The holidays are over, and you’re in a hurry to fit back into your skinny jeans. You want fast results, and you are willing to do a dramatic diet to get them. Before partaking in these deadly diet no-no’s, have a read over these tips:
No: Starving Yourself
Fasting or skipping meals will not speed up your metabolism. Your body needs calories to function, so skipping out on essential nutrients will slow down your metabolism, forcing your body into survival mode where it will store energy as fat. Fasting will also most likely lead to binge eating, and you may find yourself consuming even more calories than normal. Instead of starving yourself, try eating smaller meals more frequently. Four to six small healthy meals a day will keep your metabolism running and your body constantly using up fat stores. Ideas for mid-day snacks include edaname beans, baby carrots and hummus, or dried fruits.
No: Diet Trends or Fads
Diet fads are fads for a reason. The Dukan Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, The Zone, The South Beach Diet– they all produce fast results, but it’s in a very unhealthy manner. Also, it is next to impossible to sustain these diets for a long period of time, so soon as you revert to your normal eating style, you will regain the weight and then some, due to your body crashing during the extreme diet. Fad diets are hard on the body and weaken your immune system. Instead of fad dieting, stick to long-term, less intense forms of dieting, like cutting out alcohol or dessert.
No: Soda Sippin’
When on a diet, many of us will look to diet sodas as salad sides. However, sipping on these beverages may do more harm than good, as they sodas are diuretics and may leave you dehydrated. Instead of drinking diet soda, sip on water or herbal, non-caffeinated teas. Be wary of vitamin waters as well”they often have hidden sugars or aspartame in them.
No: Bachelorette-style Eating
It’s easy to fall into a bachelorette eating funk when you have a busy lifestyle. A bag of popcorn for dinner here, Chinese food leftovers for breakfast there”you may think you’re sporadic eating style will help your waistline, but au contraire, eating little bouts of high-calorie foods is deadly for your derriere! Try and plan ahead when it comes to meals to save time, energy, and calories. For example, healthy, low-cal soups are easy to make”and freeze “ for weekly meals.
No: Wild Expectations
Just because you’re BFF managed to lose 5 pounds in one week does not mean that you can or should. Everyone has a different body type and a different metabolism, so don’t get down if you’re losing weight at a slower pace than they are.
