5 Mistakes You Can Make When Following a Fitness Plan

Trying to lose weight? Then nothing can work better than following a healthy diet plan that fulfills your nutrition need and help you lose weight. Moreover, you can also benefit from making regular physical activity a part of your everyday life and joining a fitness boot camp.

However, when following a healthy diet plan many mistakes can hinder you from deriving the optimum advantage of the foods you consume, thus making it difficult for you to lose weight. If you are also following a diet and have failed to obtain the required benefits wondering what is wrong, this article will help you identify those 5 mistakes you may be making.

1.     Not Getting Adequate Sleep

Sticking to your fitness plan and still not losing weight is a classic result of sleep deprivation. Research suggests a healthy sleep cycle is the key to weight loss and an unhealthy sleep habit can make it difficult for you to lose weight despite following a healthy diet plan. Our sleep has a direct impact on our metabolism and research suggests that a bad night’s sleep, that is less than five or six hours can actually slow down the rate of metabolism. Moreover, lack of sleep is also linked to hormonal changes that can make it difficult for you to lose weight.

Similarly, another factor that is linked with sleep deprivation and makes it difficult for you to lose weight is an increased appetite. Studies suggests people who do not sleep enough eat more as their body is tired and needs more energy to fight fatigue and carry out its functions. A study stated that sleep deprived individuals eat up to extra 500 calories.

2.     Overdoing Your Exercise

Many individuals who are on a diet overdo their exercises in an attempt to boost weight loss. However, overdoing your workouts will not help, but can result in fatigue and leave you hungry. Both fatigue and hunger can contribute to increased calorie consumption that can make it difficult for you to lose weight despite following a healthy diet plan. Experts suggest those who are on a dieting program should devote 80% of their time and efforts to their nutrition and only 20% to exercise.

When deciding between diet and exercise to lose weight, experts recommend weight loss is 75% dieting and 25% exercise. One study suggested that those who merely adhered to dieting without exercise were successful in losing 23 pounds over a period of 15 weeks. Comparatively, individuals who merely exercised and did not make dietary changes lost a mere 6 pounds over a period of 21 weeks. In case your workouts lack proper guidance consider joining a fitness boot camp for professional guidance.

3.     Not Eating Enough Protein

Not consuming an adequate amount of protein is another factor that may jeopardize your weight loss efforts. Since you have to make substantial dietary changes and cut down on the amount of calories you normally consume you are left prone to feeling hungry, weak and exhausted. More often than not, people make the mistake of cutting out protein from their diet in an effort to make their diet fat-free.

However, protein is necessary and the lack of protein in your diet would result in decreased levels of iron and energy necessary to keep you going when you perform exercises. Protein helps build and repair muscles in the body. Moreover, protein also adds strength and stamina. However, you can opt for lean meat that has more protein and zero fat.

4.     Not Drinking Enough Fluids

Not drinking enough fluids is another common mistake people make when they follow a healthy diet plan. While you can cut the intake of sugary drinks and coffee in an attempt to cut added sugar in your diet, you can always consider healthier alternatives, like unsweetened green tea that can actually boost your weight loss efforts.

Similarly, you can also add honey in place of sugar to sweeten your food or your drinks. While restricting the intake of these beverages may help you cut down your sugar intake, it may also reduce your fluid intake. To make up for this, try to drink more water. When your body is not getting the desired amount of water, it raises a red flag, which causes your body to go into survival mode where it starts to retain as much water as is possible to keep your organs functioning properly.

5.     Not Getting Enough Calories

Following a healthy plan does not mean you should starve yourself. It simply means that you should make healthier food choices. Though you may cut down your calorie intake from unhealthy foods, feel free to consume an adequate amount of calories from healthy foods. You can opt for healthy carbohydrates, for example, resistant starch and whole grains.

Similarly, you can obtain your protein from lean meat and fish. However, don’t forget to add vegetables and fruits to your diet. Remember that consuming fewer calories will slow down your metabolic rate that may leave you struggling with low energy.

All in all, these are 5 of the worst mistakes you can make when following a fitness plan.