What is the biggest mistake people make in trying to lose weight?

At our fitness and therapy studio I am asked many times about weight loss.  Our Power Plate whole body vibration equipment is the most efficient form of exercise technology on the planet.  However, while we are making people stronger, I tell our clients not to worry much about “weight”, but pay attention to your physical dimensions, like height to waist size.  One target we should strive for is to have our waist size no more than one-half our height in inches.

When we weigh ourselves we need to remember what we are weighing.  First, we are weighing bone.  Heavier and stronger is better!  Then we are weighing muscle, heavier and stronger is better!  Some visceral fat found around our organs is necessary and has weight associated with it.  It is the pesky subcutaneous fat just under our skin that we need to remove, and is included in our total weight picture. 

Unfortunately, there is no magic way to “spot reduce” these areas of subcutaneous fat.  So the real secret for healthy weight control is your nutrition plan and exercise routine.  I dislike the term “diet”, as this is usually something one “goes on” and then “goes off”.  I prefer the term “nutrition plan”.  We all need to find a nutrition plan that works for us.  Many people make mistakes on their nutrition plan because it is usually based on incorrect and outdated information, and reinforced by the marketing hype of processed food manufacturers.

Some of the mistakes I see people making are:

1.       Counting calories

2.      Eating a low-fat diet

3.      Assuming all calories are alike

4.      Eating too many carbs

5.      Drinking too many carbs

However, the #1 mistake that I have seen is people eating too many wheat products.  We are buying into the marketing of “healthy” whole grains.  So, I suggest to all my clients to try stopping eating grains of any kind for one week and see how they feel.  When you have your weight under control, you can add some of your favorite grain products back as I don’t believe you should ever give up a food you love, but limit it. 

Of course, I strongly believe that you can’t have great health without investing in your body with a “CONSISTENT” EXERCISE PROGRAM.  The older we get the more our exercise program needs to focus on strength training.  It is essential that we regain our muscle mass and stay strong.  It is almost never too late to begin a safe strength training program.  People tend to invest in everything except themselves over the course of their life.  They invest in their education, family, home, car and pets.  Soon, they are getting up in age and begin having lots of pain and health problems.  In my studio I have a sign taken from an article in USA Today, May 2011 “Studies show the chance of someone 65 or older ending up in a nursing home is 50%”.  “Exercise is the closest thing we have to a fountain of youth”.  Make sure that when you reach retirement age, you are looking forward to heading to the cruise ship, not the nursing home.  Till next time.