Count me guilty. I’ve done at least every one of these, and I’m not ashamed of it. I’ve realized that it’s a part of the culture we’ve all grown up in. Sometimes it’s sheer laziness. Either way, these 5 things will make it very difficult for you to achieve your fitness goals. Are you guilty of any of them?
1.) Not Eating. It’s ironic that I consider this to be the number one mistake you can make if you’re trying to lose fat. After all, you’re supposed to be taking in less food, not more, so doesn’t it kind of make sense to skip a few meals?
Not at all. The problem isn’t eating. You need to eat. It’s just that when we eat, we tend to eat too much, and what we eat usually isn’t very good for us. The problem only gets worse when we’re hungry. That’s when we lose all control and devour whatever is in front of us. If you haven’t prepared anything ahead of time, it’ll probably be junk food.
There’s a second reason I consider this the number one mistake you can make. It’s also the easiest mistake to make. When you’re working all day, it’s really easy to lose track of time and get caught up in things when you should be stopping to eat some lunch or have a snack. We need to teach ourselves to prepare our food ahead of time, put down what we’re doing, and enjoy a good meal. It’ll makes us more productive and less fat in the long run.
2.) Not Sleeping. A very close second to not eating. When you don’t sleep, you tend to eat more to regain the energy you would have gotten from a full night’s rest. Since being tired also makes you feel less willing to exercise, it turns into a vicious cycle. You never exercise to your full potential because you’re tired, and then you eat more to compensate for your lack of energy.
I don’t even think about how much sleep I should be getting. 8 hours, 9 hours, 6 hours, whatever. I sleep as long as I need to sleep, and I wake up when I wake up. If you absolutely need to wake up to an alarm, you aren’t getting enough sleep. It’s as simple as that.
I know. I know. We’ve all got kids, and we all need to get to work. Well then, take a midday nap. Turn off the T.V. and go to bed earlier. Do whatever you have to do feel fully rested and at your full potential. Don’t skimp on sleep. It will make you fat.
3.) The beer habit. It always starts with one beer. Maybe it’s a Friday. Your work week is done, and you just want to relax. That’s all well and good, but you better not be drinking on Saturday and Sunday nights too. A few drinks every now and then isn’t the problem. It’s what happens when we make a daily habit out of it. If the first thing you’re doing when you get home is having a drink, even if it’s just one, you’re on the road to alcoholism.
Okay, that was a bit extreme. The point is, those calories do add up. A beer every day can add up to as much as a few thousand calories a week. Do the math, and you’ll realize that’s like an extra day of normal eating.
Yes. That’s all going to your thighs.
4.) Buying convenience food. Whatever food doesn’t require preparation is the food that will aways gets eaten first. Just by virtue of purchasing salty convenience snacks, you are making a big mistake. When you get home, and you’re hungry, you’ll grab the pretzels before you make the rational decision to prepare a proper meal. Don’t give yourself the option to cheat like this every day!
When I do cheat, and believe me I do, I like to do it for social reasons. Once you start down this path, you’ll realize quite quickly that it can put a strain on your friendships. Our culture is heavily geared towards food. Most social gatherings, whether we like it or not, revolve around food. So when you’re the one refusing food for health reasons, it comes off as a little strange.
Don’t worry. Your friends will get used to it. In the meantime, if you’re going to cheat, go out for a meal with your friends and make an occasion out of it. Be “normal” for an evening. Keep the bad food at restaurants and the good food at home.
5.) The weekend bender. A lot of people treat the weekend as an excuse to be completely reckless with their eating habits. We go out partying, drink until all hours of the night, and we wake up feeling horrible the next day. Then we repeat the process until Monday, when we magically decide it’s time to get back on track.
If you’re at all serious about this, you’ll realize that you have to adhere to it most of the time. Eating whatever you want and drinking whatever you feel just won’t cut it most days. You might be able to do it once a month or on holidays, but you just won’t see good results unless you stick with it almost every day.
Does that make your weekends less exciting? Maybe. If you’re the kind of the person who needs to be drinking all the time to have fun, then perhaps it will. But if you have real goals, and you care about them, you’ll do what’s right. The weekend isn’t the time to lose your mind. It’s the time to be adventurous and active. Find something fun to replace all the drinking, snacking, and television watching.
I’m guilty of each one of these, and that’s okay. They are very easy traps to fall into, especially when you grow up in a society that’s so centered around food. The next time you catch yourself doing one of these things, stop and consider how it’s effecting your ability to achieve your goals. Whether you like it or not, these 5 things will make you fat.
Make Sure To Leave A Comment Below And Let Me Know Any Struggles You Have, Or Any Simple Changes You’ve Made That Has Had A Positive Impact On Your Health & Fitness…
