#HealthBytes: Diet mistakes that won't take your weight-loss plans anywhere
First things first, what goes into your body i.e. your diet is the single biggest determinant of your health. Not everyone is a dietician and there are numerous mistakes we often unknowingly end up making. These mistakes, in one way or another, are detrimental to our health. If losing weight is your agenda, here are some common mistakes you should avoid.
Going for diet foods
Ironical as it may sound, but eating packaged foods labelled as "low-fat", "sugar-free", or "diet" thinking that they'll help you lose weight, is probably a pretty common misconception - they don't really help. Anything that comes packaged is processed food, and should ideally be avoided. The best food products for losing weight are natural, un-packaged ones.
Eating healthy, but not in control
It may so happen that you start eating healthy but don't take quantum of food into account. Not keeping a count on food, and consequently, calorie intake might result in over-consumption or under-consumption. So, if weight loss is on your mind, apart from switching to healthy food, it's imperative to keep a count on calorie intake to avoid over-consumption.
Believing all calories are the same
Only taking your calorie-count into account, without giving a thought to the kind of calories - healthy or unhealthy - you're taking is bad math, and not the wisest way to go about losing weight. When you think of it, how can 2000 calories of cola, chips, and fries compare to the same amount of it in form of lean meats and protein-rich food?
Cutting fats completely from your diet
It's old-school advice that losing weight involves completely cutting down on all sorts of fat consumption. The truth, however, is that not all fat is bad fat, and some of it is actually essential for our well-being. Fat is an important macro-nutrient that carries many essential nutrients, and can also help reduce bad cholesterol levels. Thus, it's important to segregate good fat from bad.
Eating a really big post-workout meal
Coordinating diet with regular workout plans is a great idea. It can help you get in shape faster, more effectively, and efficiently. But the problem here is that we tend to overestimate the amount of workout we've done, which makes us take the liberty of eating too much after the exercise regimen. This should be avoided as it nullifies the calories burnt during workout.
