10 Diet Mistakes That Make You Gain Fat:
The average woman gains 1½ pounds a year during her adult life, so it may be best to fight off the roller coaster of hormones, muscle loss, and stress that conspires to slow her fat-burning engine before she pack on 40-plus pounds by her 50’s.
Let’s begin with the obvious, it’s not easy to boost over-40 weight loss, but it is possible. The amount of calories needed in each meal to fuel your body while keeping you satisfied is somewhere around 400 calories, try to make sure your meals don’t go over this amount. There’s a helpful, easy formula to calculate how many calories your body needs each day:
BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)
For example, a 50 year-old woman who weighs 160 pounds and is 5′ 7″ figures it out like this:
BMR= 655 + (4.35 x 160) + (4.7 x 67) – (4.7 x 50)
If correct that equals approximately 1430 calories a day to maintain her current weight, three meals of 400 calories and two 100 calorie snacks should fit perfectly into a busy lifestyle.
The following are the most common diet mistakes that slow metabolism and make you overweight:
1. You don’t eat enough
Ok, it is clearly important to cut calories to lose weight
, it doesn’t mean you need to overdo it. When you eat less than what you need for basic biological function your body sends messages of starvation to your brain and your metabolism slows down as a defense mechanism, then it begins to break down precious, calorie-burning muscle tissue for energy. Eat a 300-400 calorie meal every 4 hours to shed pounds
, you’ll be satisfied and it will keep from overeating later in the day.
2. You avoid caffeine
Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, your daily morning coffee can rev your metabolism 5-8%, a cup of brewed tea can raise it 12%.
3. Your carbs are white
Boost your fiber intake, change all white-flour products to whole-wheat products, and increase your fruit and vegetable intake. Aim for 25g per day.
4. Your water is room temperature
Cold water has been frowned upon when it comes to losing weight, but drinking 6 cups of cold water a day can raise resting metabolism, since the body has to work harder to heat the water to body temperature.
5. Your food is covered with pesticides
One large often ignored diet mistake is not paying attention to where your food comes from. Organochlorines experience a greater than normal dip in metabolism as they lose weight, because the toxins interfere with the energy burning process and they can trigger weight gain. Choose organic whenever possible, and wash all your fruits and vegetables very well.
6. Your meal lacks protein
Protein should be a component of every meal for your body to maintain lean muscle. Add nuts, eggs, legumes, lean meat, and yogurt to your daily meals and snacks.
7. Your diet needs to pump iron
Iron-rich foods are essential for carrying the oxygen your muscles need to burn fat, any deficiency of this mineral can lead to risk of low energy and a sagging metabolism. Beans, spinach, and shellfish are excellent iron sources.
8. You’re missing this crucial vitamin
Another diet mistake is to not implement enough vitamin D in your diet. Vitamin D is essential for preserving metabolism-revving muscle tissue, this vitamin is obtained from sun exposure and some foods such as tuna, shrimp, tofu (always choose organic), milk, cereal, and eggs.
9. You’ve had one drink too many
Alcohol makes you burn less fat, and more slowly than usual.
10. You are not getting enough calcium
Calcium deficiency slows your metabolism, consuming fat-free dairy products may also reduce fat absorption from other foods. You can find a list of top non-dairy sources of calcium here
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