5 Diet Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Switching from sugar to artificial sweeteners. I am not a fan of sugar, but don't go from bad to worse! Sugar will cause you to gain weight so those zero calorie sweeteners may sound enticing. These artificial sweeteners may disrupt hormone production in your body. Which means that it will make it harder for you to lose weight and burn fat. Those fat burning hormones wont be produced at the same rate as would be without taking the hormone distributors. That is besides the possible link aspartame has with cancer. So you want to be low on sugar, but keep your consumption of artificial sweeteners low as well. Try honey or stevia instead. 

Mistake #2: Starvation Diet. Surviving on a strict water and carrot diet may get some good results at the start, but will result in crash in no time. Your weight may be going down when you step on the scale. The thing is that you wont be losing fat-you will be losing liquids and muscle mass. So you will just feel miserable, be nutrient deficient and not even losing fat after all the pain. You want to diet right!

Mistake #3: Fat Free Foods. Avoiding fat is a common tactic to losing weight. No animal fats, no olive oil and no whole milk. Although some fats should be avoided like the trans fats in fried food, many fats are necessary for optimal body function.  Healthy fats like omega 3 packed foods such as fish are not something you want to avoid. Without omega 3 it may be hard for you to lose weight. Fish, flax seed, chia seed and eggs are sources of omega 3s. Healthy fats may satiate your appetite so you wont overeat as opposed to eating only fat free foods which will cause you to eat more (and gain more weight). Avocados and eggs may have fat but they are good for you. Most of your brain is fat, so lets not get too scared about any form of fat. 

Mistake #4: Not drinking enough. We are made up of 3/4 water so drinking water is essential. Drink 8 or 9 glasses of water a day. Preferably filter the water so you don't have to take in extra toxins. You can also add a drop of juice from a fresh lemon to increase the pH of the water. Your body will function better when properly hydrated, so that will give you a better chance at burning fat properly. Also, you will avoid mistaking thirst for hunger and thereby overeating. The water will help you clear toxins as well. It will also promote more bowel movement. 

Mistake #5: No coconut oil. Not so long ago the soy producers started a marketing that coconut oil is bad for you. They claimed that since in contains saturated fat it will clog arteries and cause heart disease. The masses started avoiding coconut oil and instead buying soy oil and the like. Besides likely being GMO, these products are heated and hydrogenated often and should be avoided. The natives in tropical countries have been eating coconut oil for years with no significant cases of heart disease. Coconut oil is more heat resistant than most oils, so it wont be rancid when used for cooking.