There are 9 things I wish I knew when I started losing weight and burning fat. These are the top weight loss mistakes and muscle building mistakes that people make. Make sure you avoid them to save time.
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Growing up I always had excess body fat, and in the process of getting rid of it I made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot of lessons. That's why I want to save you from having to go through the seemingly endless trial and error that I went through by giving you the top 9 things I wish I knew when I first started dieting and burning fat. 

And the first thing is that there are many diet foods and supposedly healthy foods that are actually high in calories and can easily prevent fat loss. It's a common misconception that if a food is labeled as "diet" or "healthy," it must be good for fat loss. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. There are many deceptive foods out there. For example most people think that nuts are great for fat loss, but they're actually very calorically dense, mostly made up of carbohydrates and fats, and it'll take a lot of them to fill your stomach.

Many people on a diet overeat them and they don't understand why they're not losing weight. Then there's yogurt which can be fine if you add your own fruit, but if you get yogurt with fruit at the bottom, directly from the store there's a ton of added sugar. Salads can help you burn a lot of fat, but when drenched in creamy dressings like ranch or Caesar, they can become high in calories and unhealthy fats.
Veggie chips might seem like a healthier alternative to potato chips, but they're still fried and coated in oil, making them calorie-dense and not good for fat loss. Granola bars, also, can pack a lot of calories, especially when they contain chocolate chips, dried fruits, or honey. Another example is vegan. Just because something is labeled as vegan doesn't mean it's not packed full of excess calories, carbohydrates, and preservatives. In fact, some vegan-certified options are horrible for fat loss. So the lesson here is that reading nutrition labels, choosing whole foods over processed ones, and being aware of hidden sources of calories in so-called "diet" foods, are all crucial steps to burning fat. Don't assume something will help with fat loss just because its labeled, low fat, low carb, organic, diet, or natural. 

The next concept that I wish I knew was that most supplements are not going to help with fat loss, and at best will act as a cherry on top of an already solid diet and workout program. Fat burners are one of the most profitable and oversold supplements, but they won't do much if you're not already maintaining a calorie deficit. Sure some good fat burners can very slightly speed up the process, but many people don't feel good taking fat burners because of the typical stimulant effects, and if that's the case for you they're not worth taking. Then there's creatine, which can give you some energy to lift heavier and train harder, but it's not going to help you burn all that much extra fat. Protein powder is great, if you struggle to take in enough protein throughout the day. If it helps you fufill your protein requirements it'll also help you retain muscle while you cut which can help you maintain a slightly more elevated metabolism. But protein doesn't have any direct fat loss benefits, and if you can get enough protein from your diet, it's unnecessary to drink protein shakes. In fact it'll only add extra calories.

And then there are all kinds of carb and calorie blockers that are supposed to somehow minimize fat storage after eating a meal, but these don't actually work. The lesson here is to focus on your diet and workout program to see the fastest results.  

Another thing that I wish I knew before spending countless hours meal prepping and stressing about eating protein every couple hours, is that you don't have to eat 5 to 6 small meals a day to burn fat. You can actually eat far fewer times, like once or twice. This concept is often referred to as intermittent fasting, and it's basically debunked the traditional idea of frequent meals being necessary to boost your metabolism. Your metabolism will not slow down if you skip some meals and you won't lose muscle if you don't take in protein every couple hours. People that are able to stick to a plan better by eating 5 times a day, should do that, but the same goes vice versa. one, two, and three meals a day can all work just fine as long as your totals balance out. 

And that's actually something else that I wish I had known a long time ago. Burning fat is not about creating a deficit every day but rather about creating a deficit overtime. Here's what I mean. Pretend that for your body to be in a calorie deficit you have to eat an average of lets say 2000 calories a day just to keep it simple. You can eat an even 2,000 calories everyday, which..