Learning to Avoid Common Diet Traps [infographic]

(CC) ericmay/Flickr

Figuring out the type of diet that works best for you is usually a task of trial and error. The folks over at Waitrose wanted to make this a bit easier by pointing out the 10 most common diet traps and how we can all avoid them in an easy-to-read infographic. Including diet blunders like skipping breakfast or rewarding yourself with food, the infographic teaches us how to avoid such mistakes and diet the right way.

“Feel like you’ve done everything you can to lose weight, but it’s just not happening?” the infographic reads. “Take a look at the most common diet errors and find out how to stop them from sabotaging your weight loss efforts.”

According to the infographic, it doesn’t matter how healthy you are eating if you are still eating in large portions. You’ll only be able to start shedding pounds if you make your portions smaller. You should also pay close attention to what you are eating. Do you know how many calories are in your food? How does that coincide with your daily intake? Read labels and stay informed with what goes into your body.

One of the most important traps the infographic points out is the feeling of wanting to give up just because you ate more than you should have, or you indulged in more than one piece of chocolate cake. Sometimes we just can’t help ourselves, but this makes it that much more important that you get yourself back on track and keep going.

Another diet trap we often fall into is exercising less because we’ve started eating healthfully. No matter what or how much you are eating, your body needs to stay active.

“People tend to move less when they start dieting,” the infographic reads. “Research shows that people’s activity levels tend to drop by 40 percent when they try to lose weight.”

For more diet tips and how to avoid the traps we’ve all fallen prey to, check out the infographic below.

(By Marissa Brassfield for CalorieLab)