If you’re having too much of a hard time with your cutting phase, check out this list of most common mistakes guys make while trying to lose the extra fat, to get some insight and inspiration!
1. Not having well-defined goals
If you don’t have clear goals for yourself, at least in terms of the amount of fat you want to lose and a time frame, it will be really hard to achieve anything. Having a good plan is a big part of success. It helps you stay motivated and enables you to keep a track of your progress.
2. Relying too much on the scale
Well, many things can affect the numbers on the scale, such as the amount of food and liquids you’ve consumed that day and the clothes you’re wearing. So, if you want to keep track of your weight more precisely, include some other tools to measure your progress. Relying too much on the scale can leave you very confused because there will always be a difference between the numbers and the way you actually look.
3. Not eating enough
If you put many hard calorie restrictions on your body, its reaction is to go into starvation mode, thus dramatically decreasing the metabolic processes. This is understandable if you consider the experiences gathered during the early stages of evolution when food was often scarce and organisms had to minimize the energy, i. e. calories they spend by all means, in order to survive.
This means that if your daily calorie intake is too low, your body will significantly reduce the metabolic functions, causing you to burn less and less calories, which is not what you wanted, right? Starving yourself is an ineffective method which could even end up being counterproductive for your weight loss goals.
4. What about eating too much?
This one is rather simple – we need to burn more calories than we consume in order to lose the fat. It doesn’t matter how hard you train if the number of calories you consume is still bigger than the number of calories you spend. Taking a closer look at what you eat every day and writing it down can be really helpful in keeping track of your calorie intake.
5. Changing diets too often
Always trying out the newest diets and nutritional tips? If you don’t spend enough time sticking to any given diet plan, it’s not a surprise nothing ever works for you. Every diet change needs a few weeks for the body to fully accept and adapt to it, especially if it’s something totally different from what you’ve done before. The best way to know if a certain diet is the right for you or not, is to give it at least a month to become fully effective.
6. Being on a low-fat diet
If you have switched from regular to low-fat products in order to become leaner, you might be in for a unpleasant surprise. Many of the low-fat foods contain added sugar for the improvement of the taste, which is actually a lot worse for your diet than just consuming the regular percentage of fat in products. And like everything else, the consumption of fat has some positive sides too, like boosting your metabolism and increasing the testosterone levels.
7. Not allowing yourself junk meals
Are you one of those people who truly believe they can religiously follow their diet at any time and occasion, for all eternity? I hate to be the one to break it to you, but that’s not going to happen. It’s a part of human nature. We will always have the junk food cravings, sometimes reinforced by a holiday or going through an emotionally stressful time in your life, sometimes fading in the background during a period of special motivation and willpower.
The point is, they never really go away and by trying to suppress them altogether, you’re doing yourself a bad favor – once in a while you’ll snap and compulsively stuff yourself with an entire box of ice cream or a huge greasy hamburger. So, instead of waiting for that moment to happen, try to schedule one day in the month (or even every two weeks!) when you’re going to eat a junk food meal. It’s like giving yourself a permission to cheat – and that way you gain control over the cheating. Still, make sure that you’re within your daily calorie targets!
8. Eating late night snacks
Eating late at night, when your metabolism naturally slows down, is the right way to store some more fat in your body. Also, junk food and sugary snacks and drinks have a stimulating effect on your organism, which can lead to sleep disorders – and you know how good quality sleep is crucial for providing you with the energy needed for your training.
9. Not consuming fat burners
Since cutting is usually really hard and exhausting, fat burning supplements can be of great help. They are designed to support fat loss by enhancing the metabolism and suppressing the appetite, which provides the organism with more energy and focus, optimizing workout potential. They are most effective at jump-starting weight loss.
The important thing is to be very careful when choosing the right fat burner, since some of them are ineffective and some can be downright dangerous for you. Invest some time and money into choosing a good quality product that will maintain your body healthy while boosting the burning of fat.
10. Not consuming enough protein
In addition to keeping you full throughout the day and supporting muscle growth, high-protein foods are good for losing fat as well. Your body burns more calories in order to break down protein compared to other nutrients!
– See more at: http://www.fitnessandpower.com/nutrition/top-10-cutting-mistakes-guys-make-all-the-time#sthash.0iOraj3L.dpuf
