Don’t Make These 6 Common Mistakes When Trying to Lose Body Fat

The hardest thing about a diet is sticking to it.

A six-pack of abs is a distant dream for many of us. The reality is that most people would be happy to lose a few extra pounds (kg) and drop a clothing size or three.

Around 80% of diets fail, and obesity rates keep rising across the globe — losing weight must be easier said than done for many people.

A big problem is that content in fitness and health magazines often complicates weight loss. It glorifies extreme diets and workouts and bombards us with superfoods and conflicting advice.

It doesn’t have to be difficult to lose body fat!

I’m here to simplify it for you.

Getting sucked into fad diets

Many of us that have wanted to lose weight have probably tried a diet we saw on a talkback show or in a health magazine article.

You know the diets — the ones with magical results for some celebrities, but sound hard and impractical.

One example is keto or sugar-free. The number of people who think sugar is inherently bad for us astounds me.

Sugar isn’t bad! Yes, refined sugar is unnecessary, but remember that the calories in fruit are often made up entirely of sugar! Natural sugar.

Fad diets often restrict or even ban certain foods, making them very hard to sustain. The crazier that a diet sounds does not mean the better it works — it just means the diet will be harder to sustain in the long term.

Thus, we’re better off creating a diet consisting of healthy foods we‘re likely to eat and enjoy. We should also control our portion sizes, and allow for a treat here and there.

Focusing on nutrition and neglecting portion control

What’s more important to weight loss — the quality of food or calories?

If you said the quality of food, then you’re incorrect.

Don’t believe me? Check out the Twinkie diet. In short, a scientist lost weight eating junk food, by eating fewer total calories than he did before the study.

I’m not saying to replicate this study — it is very important to eat nutritious foods like fruit and vegetables. This should be the foundation of any diet. But, we shouldn’t get hung up on how “healthy” that food is considered.

Healthy foods can still be high in calories and people can often forget this.

How do we lose weight? Being in a calorie deficit. We consume fewer calories than it takes to sustain our body weight — meaning, we continually reduce calories from our diet, to keep losing weight.

Does eating healthy food automatically mean you lose weight? Nope.

Eating healthy does mean it’s easier to consume fewer calories, as the foods are often less calorie-dense. However, unless you’re in a caloric deficit, you can still gain weight by eating healthy foods. Portion control is always important if fat loss is your goal.

You can check out more about the Twinkie diet in the below article.

Cutting out foods completely

Diets often restrict us from eating certain types of food, which can be foods we really enjoy! If we stop eating many of our favourite foods, it is going to be much harder to sustain that diet in the long term.

We have to get out of our heads that it's the type of food we eat making us overweight. Instead, it’s HOW MUCH food we’re eating.

Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean you can eat junk food all day and that the quality of the calories we’re consuming doesn’t matter. We should still aim to have a diet full of nutritious foods such as vegetables and whole foods.

If you love chocolate, it’s completely okay to still eat some in moderation.

Relying on supplements

A common mistake for somebody beginning their fitness or weight-loss journey is buying every supplement that they think might help a little bit.

There are literally supplements called fat burners! This might cause people to think that all you have to do is take these and it melts the fat off your body. Unfortunately, this isn’t how it works.

Some supplements have their place, three I recommend are:

• Pre-workout can improve your performance in the gym
• Protein powder helps add protein to your diet for recovery without the carbs or fat
• Fat burners will give you energy and focus and can help suppress your hunger.

However, you still need to put in the hard work with your diet and exercise. You still need to be in a calorie deficit to lose fat.

Relying on exercise

Yes, exercise is important. Don’t get me wrong.

But, think of it from a 20/80 ratio — 20% of results will come from the gym and exercise, but 80% of your results will come from your diet.

Abs are made in the kitchen! It’s probably not the first time you’ve heard that — because it's the reality. For example, there are around 550 calories in a Big Mac. But, for most people, that means 30 minutes to 1 hour on a treadmill.

What’s easier? Not eating that Big Mac or running on a treadmill for an hour?

If you said running on a treadmill, you’re lying!

Going to the gym every day doesn’t mean you can neglect your diet. It’s easy to overestimate how many calories we burn in the gym and underestimate how many calories we consume. It’s a vicious cycle.

No longer enjoying food

It’s a Hollywood cliche to have a diet consisting of “Chicken, Broccoli and Rice” to transform bodies into superhero status.

The sad thing is, for many people on strict diets, this isn’t far off the reality.

Bodybuilders are a perfect example — they restrict their calories by eating very particular foods that are low in calories and high in protein.

It’s very boring. But bodybuilders are often very passionate about what they do and accept it as part of the gig. But for the average person, this can send them over the edge.

Food is meant to be enjoyed! We can still enjoy food and lose fat.

It’s completely fine to occasionally grab a beer with friends or indulge in a pizza.

Final Words

This article has explored six common mistakes people make when trying to lose fat. Those mistakes are:

• Getting sucked into fad diets
• Focusing on nutrition and neglecting portion control
• Cutting out foods completely
• Relying on supplements
• Relying on exercise
• No longer enjoying food

A diet should be a lifestyle and it shouldn’t be hard to commit. If you avoid the common dieting pitfalls I discuss in this article, you should be on the right path to sustainable fat loss and better health.

Thank you for reading.

If you enjoyed the content, you might enjoy this article about the 7 common mistakes that people make when trying to build muscle.

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