These 3 overlooked weight loss mistakes might just surprise you! Let’s talk about what we can do to “fix” them and lose more weight.
Although, these weight loss mistakes are common and can be fixed, they are often overlooked! They can also quickly derail your weight loss efforts.
I know because I am guilty of making all three of these weight loss mistakes during my weight loss journey. The good news is, I learned from them, fixed them, and finally got the incredible weight loss results I’d been searching so long for.
Alright, my friends, HERE’S THE DEAL! I am NOT A DOCTOR. I’m also not a licensed nutritionist or even a trained weight loss consultant. I am simply a middle-aged mom and elementary gym teacher, who figured out how to STOP DIETING FOREVER and lose 46 pounds in just 4 months.
The information in this post is a REAL and TRUE reflection of my own personal experiences, frustrations and mistakes. However, like I tell my elementary students – we can actually learn more from our mistakes than we can from our successes! And, I admit to making plenty of mistakes as I navigated through my weight loss journey. But it is through those mistakes that I learned valuable lessons that ultimately led me to find life-changing success.
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Today, I want to HELP YOU learn from MY WEIGHT LOSS MISTAKES! Are you ready to start LOSING MORE WEIGHT and FEELING GREAT? LET’S DO THIS!!!
OVERLOOKED WEIGHT LOSS MISTAKE #1: Not Getting Enough ZZZZZZZZZZ’s
Did you know that the amount of sleep we get each night is directly related to reaching (or not reaching) or weight loss goals?
MY MISTAKE
When I was overweight and beginning my Weight Loss journey, I was getting between 4-6 hours of sleep each night. Maybe? If I was lucky. I was teaching all day and not getting home until about 6:00 pm. Then I would race up to the grocery store, get home completely exhausted and still have to cook a big dinner for my family.
After cleaning up the kitchen, I would spend the rest of the night grading papers and lesson planning. Sometimes if I was working on a project or activity for my class, I wouldn’t even crawl into bed until after midnight. Then, I was up by 5:00 am the next morning to teach English to the kids in China from my basement computer. Shortly thereafter, I would log off, jump in my car and head back to my teaching job to repeat the craziness all over again.
I never once thought that getting crappy sleep had anything to do with not being able to lose the extra weight that I had put on. Oh, boy was I wrong!
Did you know that getting fewer than 6-7 hours of sleep each night is considered “SHORT SLEEP?” Short sleep has been repeatedly linked to weight gain, greater waist circumference, accumulation of belly fat and a higher BMI. In addition, “Short Sleep People” have a 41 percent risk of becoming obese.
Lack of sleep also negatively affects hunger hormone levels. It increases ghrelin, which makes you feel hungry, and decreases Leptin, which makes you feel full. In turn, these disrupters often influence a person to crave and consume more sugary and highly processed foods. In addition, poor sleep has also been linked to the increase of cortisol, a hormone that is related to stress.
Getting enough sleep can help MODERATE YOUR APPETITE and it also may help you to MAKE HEALTHIER FOOD CHOICES. Interestingly, getting enough sleep each night can also BENEFIT YOUR METABOLISM. The length of your sleep may also have an effect your on RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) or the number of calories your body burns when at rest.
HOW I FIXED MY WEIGHT LOSS MISTAKE AND LEARNED FROM IT!
Once I realized that my weight loss struggles were quite possibly related to my lack of quality sleep, I began changing my sleep routines. Gradually, I started going to bed earlier and earlier. I now make sure that I am in bed by 10:00 pm. Since, I no longer teach English to the kids in China, I don’t get up until about 6:30 am. This gives me a full 8+ hours of sleep each night.
I also found that by backing up my bedtime, I became much less tempted to want to snack late at night. I usually stop eating between 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm which gives me about two full hours before going to sleep. That seems to be the perfect time for me because it gives my food from dinner enough time to settle nicely in my belly. I feel comfortable but not hungry at all because I ate just a few short hours earlier.
In the last several months, I have since incorporated some pretty amazing game-changing sleep strategies into my routine. My absolute favorite bedtime addition includes spraying RELAX Aromatherapy Lavender Spray on my pillow each night. This one strategy alone has been life-changing!
Take a look at my complete list of “sleep helpers” here!
- Never going to bed feeling too hungry or too stuffed!
- Consistently going to bed and waking up at the same time each night and morning!
- Limiting naps during the day if possible, especially long ones.
- Consistently getting exercise each day. Walking is a great option!
- Making the bedroom a SCREEN-FREE zone with no phones in bed!
- Avoiding caffeine later in the day!
- Making sure the alarm clock is heard and not seen.
- Taking a melatonin supplement when needed!
- Spraying RELAX LAVENDER SPRAY (stress-relieving)on my pillow each night!
- Taking a shower at night right before going to bed. This is a really big one for me as it relaxes me so much!
The bottom line is…Believe it or not…Your sleep routine most definitely correlates with your weight loss journey! So be sure to get ALL of your ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ’s!
OVERLOOKED WEIGHT LOSS MISTAKE #2: NOT TAKING A “CHILL PILL”
Did you know that stress can significantly impact your ability to lose weight? Yup, it’s totally true! When we are “freaking out”, levels of cortisol in our bodies rise. Cortisol is a stress hormone and it can easily lead to not-so-good changes in our appetite. When the body has increased levels of cortisol, higher insulin levels can also occur. Then, blood sugar drops and cravings for sugary, fatty, crappy foods take over. I’m not going to get into all the science surrounding this but if you are a “knowledge is power geek” like me, I encourage you to do some research on this for yourself.
MY MISTAKE
When I hit my first major weight loss plateau about 10 weeks into my fitness journey, I was extremely frustrated. I couldn’t figure out why I had plateaued because I had made all the changes that I thought I needed to make. I switched up my exercise routine and even decreased my daily 20 net carbs, to a measly 10. Nothing was working and my very TYPE A, perfection-seeking self quickly became frustrated and even more stressed out!
Then I started researching reasons for weight loss plateaus. Suddenly, I came across a few testimonials from people who had found breakthrough success when they started focusing on getting their mind right. They had also incorporated intentional stress relieving strategies into their day. Well, that struck a chord with me and really got me thinking. Hmmm! Could there really be a connection between stress and weight loss?
HOW I FIXED MY WEIGHT LOSS MISTAKE AND LEARNED FROM IT!
Although, I still wasn’t completely convinced that stress could truly be related to my weight loss struggles, I decided to shift my mindset. Within just a few days, I focused on being intentional about not allowing my weight related frustrations to control my thoughts. I told myself that losing weight was not a race and I released myself from the pressures of meeting a “goal weight date” in my mind. Well, guess what? Believe it or not, after this intentional brain “release,” I was down almost four more pounds the very next week.
Over the course of the next few months I began incorporating several stress-relieving strategies.
10 amazing stress relieving strategies that I began consistently incorporating into my life!
- More date nights with my husband
- Designating 1-2 nights per week to relax and unwind in our hot tub after work
- Setting a cut-off time deadline for how long I would allow myself to stay after work doing school stuff
- Chilling out and doing the “WORDLE” every day
- Not checking my work email on the weekend
- Taking my sweet dog, Buddy, on a 30 minute walk every night after dinner
- Spraying RELAX LAVENDER SPRAY (stress-relieving)on my pillow each night! (I seriously love this stuff)
- Starting a “Gratitude Journal”
- Making time to read at least 15 minutes a day from a true crime book (my guilty pleasure).
- Watching an episode of Dateline (my absolute favorite show)or 1-2 very poorly acted, predictable but strangely entertaining LIFETIME MOVIES (my other guilty pleasure) every week.
I am now, 100 percent convinced that stress is most definitely directly related to reaching our health and fitness goals. Stress is everywhere in the world and we absolutely cannot escape it altogether. However, we can be intentional about managing it by incorporating specific strategies that work best for us and our individual situations. So, relax, take a few deep breaths, and don’t let your bottle of “chill pills” get too low!
FUN FACT: Did you know that “STRESSED” spelled backwards is “DESSERTS”? There’s a strategy for you – EAT MORE DESSERTS! Healthy ones of course!
OVERLOOKED WEIGHT LOSS MISTAKE #3: NOT EXERCISING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH
If you truly want to get the most “BANG for your BUCK” when it comes to weight loss, you MUST try exercising on an empty stomach.
For many years, we’ve been advised by all the experts to energize our bodies by fueling it with a carb and/or protein-rich snack or smoothie in preparation for an upcoming workout session.
MY MISTAKE
I personally spent decades following this advice after reading multiple news articles, diet books, and fitness magazines touting this information. I would blend together my heavy protein and carb laden smoothie and take it right to the basement to sip on while I completed my workout.
HOW I FIXED MY WEIGHT LOSS MISTAKE AND LEARNED FROM IT!
However, all of that changed, once I learned about the power of intermittent fasting, through the life-changing book, Delay, Don’t Deny. I now know that eating before a workout is NOT the best weight loss strategy for me and it might not be the best for you either!
After researching “fasted workouts” I absolutely believe this is what happens in our bodies when we eat before a workout!
- BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS INCREASE AND INSULIN IS SPIKED!
- OUR BODIES ARE FORCED TO BURN THAT CARBY PRE-WORKOUT SNACK INSTEAD OF OUR STORED FAT!
BUT… If you exercise while you are fasted, your body has no other choice than to start BURNING YOUR STORED FAT. Pretty cool, huh? Talk about getting more “Bang for your Buck!”
So, there you have it! It’s as simple as that! No SNACKING before SWEATING! I would, however, recommend drinking a tall glass of water beforehand to help keep you hydrated. Along my weight loss journey, I kept a fitness journal (another very important tip) and documented EVERYTHING. I was already exercising 4-6 times per week, however, once I switched to fasted exercise. WOW! Let me just say… it absolutely CATAPULTED my results! The difference truly blew me away!
Although it has taken me a few decades, I feel like I have finally learned from my weight loss mistakes and CRACKED THE CODE on weight loss. The discovery of INTERMITTENT FASTING is still #1 in my book but fixing these 3 weight loss mistakes has made my weight loss and fitness journey so much more successful. So, if you are looking to LOSE MORE FAT and WASTE LESS TIME remember to avoid these WEIGHT LOSS MISTAKES and…
- GET PLENTY OF SLEEP
- RELAX AND TAKE A “CHILL PILL”
- EXERCISE BEFORE YOU EAT
If you are looking for more unique Intermittent Fasting, Weight Loss & Health TIPS, TRICKS, RECIPES and More be sure to check out my full So What IF? with Jen WEBSITE and BLOG RIGHT HERE! Until next Time!
And… if you’re ready to go ALL IN and finally lose weight and get healthy FOR GOOD, I’m totally here for YOU! In my INTERMITTENT FASTING and WEIGHT LOSS MASTERCLASS: 6 Weeks to Sexy, I will teach you step-by-step, week-by-week, exactly HOW I lost 46 Pounds in 4 Months with Intermittent Fasting! I’ll share with you every single TIP, TRICK, RECIPE & STRATEGY that I used to reach my goal weight and maintain for over two years now! CLICK HERE if you’re ready to do this TOGETHER!
BE KIND & BE WELL! I hope you spend your day LOVING WITHOUT FEAR and LAUGHING UNTIL YOUR CHEEKS HURT!
WEBSITE & BLOG/So What IF? with Jen
BLOG POST SHOUTOUT
This blog post is dedicated to my son, Carson. As a baby and child, he was the “king of laid-back.” Whenever I was stressed out, I would go to my sweet Carson and he would always make me laugh. That relaxed me and made me wish I could be more like him and just “let things go.” He is an amazing kid who coined my all-time favorite quote. When he was just eight years old I asked him how he was doing one day? His response was “I’m Awesome, mom! If I had 100 thumbs, they would all be up.” I love you to pieces, Carson Michael.
