Metabolic and Mental Health
Seven Mistakes to Avoid When Losing Fat
How to correct these problems with practical solutions
Learning From Mistakes to Solve Problems
Learning from the mistakes and achievements of other people can be invaluable, saving us time and effort.
Leveraging the experiences of people who lost fat sustainably, I provide vital information with takeaway points.
As a lifelong learner, I benefited significantly from other people’s experiences. As a researcher, I found case studies or phenomenological accounts more useful than epidemiological or epistemological research.
The theory from books and papers is important to understand the concepts and mechanisms. However, practical experience is vital to provide valuable information to personalize our requirements.
I acquire knowledge and skills by triangulating a literature review, obtaining other people's experiences, and conducting sensible experiments to create my experiences. This approach worked well for me, as it did for many successful people.
Making mistakes and learning from them is what makes us human. I made numerous mental and nutritional mistakes and documented them in various stories.
The people I personified in my stories also made similar mistakes. My goal is to learn from these documented human errors.
Therefore, I convey my thoughts and theoretical knowledge using phenomenological and ethnographic storytelling techniques in case study formats.
I introduced several people with severe metabolic and mental health problems and fixed their issues with healthy lifestyle habits. Theories might bore many people. In contrast, many readers find stories interesting as our brains love them.
Without going into detail, I extract takeaway points from these stories turning them into factual and problem statements and providing practical solutions as takeaway points.
My goal is to explain what successful people in my circles did wrong, causing fat gain, and how they corrected them with practical tips. I explain briefly why these mistakes matter in the fat loss and healthy weight management journey.
This story is not prescriptive. It does not include health advice. Instead, it contains facts, principles, and opinions for information. My focus is only on lifestyle choices, excluding medical conditions.
Here are the seven common mistakes with practical solutions that I have observed and experienced for decades.
1 — Counting Calories Religiously
Facts and Problems
The most important information for me was to stop counting calories. When I learned fat loss had nothing to do with calories as hormones determine it, I got rid of visceral fat and maintained a healthy weight sustainably.
Yes, excessive calories cause fat gain and make it difficult to lose weight. However, cutting calories too much puts the body in starvation mode. Thus, it attempts to keep every bit of fat, sacrificing its precious muscles, tissues, and even bones.
By cutting calories, we can lose weight, but we hardly lose visceral fat without sacrificing muscles. I touch on the importance of hormones in the next section.
Practical Solutions
1 — Consume adequate calories based on the requirements of the body.
2 — Replace fad diets with a personalized eating regime.
3 — Refrain from excessive cardio.
2 — Neglecting the Effects of Hormones
Facts and Problems
As mentioned in the previous section, hormones manage our metabolism.
I introduced critical metabolic hormones in this article titled “Lose Visceral Fat by Understanding the Intricacies of Six Critical Hormones” so I won’t repeat the details.
The powerful hormones affecting fat accumulation or burning are insulin, leptin, ghrelin, cortisol, CCK, and growth hormone. Sex hormones like testosterone for men and estrogen for women play an essential role.
Insulin and leptin resistance coupled with elevated cortisol and lowered growth hormone is a major cause of fat accumulation and obesity.
Practical Solutions
1 — Improve hormonal balance with good nutrition, sleep, rest, and exercise.
2 — Get the hormones checked via medical tests.
3 — Obtain support from endocrinologists.
3 — Consuming Refined Carbs Excessively
Facts and Problems
The most significant risk factor for gaining weight is impaired glucose metabolism causing insulin spikes leading to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.
Many people thrive with non-refined carbs (whole and complex), usually coming from vegetables, nuts, legumes, and whole grains. However, refined carbs like high sugary foods raise blood glucose levels quickly, causing insulin spikes.
As the body can handle only a minimal amount of sugar at a time, it sends them to muscle cells. However, if the muscles do not accept it due to the abundance of sugar in the cells, the insulin hormone sends it to fat cells. Fat cells are more receptive to glucose as the body can quickly turn glucose to fat and store it.
Therefore, paradoxically, we gain fat without eating fat.
Practical Solutions
1 — Reduce refined carbs.
2 — Replace with whole and complex carbs.
3 — Get adequate protein and healthy fats.
4 — Fearing and Avoiding Healthy Fats
Facts and Problems
Some healthy fats are essential for the body, especially to maintain hormonal balance. This is because every cell needs fat molecules like cholesterol.
We fear cholesterol for various reasons, but the body needs it to function. If we don’t feed the body with cholesterol-containing food, it creates it in abundance by itself, as I explained in this story.
I consume more healthy fats than average as my primary energy source, but everyone does not need to eat the same amount of fat. Some essential fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids, require only a few grams.
For example, consuming less than five grams of DHA and EPA can meet the requirements of many people, as confirmed by NIH and FDA, as I cited in my linked article.
Practical Solutions
1 — Remove fatphobia and understand the importance of healthy fats.
2 — Gradually increase healthy fats by reducing refined carbs.
3 — Ensure to get adequate omega-3 fatty acids daily.
5 — Overstressing the Body and Brain
Facts and Problems
The human body is not a machine. Instead, it is a biological entity with a complex metabolic and defense system.
Thus, it requires nutrition, movement, sleep, rest, and fun to function. Unfortunately, one of the biggest mistakes made by myself and the people I observed was overstressing the body to burn calories, causing hormonal imbalance.
The body releases the cortisol hormone to manage stress when we overstress it. Elevated cortisol levels cause an imbalance of other hormones and prevent the body from burning visceral fat and causing muscle loss.
Practical Solutions
1 — Give the body the necessary nutrients, sleep, rest, movement, and fun.
2 — Recover from physical, mental, and emotional stress timely.
3 — Take breaks at work and slow down when needed.
6 — Causing Nutritional Deficiencies
Facts and Problems
The body needs macronutrients and micronutrients to survive.
Macronutrients are proteins, fats, and carbs. While proteins are building blocks of the cells, fats and carbs provide energy. Micronutrients are minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients needed for metabolic activities.
So, inadequate macro and micronutrients cause stress for the body as the body cannot create some of them. Therefore, giving the body essential nutrients in adequate amounts is critical for metabolic and mental health.
The biggest mistake for me and several people I observed were fatphobia. As mentioned before, healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids are essential.
Another mistake is eating junk food with empty calories and not giving required micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins.
Practical Solutions
1 — Consume an adequate amount of macro and micronutrients.
2 — Consider personalizing the diet with help from a dietician or nutritionist.
3 — Supplement with essential micronutrients if the diet is insufficient.
Supplementing with mineral and vitamins require support from qualified healthcare professionals as they might cause side effects or interfere with medications.
7 — Living a Sedentary Life in Comfort Zone
Facts and Problems
The human body needs movement. Sedentary life is the cause of many ailments, including fat gain and obesity.
Exercise is as important as sleep, rest, and fun. However, the amount and frequency of exercise vary from person to person.
In my opinion, we don’t need excessive exercise unless we want to be bodybuilders, elite athletes, or work as firemen. We need to move from comfort to the stretch zone.
We can personalize our optimal amount and frequency based on our needs and goals.
Practical Solutions
1 — Move the body with joy daily.
2 — Create a personalized workout regime with help from professionals.
3 — Recover from previous workout sessions before starting the next one.
Conclusions and Takeaways
I provided a summary of mistakes with facts and opinions. My opinions come from observations, a review of the literature, and my experimentations.
The practical solutions I listed are not prescriptive but informative. Using these principles as a checklist, we can personalize our lifestyle goals.
I excluded medical conditions in this story as my focus is only on lifestyle changes to improve metabolic and mental health. Those suffering from medical conditions need to obtain support from qualified healthcare professionals.
In addition to the amount of food, the frequency of consuming food also might make a difference in losing visceral fat for some people.
In my experience, frequent meals did not work. Thus I had to use a time-restricted eating regime. However, regular meals work for some people. Therefore, we also need to personalize the frequency of our eating regimens.
Besides, some people thrive on plant-based and others on animal-based diets. I tried both, and animal-based nutrients worked better for me. As we are all different, customizing a diet is essential. Diet is a health matter.
As metabolic health is closely related to mental health, we also need to nurture the brain with nutritional support, activating self-healing, initiating autophagy, powering mitochondria, browning white fat, increasing glutathione, and improving BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor).
As emotions play a critical role in our health, we need to gain emotional maturity, regulate our emotions with cognitive flexibility, increase social intelligence, and create a robust emotional self-defense system.
Last but not least, weight loss needs to be slow and gradual.
You may learn about what people (I observed and documented) made wrong and how they corrected their mistakes in the listed stories below.
Stories Documenting Successful Fat Loss Journeys
These people’s typical success factors were accepting situations, learning from mistakes, taking personal responsibility, taking timely action, seeking support, and making commitments.
A Single-Mum Reversed Her Obesity and Built up a Unicorn Business
Fixing Three Health Conditions Accelerated Rosalia’s Fat Loss
How Alberto Melted His Potbelly & Doubled Testosterone in a Year
Bruno’s Diet Led Him to Loss of Visceral Fat and Gain of Lean Muscles
Three Health Foods Ruined Juliana’s Health When Used Excessively
Audrey Eliminated Back Pain and Transformed Her Appearance Dedicating to Six Minute Plank.
With 90+ Audiobooks Annually, Aria Improved Her Knowledge and Defined Her body.
Charlotte Lost 40 Pounds of Visceral Fat After Winning the Battle Against Chronic Fatigue.
After Defeating Arthritis Pain, Shane Lost Visceral Fat and Gained Lean Muscles in Five Steps.
Tina Quit Caffeine, Nicotine, and Alcohol and Replaced Them with Healthier Options.
Betaine (TMG) Supplementation Improved Four Health Conditions for Steve (Scientist and Bodybuilder)
How Adrian Shredded His Body Landing a Dream Job at a Well-Paying Fitness Company in a Month.
These are only selected stories from my large collection. I met hundreds of people and learned from their experiences. Thus, I plan to document and share more inspiring and educative stories as my time allows.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
I aim to increase the hormonal intelligence of my readers and write about various hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, glutamate, and histamine.
One of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population.
To raise awareness about health issues, I have written several articles that present my holistic health findings from research, personal observations, and unique experiences. Below are links to these articles for easy access.
Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, and Major Diseases.
I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.
Disclaimer: Please note that my posts do not include professional or health advice. I document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.
I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.
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