Is Your Diet Making You Fatter? Try These Fixes!

Boy, I've sure experienced this dilemma in the past! I've been on diets where I thought I was doing everything right, yet I was stuck at a number on the scale, or putting more on! Yikes!

It can be debilitating to say the least to someone who's already feeling discouraged. If you've been there, you know exactly what I'm referring to! I've now got three years under my belt of being healthy and fit. I lost nearly 40 pounds and I've kept it off. And in retrospect, I can now see what I was doing wrong in all those earlier years.

1. I didn't measure my food to really understand serving portions. I would just "wing it" and say, "Yeah, this looks about a cup's worth." Portion control is CRITICAL - especially if you're counting calories. Remember, losing weight is all about math! Calories Expended - Calories Consumed = Weight Loss. There are plenty of sites available where you plug in your weight and age and it will tell you how many calories you need to consume to either maintain your weight, or to lose weight. The concept is easy. The follow through is TOUGH!

2. Although I exercised, I wasn't consistent and I didn't exercise with intensity. I would think, "Gosh, I'm running, why aren't I losing weight?" Well, my exercise was sporadic. Life's busy and I let other things take priority. So I might only have exercised three days out of seven, but in my mind, it felt like I was doing good. And when I ran, if I felt fatigued, I would just stop and walk. I didn't push myself to try harder, to go farther, to improve. This I now know: You need to exercise at least six days out of seven - and for 30 to 60 minutes each time - with intensity, to change your shape and lose weight. Once you lose it and have revved your metabolism, it won't take such an investment to maintain your weight - but initially, it will take discipline and an investment of time and effort. But you're worth it!!

3. I didn't keep a food log. I would do only a mental tally of what I had eaten throughout the day instead of actually writing every morsel down and keeping track. I remember one day actually recording what I had eaten, and I was shocked! Those little snacks here and there add up fast! Once it's on paper, it's there in black and white - I couldn't "lie" to myself about it once it was written down.

4. I looked at dieting as short-term. In other words, I simply bought low-fat substitutes for things I didn't want to give up, instead of totally revamping my mind and diet with nutrition in mind! I needed a lifestyle CHANGE! Low-fat cookies, baked potato chips and low-fat sour creams are much better choices than the full-fat versions. HOWEVER, where did fresh fruits and vegetables come into play? Or trying to keep processed foods to a minimum and avoiding food additives/sugar substitutes. Or thinking of eating foods in their whole state? This is an entirely different mindset than just buying "diet" foods! Placing sound NUTRITION (with portion control of course) as a lifestyle choice will make the scale move!

On MSNHealth.com, there's a great article about three women who've experienced difficulty losing weight. Two diet experts, Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., author of "The Flexitarian Diet," and Katherine Brooking, R.D., a New York City-based nutritionist, review the women's weeklong food diaries to find out what they're doing wrong. But it doesn't stop there...the experts then give their opinions on how to fix the mistakes. Ah, now that's information we can use!

Click here to see if maybe you're experiencing the same mistakes - and learn how to fix it and move forward in your weight loss!