Washington - Weight loss and exercising continue to be among the most popular New Year’s vows.
It would be wonderful if the fat melted off as soon as we ramped up our workouts and swore off sweets.
But many people find that weight loss isn’t that simple or that linear. Here are some common weight-loss traps and how to avoid them.
1. You do too much too soon
Many people try to overhaul their diets while simultaneously logging monster workout sessions at a pace that’s unsustainable.
‘People get all excited about counting calories, they over exercise and undereat, and it ends up being too much restriction,’says exercise physiologist Jenny Hadfield. Three weeks after they start, they can’t manage it, and the scale tips the other way.
Without adequate fuelling, workouts become a waste of time; with no energy to push their bodies faster, harder and longer, people can’t make substantial fitness gains.
And the body rebels, Hadfield says. ‘When we drastically reduce calorie consumption and combine that with higher levels of exercise, the body adapts by lowering our metabolic rates.’
So you may drop kilos at first, but eventually you regain the weight, and then some. And there’s new evidence that excess restriction messes with the body’s hunger mechanism.
In a study published in the December 2015 issue of eLife, when rats’ meal times were limited, levels of the fullness hormone ghrelin plummeted and they ate twice as much.
Hadfield says baby steps are often more effective. With exercise, do a variety of workouts: short easy aerobic efforts, endurance-building long sessions, strength and cross-training. And make one to two small dietary changes at a time. Give yourself time to adjust to each change before making another.
‘Even just a glass of wine can be the difference between maintaining and losing weight,’ says dietitian and exercise physiologist Jim White.
But don’t get rid of the pre-workout nosh. White recommends eating a snack of 100 calories 30 minutes before exercise - say a piece of fruit, a cup of yoghurt or half a granola bar. ‘You just don’t want to be hungry, as that can cause you to be weak,’he says. Experiment with different foods to figure out what gives you a boost without upsetting your stomach.
2. You adopt a diet off the shelf
Many people hitch their weight-loss hopes to a popular diet, declaring themselves low-carb, Paleo, or gluten-free without considering their own likes and lifestyles.
If a diet requires consuming specialty foods that drain your wallet or make you feel chronically deprived, it isn’t likely to last.
‘One-size-fits-all programmes can be effective in the short term,’ says White, ‘but they can be too hard to follow and people often end up gaining weight back.’
Adopt an eating plan that you can afford and enjoy. And allow yourself a weekly treat meal. Just don’t regard it as a ‘cheat’ meal, White warns, which perpetuates a fear-based attitude about food.
Indeed, research suggests that the idea of cheating can derail your diet. In a study published in the March 2014 issue of Appetite, people who associated chocolate cake with guilt reported less control over eating and were less successful at weight loss compared to those who associated the cake with celebration.
3. Your diet and exercise don’t work
Any diet must support your exercise routine so you get adequate amounts of nutrients. Trainers say they see a lot of people attempting low-carb diets while training for endurance events like marathons, which often backfires.
Carbs are the nutrient the body can most efficiently convert into energy. So trying to exercise without carbs is like trying to drive your car without petrol, according to White. ‘People go to exercise, they have no energy, they hate it and get discouraged.’
Once you pick a workout routine or a sports goal, meet with a dietitian to customise an eating plan that will complement it.
4. You go overboard with the energy bars
Shop shelves are packed with sports bars that promise to deliver speed, strength and energy. But many of these products have calorie, sugar and fat profiles that rival conventional chocolate bars.
Though these foods are designed for refuelling during workouts of 60 minutes or longer, many people go overboard once they start working out. ‘People eat those products and figure that wasn’t real food, now I have to go get a real meal,’says running coach Tom McGlyn. Meanwhile they just ate 500 calories.
He encourages clients to focus on fruits, vegetables and grains for carbs; poultry, fish and lean red meat for protein; and nuts and avocados for fats. ‘Spend the calories on natural foods that we know have vitamins and nutrients that are beneficial,’ he says.
5. You overcompensate for calorie burn
Many people find that the more they exercise, the more they eat, either because the increased activity makes them hungrier or because they feel entitled to a doughnut after a tough workout.
In a study published in the May 2014 issue of Marketing Letters, people who were told a 2km walk was exercise ate 35 percent more chocolate pudding afterward than those who thought the same stroll was a ‘scenic walk’.
And it takes only minutes to eat back the calories burned on a 30-minute run. To avoid this, before your workout, prepare a post-workout snack that you can grab when you return - say some fat-free Greek yoghurt and a piece of fruit, or rice cakes with peanut butter.
And find ways to make exercise fun. Meet a friend for a run so your workout becomes a social hour. Download audiobooks and reserve your exercise time for entertainment. Most important, find a form of exercise that you genuinely enjoy. If you dread it, you’re not going to do it.
Washington Post