Good Lifestyle

Losing unwanted pounds isEasier said than done. According to a Gallup survey,55% of Americans want to lose weight, and84% of American adults tried to lose weight using various methods, 30% that sticks for less than a month.

While the barriers tolosing weight Vary - including the aversion to exercise, not enough time, unhealthy lifestyles and the lack of support from family and friends - new research by theAmerican Heart Association reveals that one error in the judgment could be a major stumbling block for some people trying to lose weight. Read the rest to find out what it is and how to overcome it.

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If the weight loss was easy, we would not have a global epidemic of obesity in our hands. In the United States only,42% of adults are considered obese, which means that they have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. And this number should increase, since it has increased by around 12% in the past 20 years, reports centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A common trap for people who try to lose weight? Be too restrictive with their diet and place unrealistic expectations for themselves, which leads tomental fatigue, making them abandon the diet and relapse in old eating habits.

Kelsey Lorencz, RDN, dietitian and nutritional advisor forEnd V. End, recountBetter life, "Instead of focusing on the foods you cannot eat, focus on foods that should be part of a healthy diet, such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains." Lorencz adds that monitoring each food you eat to stay within a limit of calories can make concentration on a healthy diet difficult.

"Many foods considered" unhealthy "can still have a place in a controlled calorie diet," explains Lorencz. "However, this does not mean that the diet itself is healthy. Remove the concentration of calories and place it on the food and food groups you eat."

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People with chronic diet know better than anyone how difficult it can be to lower the number on the scale. It is naturally frustrating when you do all the right things, like doing exercise, cutting calories and eating healthy foods, without seeing results. But a new study may have the answer. According to preliminary research to present toScientific sessions of the American Heart Association 2022, people who try to lose weight often overestimates how healthy their diet is.

Jessica Cheng, PHD, postdoctoral study author and researcher in epidemiology atHarvard T.H. Chan Public Health Schoolsaid in aPress release"We have found that if people generally know that fruits and vegetables are healthy, there can be a disconnection between what researchers and health professionals consider a healthy and balanced diet compared to what the public thinks is a healthy and balanced diet. "

For the study, the researchers recruited 116 American adults aged 35 to 58 who actively tried to lose weight. Participants met a registered dietitian to discuss their nutrition and their eating habits. Then, they followed everything they ate and drank for a year using the Fitbit application while weighing themselves daily and wearing a monitoring device to monitor physical activity.

After having evaluated the diet of the participants at the start and the end of the one year study, the researchers awarded each person aHealthy food index (HEI) score - a measure of the quality of the diet used to determine to what extent a diet aligns on the recommendations of theFood lines for Americans (DGA). Participants also used HEI to mark their quality of diet at the end of the study.

The researchers found that 75% of the HEI scores perceived of the participants did not line up with the researchers ”and, in most cases, the participants' figures were higher. In addition, to assess the amount of diet that their diet improved during the study, only 10% of participants correctly estimated how their eating habits have improved.

So why the difference between the quality of the perceived and real diet? "Part of the gap could be a lack of knowledge of a healthy diet, but more likely, it is the perception that the small changes made are greater than they are," explains Lorencz. "It is easy to focus on an appearance of a healthy diet, like eating more vegetables, and ignoring other precious aspects, such as cutting added sugars and saturated fats."

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It is not surprising that many people are mistaken about their diet. Social media and advertisements market countless food products like "healthy" while in fact, they contain added sugars, unhealthy fats and other hidden ingredients that hinder weight loss. Do not forget this time you do shopping or you are looking for a snack.AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

If you try to be more attentive to your eating habits and the quality of the food, Lorencz has some recommendations.

"Although food monitoring in an application or on paper can be useful for certain people, this can create food anxiety for others," she explains. "Instead of following each piece of food, look at the food groups and try to get enough healthy things. Aim at least two cups of fruit, three cups of vegetables and five ounces of lean protein per day." By obtaining enough foods rich in nutrients and healthy in your diet, you will naturally have less space for less healthy foods without following each bite.