Weight Loss: 10 Common Mistakes beginners make when trying to Lose Weight

However, long before the existence of COVID-19, people have been trying to lose weight; either to look a certain way or to improve the quality of their health.

Unfortunately, weight loss is not easily achieved especially if you start off doing all the wrong things.

It makes giving up easy and takes you further away from your goal.

Mistakes are generally inevitable but with a few pointers in the right direction, a lot of it can be avoided to bring you closer to your desired results faster.

Here is a list of 10 common mistakes beginners make when trying to lose weight:

1

Starting without direction

Starting without direction is a lost cause most times.

When trying to correct a specific problem in your life, it is always a good idea to have a clear plan on how you will get started.

Knowing what needs to be done before doing it helps to make achieving your goal smoother.

It eliminates the confusion of what, why, and when, leaving you with the option to only go forward.

2

Prioritizing exercise over food

Prioritizing exercise over food is like cutting off the branches of a tree expecting the tree to die.

Food plays the number one role in weight loss and the sooner you understand this, the better.

Healing starts in your kitchen because that is where the problem begin.

Exercising will help your weight loss journey, but it would never breed any results for you if you are not eating the right foods for your body.

3

Skipping meals

Repetition creates habit and that goes for anything.

Naturally, we all tend to eat until we are full regardless of what we are eating.

And that is something our body gets used to.

Beginners have this belief that eating fewer meals will cause them to lose weight.

Then they try it, and it gives them the reverse effect.

The body will sense that it is being underfed and start holding onto calories (which is stored by the body as fat) simply because it thinks that there is a storage of food and it needs to have a source of energy to keep functioning.

The only way for you to lose weight this way would be to starve your body excessively which is harmful to your health and would only create more unnecessary health issues in the long run.

Therefore, you should ditch skipping meals and not your actual meals. A good practice for this is intuitive eating.

4

Not planning their meals

A plan, as mentioned before, is an important part of achieving the goals you set for yourself.

That means planning down to the least bit because failure will find its way in any unattended cracks.

Now, I am not saying that failure is bad because I have failed at many things in my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way but we are trying to have a realistic approach to this topic.

No one wants to start out to achieve a goal and fail.

Therefore, you plan things in advance to doing them.

This avoids frustration and settling for alternatives that will take you two steps back.

Plan your meals, your snacks, and your drinks for the day at least a day in advance to rule out not knowing what to eat and settling for a large meal of a double cheeseburger, French fries, and coke.

5

Giving up on your favorite snacks

This is a big mistake in my opinion.

You absolutely do not need to give up the things you love to eat in exchange for losing weight.

Yes, it will get you there faster but as someone who is just getting started, it is a mistake.

Giving up on your favorite snacks creates cravings that you want to avoid at all costs.

These cravings make it easier for you to give up on your weight loss journey and jeopardize your chance for better health which is never a good thing.

6

Eating all the wrong foods for your body

Eating all the wrong foods for your body does not mean eating baked chicken instead of fried here.

I am talking about eating the wrong foods for your body.

In the sense of missing out on vitamin C that your body needs, or eating simple carbohydrates when what you really need is the complex kind because you are constantly constipated.

I am talking about health over appearance.

Lots of people focus on eating low amounts of carbs but they experience low energy two hours into the workday.

You cannot settle for foods that the girl with your dream body shape eats and expect to get the same results.

Your chances there are slim.

But if you focus on fueling your body daily with a healthy diet that consists of all the nutrients paired with some exercise, over time, you will get a lot closer to the results you want.

7

Too focused on ‘weight loss’

Weight loss is a journey and I think I have mentioned the word journey after weight loss too many times throughout this article already but that is to emphasize the truth of it.

It does not happen nearly as fast as you want it to, but it happens and that is the significant part.

The problem with being too focused on weight loss is that it will drain you.

The amount of work you will notice yourself putting in versus the results you are seeing would be off balance and it is one of the most annoying and unmotivating feelings.

What you should focus on instead is the direction you are going in, and how much better you are feeling.

That is real progress, and you must stick with it.

A plan that will ensure the daily practice of healthy eating will give you more than just weight loss. You will feel good in your joints, your skin will glow to the Gods and your immune system will work for you and not against you.

Change your focus.

8

Expecting results too soon

This ties into my previous point, except that I want to emphasize that even when you are working on your habit of healthy eating, you should avoid focusing on results.

Enjoy the process and feel good about where you are in that current moment because just a while ago you were still deciding on whether you should do something for your health.

Expecting results too soon takes away that joy and only causes you to question your decision which in this case is clearly a great one.

9

Placing too much emphasis on the numbers

The scale should be banned from the hands of anyone who is actively trying to lose weight.

First of all, it is not really weight that you are aiming to lose. It’s excess fat.

Numbers do not determine your results when it comes to your weight.

I have been the same weight for the past 4 to 5 years yet my clothes fit differently.

This is common for anyone who is changing their diet and exercising simultaneously.

Muscle mass weighs more than fat therefore, you can shed a lot of excess fat, gain little muscle, and still remain close to your original weight.

The best way to see results is by taking photographs.

You will literally see what has changed and your weight according to a scale would not matter.

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