Weight Loss Diet Mistake #1: No Resistance Training

Weight loss is really all about metabolism: you have to be burning enough calories that your body will have to dip into its fat reserves for energy. In order to increase your metabolism, you have to put on additional lean muscle mass. The best way to do this is through resistance training.

A lot of the time that people diet they will try some rapid weight loss crash diet. Either you're eating nothing but salads are you're taking nothing but some lemon juice and honey, or what have you. The problem is that you are getting inadequate protein in this case to maintain the muscle mass you already have.

Much of the vital processes that your body goes through in a day just to stay alive use of protein in order to make all the substances that are needed, so if the protein isn't coming in through the diet then the body will just go ahead and break down some muscle tissue in order to make sure that the protein is available. So even when you lose weight you will still be flabby and doughy.

Plus, when you lose muscle mass your metabolism slows down since muscle is what actually consumes the calories. This means you're less likely to maintain your weight loss after dieting and will probably rebound even worse than you started. The way around this is to eat plenty of protein and to do resistance training to build up muscle mass, thereby increasing your metabolism and developing a beautiful, firm body.