AVOID THESE 5 WEIGHT-LOSS PITFALLS!

Losing weight is a challenging task for many people. After all, reaching your goals takes dedication, time, and consistency. But with mounds of information—and misinformation—floating around in magazines, videos, and marketing fads, it can become easy to lose your way. Effective, long-established methods to shed unwanted body fat can become twisted, warped, and misconstrued, and what you actually end up doing might lead you to sabotage your results without realizing it. Believe me, it happens.

If you kill it at the gym, bring sufficient intensity to your workouts, and follow a strict nutrition plan, but still don't see results—or even worse, you gain additional body fat—you've likely fallen into a weight-loss pitfall. Learn how to avoid dietary disaster with these 5 tips!

PITFALL 1 DIETING IN FITS AND SPURTS

Dieting: Let's briefly analyze the concept itself. Most people jump on the dieting bandwagon with a specific timeframe and goal in mind. The logic might go a little something like this: "If I cut carbs for six weeks, I can fit into that pair of pants," or, "If I replace sweets with veggies for the next few months, I'll lose those last 10 pounds in time for my high school reunion." No matter their reason, most people have something they're striving for and a due date for when it has to be completed.

The reality is that we all want things done now. We want everything to be fast and effortless. Whether it's a 30-day challenge or a 90-day transformation plan, it seems that nearly every goal has a date or finite time associated with it. While a sense of urgency might initially get you off the couch and into the gym, will it dramatically change you in the long run? Probably not.

PITFALL 2 FALLING PREY TO SUPERMARKET BUZZWORDS

These days, supermarket shelves are lined with buzzwords such as organic, natural, gluten-free, farm-raised, sugar-free, and fat-free. Keep in mind that these phrases don't mean calorie-free!

On a daily basis, people come up to me and ask why they aren't losing weight, even if their diets consist solely of organic meats and fruit. Foods, even if they're organic or fat-free, still contain calories.

AVOID IT! EXPEND MORE THAN YOU EAT

You can debate whether all calories are equal until you're blue in the face, but effective fat loss really comes down to calories in versus calories out. If you're looking to lose weight, your calorie consumption has to be less than your caloric expenditure. Basically, you have to burn more than you eat.