Things That Can Sabotage Your Weight Loss Pt.2

4. Overestimating calories burned.

"We tend to reward ourselves with too many calories of food for the amount of calories we burned exercising," says Kahan. Suppose you go for a 30-minute jog. The University of Maryland Medical Center's "calories burned calculator" estimates a 150-pound person would burn about 370 calories. Eat a few cookies later that day and you've just canceled it out.

5. Feeding your thirst.

If you're not sure whether you're hungry or thirsty, assume it's the latter. Drink a glass of water and see how you feel. Some research even suggests drinking two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch, and dinner may help you manage hunger and eat less.

6. The food environment.

Commercials on TV hawk junk food. Billboards for fast-food restaurants bombard you on the road. "We're in a society that really lends itself to eating a lot," says Kahan. Without addressing these saboteurs, he says, it's "almost overwhelmingly difficult" to lost weight. His solution: "Engineer your environment." At home, do a junk-food purge. At work, avoid the treats in the kitchen and ask your co-workers to hide the Hershey's Kisses or to go on a healthy-eating kick with you.

7. Saving up calories to eat junk.

A couple hundred calories a day for an indulgence is OK, but don't get carried away. "You could eat a bag of chips 'til the cows come home, but that's not going to make you satisfied," says Marilyn Tanner-Blasiar, a dietitian at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Without enough protein and fiber, you'll be starving an hour later and blow your calorie limit.

I personally don’t eat chips. I started substituting Triscuits long ago, they’re high in fiber and keep you feeling satisfied longer. If you don’t like Triscuits just find a higher fiber chip/cracker. Another go-to snack of mine if LOW SODIUM turkey jerky. It’s high in protein so same thing. Just be really careful you’re getting the lowest sodium ones available! Another go-to is pumpkin seeds. Choose in-the-shell, makes you work harder for them so takes longer and tricks your mind into thinking you’ve been eating more than you actually are. Just be mindful that each gram of fat – which all nuts and seeds are high in (though it is the “good” fat) is NINE calories.