Why Depriving Yourself Won’t Help Your Weight Loss Journey

How To Stay Motivated On A Weight Loss Journey

We hear it from dieticians all the time and read in health-related articles that carbohydrates, fats, and sugar-rich foods, are fattening. So, when you start a weight loss journey, you stop eating these foods and focus on other options such as proteins, whole foods, smoothies, green juices, etc.

What happens next is total failure and disappointment, as anyone who has ever deprived themselves certain high calorie foods to lose weight will tell you. So, why does this happen despite efforts to cut back on calorie intake? Well, here are 3 reasons why depriving yourself will not lead to weight loss.

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Why Depriving Yourself Stops Your Weight Loss Journey

1. A Self-Deprived Diet Is Guaranteed to Backfire

Whether you have decided to eliminate whole food groups or avoid high-calorie favorites (burgers, chocolate, fries, etc), any diet that consists of depriving yourself is guaranteed to backfire.

For starters, such a diet is hard to stick to. Therefore, chances are you will revert to your old eating habits that caused you to pack on excess fat in the first place. Moreover, the body just isn’t designed to work beyond its limits. For this reason, depriving yourself to a point below minimum requirement for body function will see your body start conserving energy instead of using it to bring about weight loss. Your metabolism will slow down, fat burning will shut down, and the body will begin to hold onto its fat stores in preparation for starvation. So what you thought would help cut fat fast, isn’t even an effective weight loss method.

2. Deprivation Turns You into a Ticking Time Bomb

Forbidding certain foods along your weight loss journey only works to make them more desirable. You’ll find yourself constantly thinking of these foods and craving to indulge in that savory piece of pizza that you’ve not had in a long time or that creamy ice cream, which always gives you so much comfort.

While you may resist for some time, the longer you deny yourself, the greater your cravings will grow. Therefore, it’s a sure guarantee that you will eventually snap and give in to your cravings. The problem with deprivation-triggered cravings is that they tend to result in binge eating when you finally give in. And, the worst part is that the period of overeating can last for as long as weeks, months, or even years in some cases.

3. Cutting Out Whole Food Groups Is Not Healthy

Cutting out certain food groups in a bid to lose weight will result in your body being deprived of nutrients found in those foods. Sure, you’ll cut down on calorie intake, but you’ll also miss out on other crucial health benefits provided by the missing nutrients.

For instance, carbs have health-boosting benefits for the heart, promote a healthy digestive system, boost energy, and fill the stomach faster. So, cutting out carbs means you will be depriving yourself of essential dietary needs. The same goes for other foods as each food group has its own set of nutrients and benefits. And, if the manner in which you deprive yourself is severe, you can even experience a number of symptoms including malnutrition, dehydration, hunger pangs, headaches, among others.

4. Moderation and Portion Sizes

To sum things up, for your weight loss journey there’s no point in depriving yourself of all the foods you enjoy because such a diet doesn’t work in the long haul. Instead, you should work at forming healthy eating habits that can be integrated into your lifestyle.

For example, if you’re in the habit of eating half a gallon of ice cream in one go, reduce that portion to about half a cup and cut down on the frequency in which you enjoy this creamy delight. By simply applying moderation and watching portion sizes, you can continue enjoying favorites such as pizza and chocolate and still lose weight.

Free Report: Top 5 Exercise Mistakes

You’ve probably heard “you are what you eat” so many times that it may be going in one ear and out the other. Even so, that tired old saying is definitely true. Nutrition plays a huge part in overall health and well-being, and in reaching and maintaining a healthy body weight. Aside from being smart about what you eat, exercise plays a huge role in your weight loss journey.

But there are certain exercise mistakes that are easy to make which can keep you from losing as much weight as possible, and even cause you to gain unhealthy weight. Download my free report, Top 5 Exercise Mistakes to help get the results you want and deserve.