It’s time to scale up your weight loss journey.
Registered dietitian Courtney Kassis is sharing five bad habits to ditch while trying to drop pounds.
“I’m not gonna lie, these are going to surprise you,” she teased to her 424,600 TikTok followers in a clip last week.
Kassis advises against skipping social events, adopting a victim mentality, saving calories for later in the day, not having a plan and weighing yourself daily.
Skip social events
“First thing I would never do on my weight loss journey is skip social events in order to stay on track,” said Kassis, who is based in the Philadelphia area. “Skipping social events can lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation, which both can actually increase the risk of chronic disease, weaken your immune system and even increase the risk of mortality.”
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has been warning of a nationwide loneliness and social isolation epidemic, claiming that a lack of connection increases the risk of premature death by more than 60%.
Recent research found that chronically lonely older adults face a 56% higher risk of stroke than those who are not lonely.
Adopt a victim mentality
“Second thing I would never do is get caught in the victim mentality,” Kassis advised.
“Instead of feeling like a victim because I have to avoid processed food, I would choose to reframe my thoughts,” she continued. “Focus on the fact that I get to nourish my body with wholesome, nutritious foods because nourishing your body is a gift, not a punishment.”
Save calories for later
“I would never eat small meals or no meals in the beginning of the day to save my calories for later in the day,” Kassis declared. “The research backs that your biggest meal should be at breakfast, and when intermittent fasting, skipping your last meal is more beneficial than skipping a meal early in the day.”
Breakfast has long been touted as the most important meal of the day — eschewing it has been shown to disrupt our 24-hour biological clock.
A 2021 analysis found that eating breakfast every day reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, stroke and other chronic conditions.
However, research from 2019 challenged breakfast’s crown, claiming that there’s no evidence tying breakfast consumption to weight loss or gain.
“If you eat breakfast, you won’t metabolize [your food] better and you may still be hungry later on,” study co-author Flavia Cicuttini said at the time. “If a person is trying to lose weight or manage their calorie intake there’s no evidence that changing their dietary plan to eat breakfast will help them.”
Have no plan
“Random recipes lead to random results,” Kassis explained. “Without a plan, it’s so easy to make impulse decisions that can actually derail your progress. I always strive to have meals and snacks planned ahead of time so I can stay on track consistently.”
Step on the scale every day
“Lots of dietitians may actually disagree with me on this one, but I actually advise against daily weigh-ins,” Kassis said. “I find that it creates unnecessary stress and obsession over numbers, and I choose to focus more on my energy, improving my mood, improving my labs … because these are true indicators of success.”
However, a 2018 study found that people who weighed themselves every day or almost daily averaged a 1.7% weight loss while people who weighed themselves weekly or less didn’t lose weight.
Researchers noted that frequent weigh-ins could promote accountability but could also lead to anxiety.
If you do decide to weigh yourself often, doctors suggest stepping on the scale in the morning. The Post has selected eight of our favorite smart scales that get the job done.
