5 Diet Mistakes To Avoid In January

With January in full swing and my recent post, 5 fitness mistakes to avoid in January becoming a popular read, I thought I’d share my two cents on the diet side of things and what mistakes you should also avoid this January…

Assuming all ‘health’ labelled products are healthy

I can’t stress enough how important it is to check the labels of the foods you’re eating! Believe it or not, your favourite ‘low fat’ yoghurt may not be as healthy as you think. In fact, that ‘low fat’ yoghurt that has become a staple in your diet (because you think it’s healthier), most likely contains more sugar to help replace the taste that’s lost from the lower amount of fat.

So next time you take a trip to your local supermarket, get your reading glasses on and have a look at the ingredients you’re really consuming. Esepically those ‘no added sugar’ packages!

Fad diets

Oh how I remember the days of Skinny Teas. Opps.

If you’re determined to lose a lot of weight quite quickly then there’s no doubt that you’ve considered a quick fix once or twice. However, trust me when I tell you that fad diets are not the answer. I’m talking about the cabbage soup diets, the 30-day skinny challenges, meal replacement shakes, etc.

You see, consuming extremely low calories would mean that you’re in a calorie deficit. And whilst this is great for weight loss, it’s also not maintainable if you’re eating under 1,000 calories a day. Not to mention it’s also incredibly unhealthy and stupidly unrealistic. The chances that you’re going to live off cabbage soup every day for the rest of your life is pretty slim, huh? And once you go back to eating a few more calories (aka, a healthier diet) you’ll put the pounds back on because you’re eating more calories than 3-4 cabbages a day. Get it?

So no, the answer isn’t fad diets. The answer is a healthy and balanced diet that allows you to eat your favourite foods in moderation.

Cheat days

I feel like many people will have a different opinion on this matter but here’s mine: avoid setting cheat days. Speaking from experience, I would personally avoid falling into the mindset of ‘I can only eat that on my cheat day’. Whilst this can work wonderfully for people, it can also become a problematic demon for others.

“When we cheat, we have a tendency to rationalize the behaviour. We can’t change the past, so we change our attitude and justify our actions. But that adjustment, while it may make us feel better, also makes us more likely to cheat again: we cheat, we rationalize it, we accept it, and we cheat once more.”

Maria Konnikova, NY Times best-seller and psychology Ph.D from Columbia University.

The idea of a cheat day is to stick to your diet throughout the week and when it comes to your cheat day (typically a day on the weekend), you’re free to have a day ‘off’. Some people use cheat days as a refuel day, but many other people simply use it as a day to indulge in their favourites treats so they don’t go completely insane.

The problem with this approach, however, is that it can lead to restriction, over-eating, guilt eating and a negative attitude towards food. It’s quite likely that after a week of restricting yourself from your favourite foods, when the weekend finally rolls around, your cheat day will turn into an ultimate binge because you’re finally let loose on the foods you’ve been craving all week. Not only will this lead to guilt eating but I can also guess that you’ll probably be a lot harsher on yourself during the following week to ‘make up’ for the extra weekend calories. Not good, girl.

As a result, this approach will then create and reinforce ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods. Again, another mindset you don’t want to fall into. Why? Because living a healthier lifestyle shouldn’t be about restriction, dull diets or excessive workouts. It should be about making healthier choices and eating your favourite foods in moderation.

My advice? Be smart. Know your limits. Eat healthily. Induldge a little. Say no to restriction. Eat the rainbow.

You can betcha bottom dollar that I still have my cake and eat it.

Setting unrealistic goals

When a new year rolls around many of us set goals. Whether it’s to lose weight, gain muscle or tone up a little. The thing is, whilst goal setting is a great motivator, a lot of people set the bar too high which can lead to frustration and a lack of motivation.

No matter what your goal, start small and build on it. This way, not only will they be easier to achieve, but it’ll also increase your motivation to continue working towards your goals.

Think of it as a checklist. Once you complete a goal, you can move onto the next one.

Tracking your entire progress with the bathroom scales

Ah, the scale. It’s funny how a simple measurement can set our mood for the entire day, huh? But why? Why rely on something so unreliable?

Often when we step onto the bathroom scale we forgot to consider that there could be so many other factors affecting our weight. These could be…

• Muscle gain (muscle weighs more than fat)
• Mother nature is interfering (hormones pay a massive role in how much water we retain)
• Stress (stress = increased cortisol levels)
• Lack of sleep ( lack of sleep = a very stressed body)
• Consuming too many calories

The bottom line: don’t rely solely on your bathroom scales. Sure, you can use them every now and then to help keep track of your progress, but I’d suggest that you start relying on transformation photos instead. That way you really can see how your body is changing! Start by taking one every week in the morning (and also in your underwear) and keep this up. Hopefully, after a few weeks of hardwork and consistency, you should start to see a change.

So, that’s it. My top 5 diet mistakes to avoid in January. As for the fitness side of things, why not check out my recent post, 5 fitness mistakes to avoid in January.