All of us have made diet blunders at some point. Whether it is crash dieting, or eating the wrong food, not following healthy practices or just due to sheer ignorance, we get disheartened when we don’t see any results. You might be careful for most of your day, but when it comes to harmless binges, or unknowing consumption of junk food, you may be going overboard and messing up your efforts. Here are some diet blunders you must stop making.

It’s ok if I eat dessert, just this once – The question is: Is it really, really only just this once? If the answer is a resounding yes, then you are justified. If it’s a birthday, or a special occasion for those of you who are trying to swear off sweets, then you should not think twice. But if the phrase ‘just this once’ is turning into much more than that, you need to be honest with yourself. Every piece of cake you eat is taking you farther away from your goals. 

I’ve eaten healthy all day, so this is my reward. If at the end of your day your reward is settling down with half a bar of chocolate, a tub of icecream, a packet of chips, or a mug or two of beer, stop! You don’t really need any of it, especially since you’ve been so good. Food of that sort is mostly just a substitute for boredom, and doesn’t really do much to lift your mood except for the few moments before it goes down. 

The packaging says it is low fat, so I can eat it. Low fat, made of wheat flour, zero calories...these are signs you should ideally steer clear of. While bingeing on low fat ice cream, we many a time don’t realise how much sugar is pumped in there to make it taste better. Most low fat stuff is heavily processed. Which is why it is better to buy butter and consume a teeny bit of it rather than polishing off half a pack of Lite butter. Anything in small quantities is not a bad thing.

I’ve exercised today so I can eat what I want. Wrong again. Exercise only makes up for 15 to 20 % of your body composition. Therefore when people feel that they can eat all they want just because they have started a new exercise program, they are often alarmed when they don’t see any results. Since 80% depends on what we eat, that is definitely something you need to look into first. 

I have to drop 5 kgs in 1 month, so no food for me. Crash dieting does not work. Yes you maybe able to stop eating every little piece of fried food and sweet food that comes your way, and starve yourself, but in the long term it is not sustainable nor healthy. Cutting off fat completely from your diet is another big mistake as fat is an important source of energy, so even by doing this, you will feel low on energy, insipid, and pale – and something tells us that that’s not the result you are looking forward to when trying to get into shape.

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