Unfortunately, without the right knowledge, some of them are living with misconception that might produce counterproductive results instead. Here are the 4 things I observed;
Firstly, no breakfast. The importance of breakfast is so great that the first thing I do when I wake up at 4am is to prepare 4 half boiled eggs, a cup of espresso and a protein shake before I train my first client at 5:30am. Yet some of them in the office skip breakfast thinking it will help in losing weight, but unfortunately that isn’t helpful for fat loss due to reduced metabolism rate and the defense mechanism of the body to conserve body fat when starved.
Secondly, those who don’t skip breakfast make a mistake by choosing low fat processed foods that are perceived as healthy. Can’t blame them for living with the misconception since the media and advertisements portray these foods as healthy foods after all. While it is true that most of these food will have a lower fat content printed on their nutrition facts, but sugar is used to make up for taste when fat is reduced. The amount of sugar in every serving is not going to help in reducing calories intake. Not only it doesn’t help in losing weight, but by consuming these foods with high sugar content, their body system will sooner or later suffer the side effects from sugar.
Thirdly, bad choice of snacks. Cookies, chips, sweet chocolates, sugared beverages are the preferred choices for snacks. Whereas I would eat some nuts and a cup of black coffee without sugar. Sometimes I would buy take away snacks like fresh spring rolls or a serving of chicken breast when I go out for my lunch. Well, okay, occasionally I would take 1 or 2 pieces of cookies.
Last but not least, drinking anything but water. Well, what I meant is that some of them will be drinking coffee (caffeinated), carbonated drinks and sweetened drinks (manufactured beverages) but only consuming as much as 1 liter of water or lesser throughout the day I see them in the office. Not only that they are consuming unnecessary calories from these drinks, but they also face a bigger health risk from dehydration. Dehydration takes place from the consumption of caffeinated and manufactured beverages due to the various response by the body when substances from caffeinated and manufactured beverages enters the body. Above that, we were working in an air-conditioned office and facing the computer throughout the day which is another cause for dehydration.
Take home message:
If any of the 4 misconception above sounds like part of your life style, you may want to review your eating habits. Be careful with your eating habit. They play a major role in determining how your body will look and function.