Diet mistakes everyone is making right now

IF YOU’RE following the most popular diet trends at the moment, you’re probably making these mistakes. Here are the most common diet traps.

ARE you eating this and giving up that? You may be making some unwise decisions without thinking about it.

Check yourself in with these common diet traps.

SNACKING ON RAW ORGANIC TREATS

Those ‘superfood’ bliss balls or raw cheese cakes splashed all over your Insta feed may seem healthy, however they come with a whopping calorie count (regardless of whether these calories comes from protein, fat or sugar).

Consider some of the common ingredients: dried fruit, nuts, seeds, nut butters, coconut oil, cacao butter, honey, rice malt syrup and protein powders. While they might be full of fibre, the nuts’ nutritious fats and dried fruit send the calories soaring, likewise with coconut oil, which bumps up the saturated fat. As a result, a single ball or a slice of this healthy-sounding raw cheesecake can have as much as 17g of saturated fat and up to 1500kJ (about 357cal) — almost an entire meal!

Just because something is raw, does not mean it’s low on calories. Photo Lachie Millard

Fix it: Raw food has its place, but it won’t enhance your health or whittle your waistline. Healthy raw snacks include a handful of nuts, a small piece of fresh fruit, or vegetable sticks with hummus. Keep treats to special occasions, regardless of whether it’s a raw or normal version.

SIP RATHER THAN CRUNCH

A green juice for breakfast or a protein smoothie post-workout may be brimming with colourful fruits and veg, however when you add up the additional powders, milks, nut butters, yoghurts, chia seeds and muesli, the calories really add up.

Another down side. When you drink your calories (compared to chewing solid food), the body doesn’t naturally compensate by eating fewer calories by reducing your food intake over the course of the day.

Why? liquid calories are emptied from your stomach far quicker than solid foods, meaning you may sip your way through many more calories than you could ever chew and eat.

Admit it, you’ll probably end up having a smoothie and a meal. Picture: Jerad Williams

Fix it: Chew your food, stick to plain water for hydration, and sip on juices and smoothies occasionally. When ordering out at cafes or juice bars, opt for the smallest size available, and order vegetable based juices with a small amount of fruit.

THINK SHORT TERM

We live in an era of instant gratification and often apply the same principles to weight loss. However, quick fix solutions don’t work long term. Most “detoxes”, “cleanses”, and fad diets cut out entire food groups or are extremely low in energy, which is unsustainable.

By not providing your body with enough energy they can lead to muscle breakdown, slowing your metabolism down even further. The outcome is that you may shed a few KG’s quite quickly, but the weight will most likely come back when normal eating patterns resume.

Forget about solving all your problems with a detox. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Fix it: The most successful eating plan is one you can stick to! Start by making simple swaps one at a time, such as swapping sugary snacks for fresh fruit, or soft drink for water, and build from there.

AGAINST THE GRAIN

Paleo, low carb, and no gluten may be trendy, but eliminating wholegrains can be doing you more harm than good.

If you’re one in 70 Australians who has diagnosed coeliac disease, avoiding gluten (a protein that’s present in a number of whole grains) is necessary. However, for the rest of us, eating whole grains is an important contribution to our nutrient intake and solid evidence suggests it plays an important role in disease protection.

You don’t have to ban gluten or carbs, but wholegrains are the best option. Like this wholegrain pizza.

Fix it: Unless you’ve been diagnosed with coeliac disease, grains have an important place in the diet. Think beyond cereal flakes for breakfast, baguette at lunch, or Bolognese for dinner. Experiment with barley, quinoa, wild rice and other unprocessed grains, such as rolled oats, soy and linseed bread and rye.

Kathleen Alleaume is a nutritionist and exercise scientist and found of The Right Balance.