We’ve all heard of the low carb diet and the cheat day as ways to successfully achieve your goal weight. This tried and true methods can also backfire and leave you with more weight than when you started your journey.

Let’s take a look at the 4 weight loss solutions that could make you gain weight and steps to take to avoid it.

4. The Cheat Day

It’s that day of the week that we all look forward to after six days of patience and hard work in the kitchen. Whether it’s pizza or ice cream, that cheat day is the crowning achievement of a job well done. The problem is that some people can take the term “cheat day” a little too literal and go overboard. Just because it’s called a cheat day doesn’t mean you should spend the entire day eating terrible food. A better way to look at it is a cheat meal. This will allow you to indulge and stay on track.

3. Kissing Carbs Goodbye

Our bodies are glucose-loving machines. Glucose is most easily obtained from carbohydrates and when you begin a low-carb diet, your body may not be terribly happy about it. If you begin a low-carb diet unprepared, you are bound to experience terrible cravings and hunger pangs, which may result in binging on carbs. Before you start a low carbohydrate diet, make sure you have everything you need for success. That includes a detailed meal planner. You may want to consider carb cycling before doing an outright low-carb diet.

2. Eating Too Few Calories Too Quickly

Yes, a decrease in caloric consumption is critical when you want to promote weight loss; however, if you cut your daily intake in half overnight, you are bound to run into problems. If your body has been running on a high number of calories, you need to slowly ween yourself down to an ideal number. Cutting out calories in great quantities overnight will result in cravings and hunger pangs that could results in a binge session.

1. Shooting for 6 or 7 Meals a Day

In theory, this sounds great. Instead of three giant meals, you break down your caloric consumption into six or seven small meals. The problem comes in when you eat “meals” that are full-sized. This is a lack of portion control and calorie counting and it could promote serious weight gain. If you want to eat several times throughout the day then be sure to measure out your calories beforehand. Educate yourself on portion control so you know exactly how much you should be eating at every meal.

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