Women, weightloss and 7 common mistakes!

Everyone wants a size zero. But here are some of the most common mistakes that women of all ages wanting to lose weight commit. Are you guilty too?

As a woman, you have really bothered to keep up the perfect shape of your body! You may have included many things like healthy eating plans and fitness routines in your daily schedule. But often, you notice that all your weight loss or weight maintenance efforts have gone in vain. You may want to find out the reasons behind the failure of your fitness plans. These reasons are left unnoticed when you make mistakes.

In the following pages let's see what these mistakes are...

Surveys prove that you often choose to overestimate your calorie requirements. For example, you think that you need 2,000 calories a day, but in actuality, you need fewer calories, say 1,800! The remaining 200 calories adds up in the body as fat and your weight loss plans suffer a failure. You can control this by setting limits on your meals and snacks.

When you run errands and spend a few hours in the shopping malls and engage yourself in shopping activities and in loading and unloading of purchased products, you tend to think that you have lost a good amount of weight.

In reality, you have succeeded in losing a maximum of 400 calories which is just 1/20 of a kilo (or around 1/10 of a pound). Short bursts of intense activities can help you burn more calories.

For example, you can increase your walking speed to burn calories faster while running errands.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh

Healthy eating includes what you eat and how much you eat. Thus, even if you are having nutritious foods, you should check the amount of your food intake.

So even if you are having a glass of blueberry juice, a bowl of oatmeal, a banana and some walnuts, you are gaining 700 calories which can exceed your daily calorie intake quota by a tremendous margin.

You need to check your portion intakes even if you are having healthy foods. Selecting low calorie, low fat foods would allow you to maintain weight.

While ordering fast foods from a restaurant, you often make judgments on the basis of the looks!

For instance, pav bhaji or a turkey sandwich appears to you as a low calorie option in comparison to a pizza. But ultimately the nutrition facts give you great surprises. You need to know the nutrition facts before placing an order.

Research has shown that whenever people choose those fat-free, sugar-free and low-sodium diet treats, they actually indulge in overeating and end up gaining more calories!

You can consume smaller portions of the regular versions instead of eating greater amounts of the diet treats. You cannot remain committed to a diet plan if it does not include your favorites!

You put great emphasis on losing your tummy fat. So you concentrate on ab crunches and totally ignore cardio. The belly would not look flat unless and until you shed off the fat layer on your abs.

And this is possible through regular cardio sessions. You should supplement your abdominal exercises with cardio sessions as well. This would allow you to lose overall body fat.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh

You consider yourself as totally vigilant while you have your food. You claim that you always check your portion intakes. But you fail to note that stolen bites and tastes are adding to your calorie intake.

This is especially true if you grab a handful of popcorn from your friend or when you taste the dough in the process of cookie-making.

You also indulge in mindless eating and tend to eat more whenever you have lunch or dinner while watching your favorite programmes in the television. You should avoid taking meals if you feel that your mind is somewhere else. You can remain mindful while eating if you can get rid of distractions. This might include turning off the radio or the computer and setting aside the book!

As today's smart and vibrant woman, you have learned a lot on healthy eating and fitness routines. But some things really slip out of your tight controls without your proper knowledge. But exercising a little bit of common sense and caution would allow you to get over these loopholes.