What are the biggest mistakes people make when dieting?

Hey everyone! This question (and their answer) came on the Hungry Girl e-zine recently. Their answer follows.... but I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts on the matter. Comment and let me know what YOU think. - Patti


Dear Hungry Girl,

What do you think are the biggest mistakes people make when dieting? Are there any secrets? I keep losing and gaining the same 20 lbs. Ugh!
Diet Diva

Dear DD,
There are many mistakes people tend to make when dieting. I'm going to list some of the biggies. And remember, this is just my opinion.

1. Following fad diets. I'm not a fan of fad diets. They don't teach you how to eat in a way you can live with forever. Sure, if you follow a set plan for a limited time, you can lose weight. The hard part is maintaining that weight loss in the long term. If you try to stick with the fad diet's style of eating, it's very likely you'll eventually give up or get bored. If you go back to your old eating habits, you regain the weight. This is a huge problem and the reason why I don't recommend fad dieting.

2. Skipping meals. If you skip meals you'll only end up hungrier and more likely to eat too much and/or the wrong thing. It's that simple. Eat breakfast. Eat lunch. And eat dinner!

3. Drinking calories. Sheesh! Drinking your calories is a WASTE... really. It's much more satisfying to chew food than it is to drink stuff. Having a low-calorie liquid swap is fine -- like treating yourself to one of our Swappuccinos or a diet hot cocoa when you're craving the real thing. But it's too easy to sip an extra 300 - 500 calories a day if you drink calorie-packed beverages. Avoid those and stick with water for the most part.

4. Living in denial. Don't pretend there are no calories in condiments, that a salad is healthy and diet-friendly no matter what, and that food you eat while standing (or on an airplane, etc., etc.) doesn't count. It ALL counts!

5. Not reading labels. READ LABELS, people! And read them CAREFULLY. Take note of serving sizes and servings per package. This is KEY.

There you have it... those are five mistakes that are very common. And no, there are no real secrets to dieting -- except that you need to find a way to eat that'll work for you FOREVER. That's the one thing people tend to forget -- the forever factor.