Top 20 Diet Blunders

Use this checklist of diet blunders to assess how your attitude to eating measures up.

1. Binge eating before going on a diet.

2. Fasting or drastically cutting calories to lose weight. This sends your body the message that you are starving, and your metabolism will slow down to preserve the fat you are trying to shed!

3. Expecting to lose more than one to two pounds a week. Any more than this is simply the result of lost body fluids and valuable muscle tissue.

4. Skipping meals, especially breakfast. Eating regular meals prevents the dangerous “famine-then-feast” syndrome.

5. Skipping smart snacks. "Smart snacking" keeps your metabolism high and your appetite in check.

6. Substituting coffee, tea or diet soda for energy-producing meals, snacks or water.

7. Going to a salad bar and stacking up on cheeses, meats and pasta AND globs of fatty mayonnaise or salad dressings while thinking you are choosing the healthy option.

8. Having an “on a diet” or “off a diet” / all-or-nothing mentality rather than simply eating wisely.

9. Thinking of any food as “bad” or “forbidden.” Food is food - anything in excess is bad for you, anything in moderation is okay.

10. Not exercising for at least 30 minutes, three times a week. Exercise is crucial for boosting your metabolism to more effectively burn calories.

11. Losing weight to look good... for someone else.

12. Believing that when you shed the weight, you’ll be a different, better person. You already ARE a great person.

13. Relying on diet pills, shakes or other products that promise miraculous weight loss. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true...

14. Thinking of weight loss as something you have to do, rather than something you want to do.

15. Focusing on foods to avoid, rather than foods to include.

16. Buying, preparing and eating your meals on the run. A hectic lifestyle prevents you from enjoying and feeling satisfied with the many good foods you eat.

17. Considering losing excess weight as an end in itself, rather than a means to an end: a healthier body and a happier out-look.

18. Not watching your fat intake. Calories consumed as fat are converted into fat on the body more readily than the same number of calories consumed as protein or carbohydrates.

19. Not reading and understanding labels. Just because it says '95% fat-free' doesn’t mean that it is healthy. It COULD mean that it’s 95% sugar!

20. Failing to take charge the moment you discover you weigh in two pounds over your desired weight. When your waistband gets tight do something about it. Don’t buy the next size up!