Due to the easy accessibility of information including wrong information from the internet, a variety of erroneous beliefs and habits have sprung up about weight loss. These habits are causing more harm to your health and may inadvertently cause weight gain. The following are three of these habits you are doing that are bad for weight loss.
1. Too much fasting
If you are on a diet and you plan to have a cheat meal, then it is okay for you to fast till, that time in order not to exceed your overall calorie targets. But if done too frequently or over a long period of time, it may actually cause you gain weight, as higher levels of the leptin hunger hormone are released, which will cause you to overeat when the fast is over.
If you are fasting for a long period of time, your body is denied access to many nutrients and minerals. When you finally do eat, the body takes most of those nutrients especially proteins, carbs and fats, that either metabolizes them for energy causing vital structures that need those nutrients to be starved to be stored straight away. This continues for a while after the fast is over, and coupled with the possibility, that you be overeating at this time, your fat reserves may grow quite substantially.
2. Misplaced faith in exercise
Because of the bad rep that dieting has got or because some just love their foods, they have decided to only put their faith in exercise to bring about weight loss. This is potentially dangerous as you might now push yourself to work harder in the gym, when you have not seen the results you expected, which may in turn lead to muscle damage, fatigue, injury and even death, or cause you to eat more, when you come home to compensate for the extra energy spent. You might also become irresponsible in your diet, eating every thing that comes your way which may not only cause weight gain, but may cause other health complications.
3. Putting pressure on yourself
The issue of weight loss can get people upset very easily, especially when they do not see the changes that they expect. They can easily enter into a state of chronic stress and depression, that the cortisol hormone causes the body to convert more sugars and carbs to fat for storage.
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