4 Mistakes I Made - Why I wasn't Losing Weight.

I am human and just like everyone else, I make mistakes and I fall off track with some of my goals. However, the older I have gotten, the harder I work for things I want in life. I find that living on my own and supporting myself I think about decisions more intensely and dedicate myself more to goals. It was not always like this. Like I state in my previous posts, I did a lot of trial and error with my weight loss journey. Sometimes I would be on a roll and steadily lose 2-3 pounds a week. Some weeks I would not lose anything at all. I will admit, because I feel like I need too, I have not stuck to my nutrition lately like I should be. Thus, I have decided I want to do my weight loss contest along with my friends and readers who are also doing it. I need to get back on track 110% with my eating. I practice what I preach - what kind of person would I be if I did not! Of course, I will not be eligible for the prizes I am giving away! I help motivate you guys and in return my readers motivate me more than anything.

I did notice that for a period of time, I kind of stopped losing weight. I got at a plateau. This usually happens to everyone. When this happens it is up to YOU to bounce back. For me, it is time to revamp my diet and add a little harder cardio (which I will be sharing soon!!!) back into my life. I have hit a little bit of a plateau again and now it is time to be dedicated. Starting January 30th ladies and gentlemen, my contest beings and we have 90 days to get our beautiful, fit, and healthy beach and summer bodies ready! So now I am gong to list some mistakes I have made in the past with my nutrition that caused me not to lose weight. In return I hope you will not do this!



1.) I waited until I was starving. Do not wait until you are starving to finally eat.

I did this a lot, especially after my work out at the gym. I would wait about an hour if not more to eat after I finished. By the time I ate I was so hungry that my eyes were a lot bigger than my stomach. When you wait to eat until you are starving, your body goes into a survival mode what a lot times causes you not to care what you eat because you are so hungry. Often times this results in eating greasy fast food or something not healthy for you.. When you feel you are starting to get hungry but it is not yet time for a meal, eat something light but filling to subside the hunger. Some ideas would be: an apple with peanut or almond butter, protein shake, 5-6 oz of a lean meat, handful or almonds or mixed nuts, or raw vegetables with some hummus or light dip. I personally keep a small baggy or mixed nuts in my purse so I can have something with me at all times because you never know would could happen.

*An example I specifically remember when I first started losing weight I was doing well but was having a hard time realizing not to wait until I was starving to eat. I finished up my work out at the and decided to run a few errands before I finally ate. I was so hungry by the time that I was able to get food that I told myself: "FORGET IT! I am so tired and hungry that I don't care what I am going to eat". So I pulled into Sonic and was dreaming of a cheeseburger and a milk shake with candy pieces in it. I got up to the drive-thru to place my order and I snapped myself out of it. The woman asked if she could take my order and I told her "I'm sorry, I can't do this". Nervously, she replies "O...k" and I sped off. LOL I bet she totally thought I was nuts. I was able to fight my craving but I learned to not let myself get that hungry anymore and it really helped.

2.) I went to bed so freaking hungry! Do not go to bed extremely hungry.

I can't even begin to fully express my demons with this battle! I always heard "Do not eat after 7PM" or "Do not eat right before bed". W R O N G!! I like to get in bed early because getting enough sleep is very important in being healthy and losing weight. So many nights I would get in bed at 9PM then by midnight I was STILL awake tossing and turning because I was so hungry. A lot of times after 3 hours of tossing and turning and not being able to sleep, I would give in and not only go eat, but binge. If I did not give in and was finally able to fall asleep the next morning I would be so hungry that I would not start off with a good breakfast. Have some protein an hour or 45 minutes before bed if you are still hungry. Eating protein before bed keeps your body working all night long instead of fasting, which in turn keeps your metabolism going. Some examples: A protein shake, egg whites, lean meats, or some greek yogurt. However, I do not recommend a lot of sugar or carbs before bed. Your body will not burn that as fast and it can also give bad dreams (Trust me on that).

3.) I was not getting enough sleep! Adequate sleep is essential.

This is pretty self explanatory and is like a chain of events. If you do not get enough sleep, when you wake up the next morning you are extremely tired. This results in probably not making the healthiest breakfast or relying heavily on caffeine (which will only burn you out quicker), which will THEN result in a bad work out later. THEN THIS WILL result in turning pessimistic about your achievements for the day and about what you are doing with your weight loss. See, this is just not a good route to go. If you continuously do not get enough rest and burn yourself out, you will only see negative results. Sleep deprivation causes a chemical imbalance that can cause overeating. Leptin and Ghrelin are two hormones affected by sleep deprivation. Different studies of research has shown that sleep deprivation also decreases the body's cortisol and insulin levels. Cortisol works along with Ghrelin to regulate appetite. As a result, people who lose sleep may continue to feel hungry despite having an adequate amount of food. I have trained myself to get 8 hours of sleep a night. It took a while to do this because I love to stay up late but the benefits from getting enough sleep at night heavily out weight staying up late. Sure, I miss some of my favorite TV Shows (Thank God for DVR, haha) but the sacrifice is worth it. I feel SO much better during the day, my work outs are better so I can burn more calories, and not to mention it keeps my mind strong so I can keep mentally dedicated to this lifestyle.

4.) Sometimes I did not think about what I was eating. It is important to think before you eat.

Your life is probably similar to mine. It is not always easy to be able to plan your meals out, eat what you are supposed to, and at the right time. I am constantly on the go with working, running errands, seeing friends and family, having appointments, etc. so we need to think. Think before you eat. Grabbing lunch with a friend, you stop by your moms and she has freshly baked cookies, there is candy at the doctors office. All of these little things make a huge difference when you are trying to lose weight. I go out to dinner with my friends all of the time. It is so easy when you get there to say "I'll have a glass of wine, an appetizer, and ooh dessert looks good too". A lot of times we genuinely forget that we are trying to eat better so remember to think about what you are going to eat. Before you order the fried chicken with loaded mashed potatoes and biscuits, ask yourself: After the 15 minutes it takes to eat it - is it really worth it? Thinking before I ate saved a TON of calories while I was trying to lose weight.

There are still 8 do enter my contest! Check out January 15th's blog entry for full details!