Nutrition Mistakes You Could be Making

Many people, despite their best efforts, are struggling with weight loss, health, and overall wellness. Although nutrition information is becoming more readily available, it still amazes me how many people I see every day who simply have no idea how their food choices effect their bodies. These few common mistakes are easily corrected and can help keep your health and wellness efforts on track.

1. You skip breakfast. When you skip breakfast you skip out on firing up your metabolism for the day. This means that instead of getting your body going and burning more calories by eating, you actually cause your metabolism to slow down in order to preserve energy. When you go to eat later in the day, odds are you will be more hungry from skipping breakfast, and your body will not be prepared for the large amount of food you end up eating, so much of it is not processed in the same way it would be had you eaten breakfast. It is instead stored as fat in the body. Eating a simple, well-rounded breakfast helps curb hunger throughout the day and promotes healthy weight.
2. You drink your calories. Many people say they count their calories, but they fail to include lattes, cocktails, and all the other drinks we're surrounded with on a daily basis. Simply beginning to pay attention to how much you drink and making an effort to cut down can make a big difference when working toward a weight loss goal. Especially because many common cocktails and happy hour drinks have 500 calories or more, which could be about a third of your recommended daily intake!
3. You use low-fat everything. Low-fat options can be healthy options when trying to cut back. However, you still need to read your labels and pay attention to the ingredients that are being used to substitute for the lack of fat in the product. Sometimes the ingredients used instead of the fat are worse for you then the fat itself. Also, eating lower fat products may translate to your brain as a license to indulge a bit more then if you were eating the full fat version, so still watch your portions.
4. You over/under snack. Snacking is an important component of maintaining a healthy weight. However it is very easy to fall on one of two extremes of the snacking spectrum. Many people who are cutting back and trying to lose weight will stop snacking all together. But when you have lunch at noon and then don't eat again until dinner, your metabolism will slow down and you will be so ravenous by dinner that you overeat. On the other hand, many people use a snack as an excuse to have an extra meal and often overindulge, which can lead to eating more throughout the day then you should. The healthy medium is a balance between the two. A good snack is probably about 250 calories (depending on your weight) and has enough fiber to hold you over until your next meal.