Ten Worst Ways to Lose Weight

All anybody hears on the television or radio these days is how to lose an extreme amount of weight in the shortest amount of time. Unfortunately, that is possible, at least not in a way that is healthy and safe. Here are the top ten worst methods to lose weight:

1. Diet pills
Anything that requires popping a pill and proclaims instant results is usually unsafe and wrong. Most pills are loaded with astronomical amounts of caffeine or some other heart rate accelerating drug. Even drugs like Alli that are FDA approved can cause intestinal problems, plus they are always outrageously priced. Instead of popping a diet pill with your morning donut, it is wiser to consult a doctor and plan a healthy eating and exercise plan.

2. One Food Diets
Cabbage soup. Grapefruit. Juice. Lemonade. All of these have one giant factor in common: none of them will help you lose weight and keep the weight for good by eating just that for weeks. One food diets put the body at risk for malnutrition, diabetes, goiter, scurvy, and many other diseases. Taking away integral parts of the daily diet is harmful to the brain too. Eating one hundred grapefruits in a week won't melt the pounds away, but it will give you a toxic amount of vitamin C and really snazzy smelling breath!

3. Too much weight, too fast

A big mistake with many people looking to shed a couple of pounds and tone up. Designing a strength routine that is suitable for a seasoned body builder can cause back pain and torn ligaments. Instead of pumping as much iron as once, focus on a comfortable weight level and augment the weight on the third workout.

4. Eliminating a Food Group
Really? You decided that cutting out carbohydrates, i.e. the most important macro-nutrient that your body needs to survive will help you lose weight? Actually, quite the opposite! Sure, the body will seem as though it is losing all of that fat, but really it is dehydrating and storing up the fat and protein that you are eating and storing it. Cutting out any of the macro-nutrients: fat, protein, and carbohydrates is a very scary way to attempt to lose weight. The body will find a way to keep you alive...even if that means eating your muscles.

5. Fad Diets
Face it, fad diets are exactly that...a fad. It will hit the stores running and take many people along with it, but it doesn't work. Just like pills, it is a a quick fix that never creates healthy habits.

6. Exercise Alone
If you have a hard time losing weight or sticking to a healthy plan, then exercising alone is probably not for you. Not only do you only have YOU to motivate YOU, but you have nobody to show your progress to. Many studies show that having to live up to somebody else will motivate us to keep going. And hey, promising your friend to exercise with them thrice a week forces you to do it. Nobody wants a flake of a friend. So go out there and get in shape with somebody who needs help too.

7. Not being Well Rounded
You heard me. Okay okay. Not in a personal manner. Choosing to just exercise or just go on a diet is a surefire way to set yourself up for failure and minimize results. Creating an optimal eating plan that is delicious and simple enough for your liking, plus adding physical activity will surely maximize your results.

8. Over exercising
Exercising too much can actually have a negative impact on the body. The body may not be taking in enough calories to make up for the energy deficit and it will begin to hold water weight and slow down the metabolism. Remember that the body needs energy to produce energy. If you find yourself running 5 miles everyday plus lifting weights, plus doing yoga, plus taking a long evening walk, but you are only eating 1200 calories....you will not lose weight.

9. Not making a plan
Maybe you think that you don't need to plan out your workout or you don't need to write down what you ate today, but I kid you not, it will greatly improve your chance of getting in shape when you want to be in shape. Buy a cheap notebook and on one side log in your workouts and on the other side log in your calorie intake. For example, I have my workout routines penned into my daily planner months in advanced...that away I can never say that I do not know what I am supposed to be doing today. Plus, writing down a calorie and goal and meeting it is extremely important....it will help you avoid eating to much or not eating enough for that day.

10. Procrastination
Putting off that workout until later can be the most damaging thought throughout the day. The next thing you know it is 9pm and you are too tired to workout. Find a time that is best for you and stick to it....think of it as a business meeting.