It can seem very hard to lose weight.

You might think you’re doing everything right, but you’re not going anywhere.
If you keep following bad or out-of-date advice, it could be holding you back.

People who are trying to lose weight often do these 15 things wrong.

 

 

1. Only Focusing on the Scale Weight

 

 

Many people feel like they’re not losing enough weight even though they are following their diet to the letter.

But the number on the scale isn’t the only way to tell if your weight has changed. Several things affect your weight, such as changes in fluids and the amount of food in your body.
The amount of food and fluids you’ve eaten and drunk can cause your weight to change by up to 4 pounds (1.8 kg) in a day.

 

Also, women with higher estrogen levels and other biological changes may hold on to water more, which shows up on the scale.

In this case, the number on the scale might not be changing, even though you may be losing fat. Good news: there are several things you can do to get rid of water weight.

You may also be gaining strength and losing fat if you’ve been working out.

Even if your scale weight stays the same, your clothes may start to feel tighter, especially around the waist.
Using a tape measure to measure your waist and taking pictures of yourself every month can show that you’re losing fat even if the number on the scale doesn’t change much.

 

 

 

 

2. Eating Too Many or Too Few Calories

 

To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn. In other words, you need to burn more calories than you eat.

People used to think that cutting 3,500 calories a week would help them lose 1 pound (.45 kg) of fat. But new study shows that the number of calories a person needs to lose is different for each person.

At times, you might not feel like you’re eating much. On the other hand, most of us tend to understate and lie about what we eat.

Ten overweight people who took part in a two-week study said they ate 1,000 calories every day. It was found in the lab that they were eating around 2,000 calories every day.

Like nuts and cheese, a lot of the foods you eat may be healthy but also high in calories. Key is to watch serving sizes.

On the other hand, cutting back on calories too much can work against you.

Studies have shown that very low-calorie diets (less than 1,000 calories a day) can make you lose muscle and slow your metabolism down a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Not Exercising or Exercising Too Much

 

 

You will lose some muscle mass along with fat when you lose weight, but how much depends on a number of factors.
You are more likely to lose more muscle mass and have a slower metabolism if you don’t exercise at all while cutting calories.

On the other hand, working out keeps your metabolism from slowing down, lowers the amount of lean mass you lose, and speeds up fat loss. People who have more lean mass find it easier to lose weight and keep it off.

On the other hand, working out too much can also be bad.

Studies have shown that most people can’t keep up with too much exercise over time, and it may even make them feel stressed. It may also stop the production of adrenal hormones that control the stress reaction.

You can’t make your body burn more calories by working out too much. It’s also not good for you.

But doing exercise and lifting weights a few times a week is a good way to keep your metabolic rate up while you lose weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Not Lifting Weights

 

Performing resistance training is incredibly important during weight loss.

Studies have shown that pulling weights is one of the best ways to get stronger and speed up your metabolism. It also changes the way your body looks and helps you lose belly fat.

In fact, a review of 15 studies involving more than 700 people showed that aerobic exercise and weightlifting together seem to be the best way to lose weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Choosing Low-Fat or “Diet” Foods

 

 

People often think that processed low-fat or “diet” foods will help them lose weight, but they might actually make things worse.
There is a lot of sugar in many of these foods to make them taste better.

For instance, one cup (245 grams) of low-fat, fruit-flavored yogurt can contain a whopping 47 grams of sugar (nearly 12 teaspoons) .
Low-fat foods do not fill you up; instead, they make you hungry, which makes you eat even more.

Instead of “diet” or low-fat foods, pick a mix of healthy, lightly processed foods.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Overestimating How Many Calories You Burn During Exercise

 

An awful lot of people think that working out “supercharges” their metabolism.
The metabolic rate does go up a little when you exercise, but it might not be as much as you think.

Studies show that people of all weights often overestimate how many calories they burn while working out, and sometimes by a lot.

People in one study burned between 200 and 300 calories when they worked out. Still, when asked, they said they thought they had burned more than 800 calories. They ended up eating more because of this.

Even so, working out is still important for your health and can help you lose weight. Some people think it burns more calories than it really does.

 

 

 

 

7. Not Eating Enough Protein

 

If you want to lose weight, it’s very important to get enough nutrition.
Protein has been shown to help people lose weight in more than one way.

It can make you feel fuller, cut down on calories, speed up your metabolism, and protect your muscle mass while you lose weight.

People in a 12-day study ate a meal that got 30% of its calories from protein.

In the end, they ate 575 calories less each day than when they got 15% of their calories from protein.

A review also discovered that meals higher in protein (0.6 to 0.8 grams of protein per lb or 1.2 to 1.6 g/kg) may help control hunger and improve body composition.

Make sure that every meal you eat has a high-protein food in it to help you lose weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Not Eating Enough Fiber

 

A low-fiber diet may be compromising your weight loss efforts.
Researchers have found that sticky fiber, a type of soluble fiber, makes you feel full by gelling up with water.
Because it goes slowly through your body, this gel fills you up.

All kinds of fiber may help you lose weight, according to research. A review of several studies, on the other hand, found that thick fiber cut hunger and calorie intake much more than other types.

If you eat a lot of fiber, your body doesn’t absorb all the calories from the foods in mixed meals. Researchers think that if you eat twice as much fiber every day, your body might absorb up to 130 fewer calories.

 

 

 

9. Eating Too Much Fat on a Low-Carb Diet

 

 

 

 

Low-carb and ketogenic diets can help you lose a lot of weight.
Studies have shown that they tend to make people less hungry, which often makes them eat fewer calories on their own.

A lot of low-carb and ketogenic diets let you eat as much fat as you want, because they think that the loss of hunger will keep calories low enough to lose weight.

However, some people may not experience a strong enough signal to stop eating. So, they might be eating too many calories to make up for the ones they’re losing.

Some people add a lot of fat to their food or drinks and still don’t lose weight. They might want to cut back on the fat.

 

 

 

10. Eating Too Often, Even If You’re Not Hungry

 

In order to avoid hunger and a slow metabolism, most people have been told for a long time to eat every few hours.
The bad news is that this can cause people to eat too many calories throughout the day.

Also, you might never really feel full.

In one study, blood sugar levels and hunger decreased while metabolic rate and feelings of fullness increased in men who consumed 3 meals versus 14 meals within a 36-hour time frame .

The recommendation to eat breakfast every morning, regardless of appetite, also appears to be misguided .

One study found when people skipped breakfast, they took in more calories at lunch than when they’d eaten a morning meal. However, they consumed an average of 408 fewer calories for the day overall

It looks like the best way to lose weight is to only eat when you’re hungry.

But it’s also not a good idea to let yourself get too hungry. That being said, it’s better to eat a snack than to get so hungry that you make bad food choices.

 

 

 

 

11. Having Unrealistic Expectations

 

Set goals for health-related things like weight loss to keep you going.
On the other hand, having too high of hopes can actually hurt you.

Scientists looked at information from a number of weight loss center programs. They found that after 6 to 12 months, women who were overweight or obese and wanted to lose the most weight were the most likely to quit.

Change your goal to something more reasonable and easy to reach, like losing 10% of your body weight in a year. With this, you can keep from giving up and increase your chances of success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. Not Tracking What You Eat in Any Way

 

A good way to lose weight is to eat things that are good for you. You may still be eating too many calories, though, if you want to lose weight.

Besides that, you might not be eating enough protein, fiber, carbs, and fat to help you lose weight.
Studies have shown that writing down what you eat can help you get a better idea of how many calories and nutrients you’re taking in and hold you accountable.

Most websites and apps that track your health also let you record how much you move every day. Here is a look at a few famous tools for keeping track of calories.

 

 

 

 

13. Still Drinking Sugar

 

It’s a good idea for people who want to lose weight to stop drinking soft drinks and other drinks with a lot of sugar.
But it’s not a good idea to drink fruit juice instead.

Even fruit juice that is 100% fruit is high in sugar and may cause health and weight issues similar to drinks with added sugar.

For instance, 12 ounces (320 grams) of unsweetened apple juice contains 36 grams of sugar. That’s more than 12 ounces of cola.

Also, calories from liquids don’t seem to change the parts of your brain that control hunger the same way calories from solid things do.
Studies have shown that instead of eating less later in the day to make up for the calories in the drinks, you end up eating more overall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14. Not Reading Labels

 

If you do not carefully read the labels, you might eat calories and ingredients that are bad for you.
On the front of a lot of foods, it says things that sound healthy, which is not always true.

These might make you feel better about picking a certain thing than you really are.
From the back of the container, you can find the nutrition facts label and list of chemicals. These have the most important weight loss information.

To learn more about how to read food labels, read this item.

 

 

 

15. Not Eating Whole, Single-Ingredient Foods

 

This is one of the worst things you can do to lose weight: eat a lot of prepared foods.

Studies on both animals and people show that processed foods may be a big reason why so many people are overweight and have other health problems these days.

Some experts think this might be because they are bad for gut health and cause inflammation.

In addition, whole foods tend to be self-limiting, meaning they are hard to overconsume. By contrast, it’s very easy to overeat processed foods.

If you can, choose whole foods with only one item that have been processed as little as possible.

 

16. Not taking any supplements