures as well as your success and do not use a mistake as an excuse for giving up. The only way to achieve your goal permanently is to make a commitment to become a healthier person. Remember that eating normally includes eating more some days and less others. Learn to enjoy food in moderation and you have every chance of avoiding these bad diet mistakes.
Taking pictures when you start your weight loss and exercise plan is also another great way to see results. Since weight loss occurs in very small increments you won't really notice results. But if you take before and after pictures every four weeks or so then you will really see how far you've come and this is a great way to stay motivated. While you may not have any desire to take pictures of yourself at the start, I strongly encourage you to do so as it's a great way to help you stay motivated and encouraged in your new lifestyle.
Source
You can avoid even more with these techniques.
©2010 R.I.S.E. and Regal Hypnosis - Atlanta, GA U.S.A.
(404) 419-6449 www.regalhypnosis.com
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