The list of weight loss mistakes I’ve made in my life could stretch around the block.
And then some.
I’ll give you a few examples (yes, just a few).
You’d be reading all day if I listed eveeerrryyything out 😂
I’ve gone through phases where I thought I could out-exercise a poor diet (you can’t), crunch and sweat my way to a 6-pack (doesn’t work), and also believing that strict, 100% “healthy eating” was the only way to lose weight (not true either).
If I had known back then what I know now, it would have saved me a ton of time and frustration.
In this post, we’ll be talking about 18 of the biggest weight loss mistakes preventing you from reaching your goals.
Plus, what you can do to fix them so you can start seeing the progress you want (and not suffer like I did).
What is the golden rule for weight loss?
If there’s one thing you understand about weight loss, it should be this…
To lose weight, you have to be in a calorie deficit.
No ifs.
Ands.
Or buts about it.
A calorie deficit is the only (and I mean ONLY) way to lose weight.
It’s a scientific fact.
If you’ve been in a calorie deficit for a little bit now and you’re not seeing:
A.) Weight loss
And/or…
B.) Inch loss
There’s only one plausible explanation.
You’re not following the golden rule for weight loss because you’re not ACTUALLY in a calorie deficit.
Thinking you can lose weight without being in one would be like trying to run forward and backward at the same time.
It’s just not possible.
Print this out, tape it to your well, and refer back to it often until it becomes ingrained in your mind:
“I have to be in a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. If I’m not losing weight, that means I’m not in a calorie deficit”
What are the biggest weight loss mistakes?
1. Jumping from fad diet to fad diet
You’ve tried just about every diet out there and yet.
None have helped you achieve lasting results, and yet, you still get all warm, fuzzy, and excited inside when a new one comes along promising to help you lose the weight you’ve tried so desperately hard to.
That’s one of the biggest weight loss mistakes you can make…
Hopping from diet to diet and chasing after the new “flavor of the month” with your nutrition.
If how you’re thinking about eating has the word “diet” after it, sound the alarm!
Odds are, it’ll be waaaaay too restrictive and you won’t be able to stick with it long-term.
I’m going to use keto as an example to illustrate what I mean.
Bring it on, all you carb-avoiders out there.
First off, understand this…
Any diet you choose, no matter what it is, works as long as you’re in a calorie deficit.
Which meeeeeans…
You can still lose weight without cutting out carbs and going all DEFCON 1.
There’s nothing inherent about foods like bread, rice, pasta, cookies, donuts, chips, etc that just automatically leads to weight gain.
You gain weight by eating too much overall, not due to specific types of foods.
Or in other words, HOW MUCH you eat trumps what you eat.
Second point:
How does the situation typically play out when you try a diet like keto?
You might feel good at first and lose a little bit of weight…
But a life without carbs feels like food prison, and eventually, you just can’t take it anymore.
You overeat and binge to the point where you end up undoing any progress you made (and maybe even put on a few pounds).
The cycle of losing a little bit of weight and gaining it all back keeps repeating itself.
Why?
Because fad diets–where you’re restricting what you can and can’t eat–just are not sustainable.
And no sustainability = no long-term results.
2. Underestimating how many calories you’re eating
Don’t be one of those people who make weight loss mistakes surrounding their diet!
As humans, we all have a tendency to underestimate how much we’re truly eating.
So you trying to eyeball your food or guesstimate portion sizes just won’t get the job done.
If you’re not counting calories, how can you know for sure you’re eating the correct amount of food you should be in order to lose weight?
You don’t.
Let’s say you’re saving up for a new car, what would you do?
You’d set a budget right?
And you’d track all of your income and expenses to make sure you save the money you need.
Counting calories is no different.
You count calories (budget) to ensure weight loss (save money).
3. Not being consistent enough
Are you still not seeing results despite feeling like you’ve been pretty consistent?
Try this exercise as a way to measure just how consistent you’ve been…
Over the next 90 days, give yourself an “X” on the calendar when you hit both (yes, BOTH) your workout and nutrition goals for the day,
When you give yourself an “X” that means you stayed within your calories, hit your strength training workout (if you had one that day), and met your daily step goal.
If you missed out on one or more of those things, give yourself a “0.”
Just to make sure we’re on the same page, you either get an “X” or a “0” for the day.
There is no in between.
At the end of the 90 days, tally up all your Xs and divide by 90 to get your consistency percentage.
For example, let’s say you were consistent 65 out of the 90 days.
That means you were 72% consistent (65 / 90 = 0.72).
Based on that percentage, give yourself a letter grade.
Here’s your scale:
- A: 90-100%
- B: 80-89%
- C: 70-79%
- D: 60-69%
- F: Below 60%
Know this…
Results mirror consistency.
So I have to ask, do your expectations for weight loss match your consistency and effort?
“A” results require “A” effort, not “C” or “D.”
If you’re sitting there thinking to yourself, “I just wish I could be more consistent,” READ THIS POST.
I go over a ton of different tips and strategies to help you be more consistent about weight loss.
4. Not consuming enough protein
Protein and weight loss are like oreos on milk.
It’s hard to have one without the other.
Seriously though, if you’re not eating enough protein…
You.
Are.
Missing.
OUT.
Here’s why:
- Protein is super filling. It helps you keep hunger and cravings in check, which makes staying in a calorie deficit substantially easier.
- Eating protein speeds up your metabolism.
- Protein is a necessity for building/retaining muscle. More muscle = more fat loss.
5. Trying to out-exercise a poor diet
On my own personal list of weight loss mistakes, this one would be the headline at the top of the page.
If you want to feel like a car stuck in the mud just spinning its wheels, try out-exercising a poor diet.
Remember…
Nutrition is the key driver of fat loss, not your workouts.
So if you’re eating like crap, your results will be that too.
6. Thinking you have to be motivated all the time
Motivation is like buying a shiny new car…
At first, you’re super excited.
You can’t wait to show it off to all your friends.
And you drive it around every single chance you get.
But in time that novelty wears off.
So what are you supposed to do then?
Just stop driving it because it lost a little bit of luster?
No, that’s your car.
And If you want to do things like go to the grocery store, get to work, grab a bite out to eat with some friends, you’re going to keep driving it…
That’s usually how things go when it comes to fitness…
When you go on a “diet” or start a new workout program, you’re all excited at first.
You have that “shiny new car” feeling.
But as you know, that won’t always be there.
What almost everyone gets wrong about weight loss (but not you anymore after you get done reading this section) is feeling like you have to be motivated all the time for things to work.
Know this:
Progress can’t happen if you only workout and stay on track with your nutrition when you feel motivated.
Motivation is just a feeling and feelings come and go.
Do you wait to be motivated before going to work, doing the dishes, laundry, or picking up your kids from soccer practice?
No.
You take care of business, regardless of how you feel, because you know those are things that need to be done.
IF you didn’t, you’d have no job, no clean silverware or clean clothes, and your kids would be stranded.
Motivation doesn’t work like this: Motivation → Action → Results.
It works like this: Actions → Results → Motivation.
So instead of thinking to yourself, “I need motivation to take action,” start viewing things like, “Taking action is the first step to feeling motivated.”
7. Searching for a quick fix
I get it.
You want results now.
…As in RIGHT NOW.
But when in life do quick fixes actually work?
Pretty much never.
Weight loss is no different.
The sooner you accept the fact that it takes time, the better off you’ll be.
8. Trying to target fat loss in certain areas
Workouts claiming to help you:
- “Blast away stubborn belly fat”
- “Slim down your thighs”
- “Get rid of fat on the underside of your arms”
^^^ They’re all super misleading because they imply…
- Workouts are the main driver of fat loss (which isn’t true, your nutrition is).
And…
- You can pick and choose where you lose fat from first.
The reality is you can’t target fat loss on specific parts of your body (i.e. those “problem areas”).
You lose fat overall by being in a calorie deficit.
And where that fat comes from first is up to your genetics.
9. Cutting your calories too low
When it comes to the biggest weight loss mistakes, this one will leave you stuck in a weight loss purgatory…
- Lose a little bit of weight
- Gain it all back
- Keep on repeating the cycle
It’s when you do the whole “1,200 calories a day crash diet” thing hoping to lose weight fast.
But you want to know who 1,200 calories a day isn’t enough for?
Toddlers.
So there’s no way it’s even remotely close to enough for adults like yourself.
Sustainability is the name of the game here and trying to sustain your diet on that few calories just doesn’t work.
Take a more moderate approach to your nutrition instead.
Also, if you haven’t been losing weight eating 1,200 calories, no, your body isn’t in starvation mode.
It’s that, well…
You’re consuming more than the 1,200 calories you think you are.
10. Acting like weekends don’t count
Have you seen the movie Men in Black?
Do you remember those little devices the agents used that flashed to make people forget what they saw?
If you treat your weekends like that–as if they don’t count and you can just flash them away and forget–it’s one of the biggest weight loss mistakes you can make.
The truth about weight loss is that weekend calories still count, even if you like to pretend that they don’t.
Yes, you need to factor in things like your weekly “cheat meal,” when you meet up with friends for drinks, or when you go out to eat.
11. Neglecting strength training
Cardio is amazing for your health, don’t get me wrong.
And by the way, you don’t have to do cardio fasted.
But assuming you want a tighter, leaner, and more defined physique…
Strength training needs to be a priority–like UPS same-day delivery–in your workout routine.
It’s not a “Well, maybe if I have a little bit of extra time I’ll give strength training a try” sort of thing.
It’s a NECESSITY if you want to avoid being skinny fat.
Get on a program (or create your own using THIS POST) you can follow for the next 8-12 weeks and make sure you’re applying progressive overload.
Ladies, strength training is for you too.
I promise 🙂
12. Being sedentary throughout the day
Ditch that couch potato persona…
One of the biggest weight loss mistakes a lot of people make is not getting enough daily movement.
But simply walking burns three times the number of calories as your actual workouts.
Which is why it’s the best cardio for fat loss, at least in my opinion.
13. Eating back exercise calories
There’s an option in most calorie-counting apps (like MyFitnessPal) or your smartphone where you can log exercise calories.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
Yeeeeeaah…
You don’t want to do that.
I talk about why in THIS POST.
14. Waiting for the “perfect” time to get started
The reality is things are just never going to be 100% perfect.
You’ll always be able to come up with reasons to justify not getting started.
You promise to start next month and then what happens?
Next month arrives and something “comes up,” so you just keep kicking the can down the road.
In the end, you don’t take action because it’s just never “the right time.”
Think about things like this…
The longer you put off getting started, the longer it’s going to take to reach your fat loss goals.
I saw a quote from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on Instagram and he said…
“Your mindset can either be one day or day one.”
So I ask you this:
Which one do you want to apply to your fitness journey?
15. Thinking you have to be “perfect” along the way
This one kind of plays off of the last one on our list of biggest weight loss mistakes.
There’s no place for perfection.
It’s an unrealistic expectation anyway.
But that’s the great thing about weight loss.
You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to be consistent.
Because results are driven by what you do most of the time, not all the time.
16. Taking on too much, too soon
“Weight loss mistakes, what are those?”
That’s your mindset right out of the gate…
The only thing you’re worried about is getting results ASAP
You don’t care what it takes or how much work it involves.
If that means taking on a lot, then so be it.
When that’s your mentality, it’s kind of like sprinting to start a mile race and trying to maintain that pace the entire time…
You soon realize you took on too much too soon and end up gassing yourself out.
That’s what you set yourself up for by taking on too much, too soon with weight loss.
You end up burnt out and unable to stick with it.
I mentioned this earlier but don’t make the weight loss mistake of feeling like you need to turn your entire life on its head just to see progress.
Progress starts as soon as you take that first initial step.
And it doesn’t have to be a giant one.
17. Being too restrictive with your diet
This one belongs on my own personal list of biggest weight loss mistakes.
For the longest time, I used to have this all-or-nothing mentality when it came to food.
There were only two categories.
Either a food was “good” or a food was “bad.”
And then I felt like I had to eat super “clean.”
Because, in my mind, “healthy” eating meant automatic weight loss.
Whenever I had foods like pizza, burgers, wings, or fries I’d feel guilty and like I was cheating on my diet.
But eventually I realized that when you view things in all-or-nothing terms, deprive yourself, and don’t make room for your favorites, it isn’t “healthy” at all.
It’s food prison.
You’ve probably found that, despite being so strict with your diet, it hasn’t produced the results you want.
Instead of being so strict and rigid with your diet, how about trying a flexible, more moderate approach?
One where, yeah, nutrient-dense whole foods make up the majority of your diet.
But you also allow yourself to enjoy your favorites in moderation.
You can make sure you have a good balance of those “healthy” foods and foods you like to indulge in using this weight loss grocery list I created.
Research shows people who practice flexible eating enjoy greater weight loss than those who are super strict with their diets.
That “happy medium” is the sweet spot for weight loss.
18. Not prioritizing sleep
Out of the many weight loss mistakes we’ve talked about, this is definitely one of the most underrated.
Do you know what happens when you don’t get enough sleep?
Your body produces more cortisol, which is a stress hormone that makes you hungrier.
Hunger on a calorie deficit is like trying to patch up a leaky pipe with scotch tape.
It just doesn’t work.
Ideally, you want to aim for at least 7-9 hours each night.
I know that might be unrealistic for you new parents out there but even just 30 minutes to an hour more than you’re currently getting can make a big difference.
Biggest weight loss mistakes FAQs
What is the 80/20 rule?
80/20 is a good eating for fat loss rule to follow.
All it is is this:
Get 80% of your calories from nutrient-dense whole foods like chicken breast, turkey breast, white fish, potatoes, egg whites/eggs, fruits, veggies, etc.
You’ll get the remaining 20% of your calories from foods you like to “indulge” in, such as pizza, chips, burgers, cookies, and cakes…Whatever you like.
What are some foods to avoid when trying to lose belly fat?
You shouldn’t be “avoiding” any foods on your diet.
1.) Stop looking at foods as either “good” or “bad.”
You can have ANY food in moderation in your diet.
2.) You can’t just target belly fat specifically.
Being in a calorie deficit helps you lose body fat overall but genetics dictate where you’ll lose fat first.
Will eating too few calories put my body into starvation mode?
This is one of the biggest weight loss myths there is.
Your body won’t go into starvation mode from eating “too little.”
Think about starving people in third-world countries, people with an eating disorder like anorexia, or prisoners of war.
They’re all severely underfed and continue losing weight.
There’s a reason why your calorie deficit isn’t working and you’re not losing weight but starvation mode isn’t it.
How can I be more consistent with weight loss?
I linked to this post previously but I’ll link to it again…
You can stay more consistent with weight loss using the 10 strategies in THIS POST.