Last Sunday morning I took the family over to have brunch at Kerbey Lane and as always the place was hustling and bustling with families and couples chatting, eating, and drinking mimosas (yup, I might have had a couple).
I overheard the lady next to our booth discussing her “healthy” habits to her what appeared to be significant other (I didn’t see a ring on it though).
In a span of 5 minutes she mentioned about 4/7 of the “healthy” not-so-healthy mistakes I’m going to reveal in this email. SHE was my inspiration for this message today.
Unfortunately, I hear this ALL THE TIME and not just from eavesdropping at restaurants. 9 times out of 10 a woman comes to me and asks for weight loss help and then proceeds to provide me all of the “healthy” things she is eating, drinking, doing, reading, etc…
And 9/10 of those “things” turn out to be NOT so healthy at all. Sure, SOME of them are healthier habits than say, eating fast food or skipping breakfast, BUT if you NEED to bust through a plateau, lose those last 5 or 10 more pounds, or have digestive/metabolic/thyroid issues….”NOT healthy at all,” will not cut it.
In this article you are going to learn a few “healthy” habits that need to be reevaluated.
Mistake #1: Eating focused on numbers: calories, points, servings, etc…
“Nick, I’ve been keeping my calories to about 1000 for 6 months and I’m not seeing ANY weight loss, should I eat less?”
Actually you should DOUBLE your calories! Let me explain…sure at the end of the day if you have a calorie deficit from eating good quality food and exercising you SHOULD see weight loss. You’ll only see weight loss IF you have a healthy metabolism and balanced physiology.
If you’ve been eating too little or eating too much (most women eat too little of the right things and too much of the wrong things) you have INHIBITED your metabolism.
Counting calories, weighing your food, checking your points, and serving sizes is NOT a sustainable to live or eat.
Instead of counting calories, focus on your food quality.
Mistake #2: The Wrong Kinds of Active
“Nick, I’ve been doing 1 hour of cardio 4 days a week on the treadmill and it says I burn 600 calories, BUT I don’t think I’m losing any weight…”
Actually, it would be a good idea for you REDUCE your cardio and increase your metabolic strength training. Let me explain…
For the most part long bouts of cardio (especially on a treadmill) leads to increased cortisol production and decreased lean muscle mass. With decreased lean muscle mass you will automatically have a metabolic lowering effect. Remember, muscle is the ONLY metabolic tissue, you DON’T want to lose muscle (man or woman).
Also, with cardio you get ZERO afterburn effect, meaning if you burn 500 calories doing cardio, that’s it, no extra boost throughout the day. If you burn 300 calories doing resistance training, you’ll burn an extra 600 throughout the day, making it a 900 calorie burning workout. Cool, huh?
Mistake #3: Superfood Obsession and Overload
“Nick, I’m taking a multivitamin, a antioxidant supplement, a superfood smoothie, and spirulina pills…WHY do I still have gas and bloating problems?
Probably from all of the crap in your pills! 🙂 Let me explain…
Loading up on TONS of expensive superfoods is not going to make you healthy, in fact sometimes it can have a worse effect. Many women think they can eat fast food, since they are taking a antioxidant supplement. Wrong…you can’t out supplement a crappy diet or lifestyle.
Focus on WHOLE, real foods, BEFORE you decide to blow your hard earned cash on supplements.
Mistake #4: Low Foods: Sugar, fat, calorie
“Nick, you said to start eating real food, so I started buying low-fat milk, low-sugar drinks, and low-calorie snacks, that’s good, right?”
Wrong. The only thing “low-” foods will make “low” is your metabolism, NOT your weight.
If you see the words “low” followed by “sugar, fat, calorie” the product you are looking at is PROBABLY loaded with chemicals, artificial sweeteners, additives, and is processed to death.
You don’t need LOW anything. You want a HIGH metabolism and you don’t achieve that by eating LOW foods, you must eat LIFE-promoting foods, HIGH in nutrient-value.
Mistake #5: Overeat “healthy” foods
“Nick, I’ve gone gluten-free, only eat olive oil potato chips, grass-fed milk ice cream, and brown rice tortillas and pasta, but I still haven’t lost any weight, what’s the deal?”
Ever heard the term “too much of a good thing?” Well, unfortunately you CAN eat too much of even the most “healthy” of foods. Gluten-free junk food is still junk food and if you aren’t exercising sufficiently, eating too many gluten-free cookies is easy.
After you gain control of your food quality, start to become conscious of your food quantity.
Mistake #6: 1000 crunches a day keeps your abs away
“Nick, I want to work my abs because I want a flat stomach, why do we BARELY do any crunches at boot camp?”
Because you want a flat stomach, of course! 🙂
Crunches are, for the most part, a complete waste of time. Unless you know exactly how to perform the PERFECT sit-up/crunch you are doing your abs, your neck, your back, and your fat loss a complete disservice. You can crunch all day, but a squat is better for your stomach all day, every day.
Learn how to engage and work your CORE, instead of trying to find the next “ab” workout. Your abs are BEST worked once you burn off plenty of fat around your midsection so you don’t keep pushing your excess weight out and out.
Mistake #7: Snack Attack
“Nick, I eat a granola bar and/or a 100 calorie pack for a snack, and I’ve been doing this for the past 6 months and I think I’ve gained weight…you said to eat snacks, WTH?!”
I also said you probably need to eat MORE calories, avoid processed crappy foods like granola bars and 100 calorie packs.
I discuss this more on my blog “5 Healthy, Not So-Healthy Foods” , where I provide 5 types of foods you are eating that you THINK are healthy, but really aren’t.
Essentially, snacks can make or break your fat loss efforts. A great snack choice would be almonds and a pear OR a hard-boiled egg and an apple OR organic beef-jerky and grapes.
Eating granola bars, chips, lattes, and/or NOT eating snacks altogether is a recipe for weight gain.
Plan your week, prepare your snacks in the weekend, so there is no room for impulse purchases.
There are many other “healthy” habits that you could be doing that aren’t so healthy at all. Before you choose to act on healthy suggestions from your friends, family, TV show, magazine, or even ME, do your OWN research and make an educated decision.
I’ve found that many times you will just jump from “healthy” habit to habit, because you just want to lose weight, are frustrated with your lack of results.
Don’t fall prey to “healthy” claims. Understand WHAT makes a food healthy and un-healthy and base your ultimate decision off of your intuition, feeling, science, and trust of source.
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