The 4 mindset traps that can sabotage your weight loss

When trying to lose weight, it’s easy to fall into unfavorable thought patterns that hinder your progress. Here are four common mindset traps that can prevent you from reaching your goal—and our dietitian Josefine’s tips on how to break them.

1. “The day is ruined anyway”

One of the most common mindsets when it comes to weight loss is an all-or-nothing attitude, where you think you might as well give up if it doesn’t turn out perfect. If you happen to have a bun with your coffee, you might as well order a pizza for dinner, too, because you already feel like you’ve eaten too much.

If you think that at the slightest slip-up you might as well start over “tomorrow” – or maybe even “on Monday” – it also becomes easy for you to have to “make sure” to eat as much as possible before resuming your strict diet. It’s one among very common mindset traps.

This can lead to destructive eating that in the long run results in what Josefine calls “what the hell” kilos. Instead of enjoying good food, you’ve overeaten because of a guilty conscience over your lack of discipline.

A healthier and less black-and-white approach is to immediately return to your healthy eating plan, even if you feel like you have given in to your mindset traps and “cheated”.

– You can always start over, you always get a new chance, says our dietitian Josefine.

2. “I can’t leave food behind”

Many people have the idea that you have to eat everything on your plate, regardless of whether you are actually hungry or not. In fact, you should never force yourself to eat food when you are already full, especially if your goal is to lose weight.

Of course, you should try to avoid throwing food in the trash, but if you can’t eat it all, you can make a lunch box out of what is left over and put it in the fridge or freezer. You can also ask to take the leftovers home at a restaurant.

There is nothing that says you have to eat everything on your plate if you are already full. It is better to save the leftovers for a lunch box the next day. This way you have a logical explanation to go around your mindset traps.

3. “It’s rude to say no”

Social gatherings can be a challenge when you’re trying to eat healthily. It may feel like it’s impolite not to take off the freshly baked cake that’s being served or to forgo dessert. But there are nice ways to say no – and besides, it’s not likely that anyone will even notice that you’re not taking off the cake at a big event.

– You should never eat for someone else. You don’t have to take responsibility for how someone else feels. If, on the other hand, you really want to taste something, it’s not necessarily wrong to take a bite. But it should be your own decision, says Josefine.

4. “I deserve to treat myself”

Perhaps you want to celebrate a success with something delicious – or cheer yourself up because you’re feeling down. But what does “treating yourself” actually mean and does it necessarily have to be about something edible?

We often celebrate and comfort ourselves with food and drink, but there are many other things you can treat yourself to that don’t affect your waistline and keep those mindset traps at bay.

– You can also think that “I treat myself to eating good food”. You may be able to choose a little finer food, which is still healthy, says Josefine.

*Weight loss is individual so we cannot guarantee how much/quickly you will reach your goal. What is important are all the health benefits. We distance ourselves from unhealthy ideals and dieting regimens, and do not recommend calorie counting if you are underweight, sick or pregnant.