Losing weight is a big challenge for many people. Countless books, blogs and guides are available to help people who are trying to lose weight, but they can be overwhelming. However, losing weight does not have to be so complicated. We have looked at the 10 most common mistakes made by people trying to lose weight and have put together some tips and tricks to help you find clear answers to your questions.
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These 10 mistakes are made by almost everyone who loses weight
If you want to lose weight healthily, you should know where the most common pitfalls lie in wait for you. We have therefore identified ten common mistakes that you can now avoid – ideally, this will make it a little easier to lose weight quickly while avoiding the notorious yo-yo effect. Let's get started!
1. You focus too much on the scales
A mistake that most people make when they first want to lose weight is the following: you stand on the scales day after day and focus exclusively on the number that your device displays.
In the first week, this may still be positive, since weight loss is usually accelerated in the initial phase. However, this is mainly due to reduced storage of carbohydrates and water and only to a small extent to a reduction in fat deposits.
Consequently, your weight loss will slow down significantly even after the first phase – reason enough for many to cut calories even more drastically. However, this can backfire. Similarly, looking too closely at the BMI value can prove to be a shot in the foot. You can find out how to integrate a BMI calculator in a useful way in the tips at the end of the article.
2. You have unrealistic expectations and no clear goals
The most important cornerstone of a sustainable weight loss strategy is to have clear and achievable goals. Getting the body you've always wanted in four weeks so you can show it off on the beach is probably only going to work for a very small minority.
In general, crash diets that aim for rapid weight loss are not recommended. The risk of a nutrient deficiency and rapid weight gain after the crash diet are simply too high.
Clear and realistic goals, on the other hand, can give you long-term weight loss success. A realistic weight loss is observed to be around 0.25 to 0.5 kilograms per week.
3. You are not in a calorie deficit
The most important criterion for successful weight loss is a calorie deficit. This involves consuming fewer calories than your body actually needs. You can calculate your individual energy requirement using a calorie calculator.
It's not possible to say exactly how high the deficit should be; there are simply too many variables that influence weight loss. However, a recommended guideline is to cut 500 to 700 calories from your daily diet. While cutting more calories than that can be effective, it should only be done under the supervision of an expert 1 .
4. You eat far too little
If you eat too little, it can have a long-term negative effect on your metabolism. It also increases the risk of you being undersupplied with important nutrients. Not only will your basic needs be reduced, causing your body to burn even less at rest, but a lack of micronutrients such as vitamins or minerals can also have negative health consequences.
To see how much energy a food contains, take a look at the calorie table. This will help you to better estimate your calorie intake and avoid an excessive energy deficit.
5. You eat too often
Regular meals are generally recommended, but eating too often can be a hindrance to losing weight. The reason for this is that with every extra meal you eat, you also consume calories.
If you eat very small portions each time and thus stay within your targeted calorie deficit, you can still lose weight. However, this is only really realistic and practical for a few people. It's better to eat just three to four meals a day, after which you will feel really full.
6. You are too impatient
Impatience rarely pays off in life. This applies especially to losing weight. After all, anyone who wants to lose weight as quickly as possible is likely to fall for crash diets. However, it should be clear to everyone by now that these only rarely deliver the promised results.
Nevertheless, these promises are of course very tempting. But the same applies to weight loss as to sport: continuity is better than over-motivated phases that only last for a short time. This is because both excessive increases in the intensity of sport and excessive restrictions in diet are almost impossible to sustain in the long term.
7. You forbid yourself too much
Another common mistake is to restrict yourself too strictly to certain food groups and to want to avoid others completely. However, it is often not individual foods or nutrients that prevent weight loss.
Instead, going too far without them can cause you to gradually lose motivation. It is therefore better to try to reduce ‘unwanted’ foods and eat consciously.
For example, as a chocolate lover, you won't want to live without chocolate forever. Instead of falling back into old eating patterns after a while, it would be better to indulge in your beloved chocolate in moderation from time to time. For example, you could occasionally use dark chocolate as a topping for your porridge.
This will help you stay motivated and avoid falling back into old habits.
8. You're not eating enough fibre and protein
To change your diet in the long term and lose weight healthily and maintain it, you should focus on foods that leave you feeling full. After all, nothing is worse than not feeling full after a meal.
A high-fibre, high-protein diet is particularly good at keeping you feeling full for longer, despite fewer calories. This is because both have the effect of filling your stomach well and effectively satisfying your hunger 2. This means that proteins and dietary fibre not only help you lose weight, but also help you maintain your new feel-good weight.
What may sound a bit abstract in theory is easy to implement in practice, by the way. Oat flakes, for example, contain both valuable fibre and high-quality proteins!
9. You don't drink enough
The influence of water on your weight loss may come as a surprise. In fact, drinking water seems to favour weight loss, as a much-cited study shows 3.
Of course, this doesn't mean that you have to drink four litres of water every day. According to the study, consuming more than a litre a day may already be enough. It's best to follow the current recommendations, which suggest that one and a half to two litres of water a day is sufficient.
It's best to opt for tap or mineral water. Unlike most soft drinks, these contain no calories – so by simply choosing water, you can save a lot of unnecessary calories!
10. You don't do any sport or you do too much
Losing weight without exercise is possible, but most people find it easier with exercise. Physical activity can be especially helpful when it comes to maintaining the targeted calorie deficit. During physical exertion, your body burns calories, which can help you both lose weight and maintain your new weight 4.
Now you may be wondering which sport is best for losing weight. But we can tell you one thing right away: there is no such thing as the ‘one’ sport.
It is much more important to find a sport that you enjoy doing and that you do regularly. Whether it's an endurance activity like hiking, running or cycling; or strength training, if you enjoy it more, is not so important.
But here too, it's the dose that makes the poison. While regular exercise is considered to be good for your health and can help you lose weight, excessive physical activity can have the opposite effect. This is because it can cause you to feel excessively hungry and thus go off track.
6 tips to make your weight loss a guaranteed success
Now that you know the most dangerous pitfalls of losing weight, let's look at some tips and tricks that can effectively help you lose weight.
1. A balanced, healthy diet
If you want to eat healthily to lose weight and feel more comfortable in your body, the many opinions on the internet can be overwhelming. But it's not as complicated as some people claim.
Yes, losing weight is a big challenge for many people. At the same time, however, it should be emphasised that when it comes to long-term weight loss, it doesn't matter whether you cut out more fat or carbohydrates.
Ultimately, it is your energy balance that counts, not the exact ratio of macronutrients 5. How you maintain your calorie deficit is therefore up to you. It is best to do what you can sustainably implement in the long term.
The bottom line is that it is simply important that you eat a balanced diet. A sufficient amount of all the important macro and micro nutrients ensures well-being and keeps you healthy. The easiest way to get your nutrients is to eat high-quality food. These have a high nutrient density and provide you with the necessary vitamins and minerals while keeping the calorie count low.
2. Start the morning with a healthy breakfast
It's a well-known saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This applies to everyone, but especially to people who are aiming for targeted weight loss and want to maintain it in the long term.
Here's how to have a healthy breakfast – find out more
In fact, a large-scale study 6 found that eating breakfast regularly is one of the most successful strategies for maintaining a healthy body weight.
Breakfast options that you can always have ready quickly are therefore particularly suitable. One of these is porridge. Because porridge, as it is also called, is prepared within a few minutes and is also full of healthy nutrients that will keep you full for a long time. This makes porridge suitable for losing weight – reassuring news for all oat lovers.
3. Find a healthy exercise routine
When it comes to maintaining the desired calorie deficit, there is no way around healthy routines. Regularity and continuity are particularly important, not only in nutrition, but also in sports.
To avoid unwanted weight gain, the respected American College of Sports Medicine recommends 150 to 250 minutes of moderate exercise per week 7 . Whether this is achieved through endurance or strength training depends on your preferences.
Both training methods have their advantages 8,9. For example, strength training can reduce fat mass while increasing muscle mass – you will maintain your weight, but with less fat and more muscle. Endurance training, on the other hand, not only helps you lose weight but also makes your cardiovascular system more resilient, which you can benefit from in both sports and everyday life.
4. Set yourself realistic goals
Whether it's in sports or nutrition, setting realistic goals is essential. Starting out without a plan or with goals that are far too ambitious rarely leads to success. On the other hand, clearly defining your goals with realistic expectations can be extremely helpful in finding the right weight loss strategy.
The SMART goal-setting formula has proven useful in a variety of contexts. 10
- S = Specific
- M = Measurable
- A = Attractive
- R = Realistic
- T = Time-bound (a deadline or time horizon)
This way, you can clearly formulate your goals and effectively measure your progress at the same time. But more on that later.
5. Track your weight loss progress
As you may remember, we warned at the beginning against using the scales too often as a means of control. While we would like to stick to that, it is still important that you record your progress in one way or another.
The reason for this is that many people find it extremely difficult to maintain their weight after losing weight. To avoid falling back into old patterns, you should therefore continue to keep an eye on your diet.
You can do this by regularly weighing yourself, counting calories 11, or using helpful apps 12. However, it's important not to be too meticulous about it – otherwise you risk developing an obsessive behaviour.
You can also use a BMI calculator from time to time to help you keep track. While calculating your BMI every day is not recommended, checking your value every few weeks is definitely a good idea.
6. Avoid crash diets
Last but not least, we would like to emphasise once again what has already been mentioned several times in the article. To keep it short and sweet: crash diets rarely lead to success. If you really want to lose weight in the long term, there is no way around adapting your daily routine.
This means that you have to find routines that work for you and that you can carry out for the rest of your life without much effort. Forcing yourself to do sports that you don't like just because you burn a lot of calories doing them is therefore not going to help you achieve your goal.
However, trying out a few different sports and then choosing the ones you enjoy the most is not at all out of the question. The same applies to your diet, of course. Cutting out certain foods or even banning certain foods altogether won't get you very far – but switching to foods you like will.
Sources
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- Kim JY. Optimal Diet Strategies for Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance. Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome. Published online March 30, 2021:20-31. doi: 10.7570/jomes20065
- Stookey JD, Constant F, Popkin BM, Gardner CD. Drinking Water Is Associated With Weight Loss in Overweight Dieting Women Independent of Diet and Activity. Obesity . Published online November 2008:2481-2488. doi: 10.1038/oby.2008.409
- Swift DL, Johannsen NM, Lavie CJ, Earnest CP, Church TS. The Role of Exercise and Physical Activity in Weight Loss and Maintenance. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. Published online January 2014:441-447. doi: 10.1016/j.pcad.2013.09.012
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- Klem ML, Wing RR, McGuire MT, Seagle HM, Hill JO. A descriptive study of individuals successful at long-term maintenance of substantial weight loss. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . Published online August 1, 1997:239-246. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/66.2.239
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