Even the health conscious – those who exercise regularly, watch what they eat, keep up to date on the latest health issues, don’t eat fast food and don’t binge on sugar – have a few unhealthy skeletons in their closet. They are probably unaware of these common mistakes.
- Dehydration
- Seventy-five percent of the population is chronically dehydrated. Not many people drink eight glasses of water each day.
- Dehydration occurs when more fluid leaves the body than is taken in. Symptoms include fatigue, irritability, headaches, nausea, rapid heart rate and in extreme cases, even death.
- Dehydration also slows metabolism, which hinders weight loss.Once the feeling of thirst or dry mouth hits, damage has already been done and dehydration has occurred. Instead, constantly rehydrate throughout the day to avoid dehydration. The best way to do this is to incorporate water into the daily schedule. Keep a water bottle at your desk and train yourself to sip on it often. Make it a habit to drink a full glass of water with each meal and snack.
- Eating out too often
- Research suggests that most people eat out one out of every four meals and snacks. That’s an average of once a day.
- Restaurant food is designed to do one thing: taste good. To increase eating pleasure, each item is loaded with fat, salt and sugar. This causes you to eat more calories than you actually need.
- Even when ordering “healthy” items, you’re still taking in more calories and fat grams than if you had prepared the item at home. Salads usually come with cream dressing, croutons, cheese sprinkles and a piece of butter-laden bread on the side.
- Not getting enough sleep
- In Gallup Poll surveys, 56 percent of the adult population reported that drowsiness is a problem in the daytime. That’s more than half of us who clearly don’t get enough sleep.
- Healthy adults require seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Failing to meet this need causes sleep debt, which continues to accumulate indefinitely.
- Lack of sleep negatively affects the immune system, nervous system and interferes with healthy hormone release and cellular repairs.The best way to combat sleep deprivation is to set a scheduled bedtime. Your body will benefit from a consistent sleeping and waking routine, and you’re sure to get all the rest you need.
- Stress
- I don’t have to tell you that we are living in a fast-paced world and most of us have stress levels that are through the roof. But what you might not realize is your stress levels are making you fat.
- Stress creates an increase in the hormone cortisol and chronic stress creates a chronic increase in cortisol. This is a problem because is slows metabolism, leads to cravings and is linked to greater levels of abdominal fat storage.
- The vicious cycle of stress and weight gain goes around and around. Stress causes emotional eating, and raised cortisol levels cause food to be stored as fat.
- Exercise autopilot
- Many people do the exact same thing during each exercise session – same machines, same pace, same duration. While that routine sure feels comfortable, the results have long since halted.
- A plateau occurs when the body adapts to the routine and weight loss stops. It is incredibly frustrating and avoidable.
- It’s not about increasing the amount of time spent exercising to see quicker, faster results. It’s all about challenging the body.There are two simple ways to instantly increase the effectiveness of an exercise routine. First, increase the pace. Second, increase the intensity. Constantly vary the speed and intensity to keep muscles guessing and adapting.