5 common mistakes preventing you from losing weight

Struggling to lose weight? Don't panic, here's some help to shed some light on the issue.

You’ve started, your goal is clear: to slim down and say goodbye to those love handles. The beginning of your "diet" project went wonderfully, the first few pounds were easy to shed. Now, you feel there’s no real progress, you’re stuck. Don't worry, we’ll explain the main reasons for this stagnation and how to overcome it.

1. The "everything, immediately"

The common mistake made before starting a diet, or a dietary adjustment, is to aim too high. You need to progress gradually in the quest for slimming down. The key is to stay realistic and set achievable targets based on your physical abilities. As days go by, you’ll become more efficient and determined, and your body will respond positively. So avoid the "everything, immediately" approach and take it step by step. Meanwhile, your mindset needs to follow. Being psychologically prepared for the change and truly wanting it will significantly contribute to the effort. Body and mind must be aligned.

2. The obsession with the scales

There’s no point weighing yourself ten times a day, counting your calories endlessly and obsessing over the figures shown by diet apps. The important thing lies in the attention you pay to your calorie intake, ensuring you maintain a balance between the carbohydrates, fats, and proteins consumed, and creating a caloric deficit. More importantly, listen to your body, don’t frustrate it, nothing could be worse for motivation. Remember, even if the scales don’t show weight loss, you may be losing fat and simultaneously gaining muscle mass. Don’t lose heart with that cursed device, it doesn’t always give good advice.

3. Quantity over quality

It’s a very bad idea to drastically reduce your daily food intake. Of course, if you only drink water and eat apples for a week, you’ll lose weight, but you’ll also create deficiencies. The body, as explained previously, needs energy, meaning sufficient caloric intake, along with vitamins and minerals, and an intake of fats. Fat is essential for its proper functioning. Note that muscles burn the most calories. If they aren't sufficiently nourished, they weaken and lose volume. Between your inadequate diet and weakening muscles, you won't get far on your path to dietary balance. Choose your food carefully, ensuring you consume only healthy, unprocessed products and unsaturated fats, to avoid eating less. Quality over quantity, therefore, and not the reverse!

4. The comfort zone

Your workouts are regular, you often go to the gym, but nothing changes, you’re not losing fat. In fact, your body has adapted to your training, it has adjusted to a certain level of demand, now you need to challenge it again, increase the intensity of the effort. By doing this, you step out of your comfort zone and (re)provide your muscles with the challenge they need.

5. Excessive cardio

You need to work on your cardio to burn calories, that's well established. But to burn them efficiently, focus on what's called "interval training". It involves high-intensity cardio where you alternate between effort and rest periods: 30 seconds of exercise, 30 seconds of rest, for about twenty minutes. With this type of session, about three times a week, you can be sure to lose fat!

This is not about a magic recipe or miraculous fat loss, but rather valuable tips to avoid getting stuck at certain stages of your diet and to continue progressing, always respecting your capabilities.

(MH with Olivia Stasse - Source: Justine Gallice Fitness - Illustration: ©Unsplash)