7 Bad Habits That Prevented Me From Losing Weight

Do you want to lose weight by ditching a few bad habits? Cori Lefkowith started a company, Redefining Strength, to help people achieve their diet and fitness goals. In a recent viral video, she throws down some serious wisdom on ways you might be preventing weight loss. “I've made all the mistakes when it comes to trying to lose fat, gain muscle, and create that sustainable lifestyle balance. But I like to think that all of my interesting experiments work for nothing because I've made so many mistakes,” she says. “That's why I wanna share seven bad habits that kept me from losing fat for the longest time, and I'll be honest, most sabotaged my success because they were simply unsustainable and created a mindset of restriction and deprivation because while achieving our goals does mean making sacrifices at times, we also have to learn to create a balance meeting ourselves where we're at.”

1. Mistake 1: Eating Too Clean

Cori explains that the first bad habit is one that lots of people have had to “sabotage our success,” and that is eating too clean. “I literally ended up curled up on the bathroom floor of a hotel in San Diego. I was pasty white in a cold sweat and looked like death, all because I'd eaten only chicken and broccoli and extremely clean, one-ingredient foods for weeks before the vacation. One spicy sangria and a couple of appetizers later, I was sick. It's because I had created these extreme limitations on myself that had not only left me miserable for weeks while not seeing better results faster, but they led me to be sick from the first deviation from my clean eating plan.”

2. It Can Lead to Many Things

“Too often, we try to make ourselves feel guilty for not hitting some arbitrary standard of clean, but this mindset of good and bad foods not only assigns moral value to foods that don't have any, leading to guilt. When we wanna eat one thing we aren't supposed to, but it can also sabotage our results and long-term consistency,” she says. “This extremely restrictive, clean mindset can lead to an obsession with food. It can also lead to us creating nutrient deficiencies, and it can lead to us ultimately feeling so miserable and deprived. We give up, and then we feel like reaching our goals is impossible, and we just don't have the willpower. We start to even dread the idea of making dietary changes because we're trying to force something unsustainable.”

3. Focus Instead on Making Healthier Food Swaps

“Instead of focusing on eating clean, focus on small swaps to foods and ingredients based on what you're currently eating. Realize that whole natural foods are key, but you can and should include foods that you enjoy and love,” she recommends.

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4. Mistake 2: Too Much Food Diversity

Bad habit number two, “including too much food diversity after attempting to cut out all unclean foods,” she says. “I thought it was a great idea to include things to keep my meals interesting and get micronutrients from a diversity of sources.”

5. Over Diversifying Can Be Overwhleming

“While we do wanna include a diversity of foods for optimal health to get vitamins and minerals in different forms, trying to include too much diversity can be overwhelming and lead to actually more cravings,” she points out. “The more we give ourselves, the less of a routine and habit we get into, and the more we actually want. It becomes then a slippery slope of more and more foods creeping in, and the less nutrient-dense they are and the more processed they are, the easier it becomes to overeat and feel hungry, even when we've eaten enough calories. Not to mention, it can be grocery shopping, meal prepping, and hitting those macros that are more overwhelming.”

6. Instead, Keep It Simple

Instead, simplify and focus on a set grocery list and meal plan with a few key ingredients each week, which “can help us stay consistent and not be overwhelmed as we make changes,” she says. “Studies have even shown that we're less likely to overeat when eating the same things repeatedly. It can make it easier to maintain our macros and calorie deficit. It leads to fewer cravings and a better shock mechanism when we consume what we need.”

7. Mistake 3: Going Too Hard

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The third bad habit? “When we want better results faster, it's always going hard and never cycling intensity. Sometimes less is more, and sometimes if we back off when we aren't motivated or proactively give ourselves a break, we actually stay more consistent,” she says.

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8. You Might Lose Steam

“Overall. If you've been dieting and in a deficit for a while, you might both mentally and physically start to feel the impact of the lower calories your body wants to fight. The weight loss process as weight loss is seen as a threat to its survival, so you will find that cravings go up even as you get leaner and your mind fights against what you know you should be doing. You may even feel demotivated to train the way you know you should.”

9. It’s Okay to Take a Dieting Break

This is where potentially a deload week or a dieting break might come in handy, she says. “The key is doing these things strategically and with a plan, not just eating everything in sight while you lay on the couch for a couple weeks doing nothing, but giving your body a break from the calorie deficit, maybe even including a couple of foods that you wanted but haven't included,” she continues. “Just be strategic and give yourself guidelines to eat at maintenance level and give yourself easier macro breakdowns. Don't let this become a free-for-all. And then you might find that you're more motivated to train with the increase in fuel or that a deload week allows your body a break to repair and rebuild while also giving you a mental break from the strain of constantly pushing that progression. But be proactive. If you've been dieting for a while and give yourself that strategic break, you might be surprised by how much it even helps you break a plateau.”

10. Mistake 4: Using the Scale to Measure Progress

“The next bad habit is one that many of us fall prey to, which can prevent us from sticking with the habits we need to see the body recomp that we want, and it's only using the scale to measure progress,” she says.

11. The Scale “Doesn’t Show Us the Full Picture”

While the scale is “a great tool,” it “doesn't show us the full picture,” she says. “It can make you feel like you're actually even losing ground when results are truly building. And that's because the scale only shows you your weight at that moment on that day. It doesn't tell you if you've gained weight because you've gained muscle as you've lost fat or that you've lost weight because you've lost muscle while you've been gaining fat. Seeking to lose as fast as possible on the scale can actually sabotage your results and your long-term maintenance. But the faster that we seek to see results on the scale, the more we end up losing muscle mass and not just fat.”

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12. Instead, Take Body Measurements and Progress Photos

“If you wanna focus on truly losing fat to look leaner, you need to track your progress by taking body measurements and progress pictures, especially progress pictures of areas you don't even care about changing,” she says. “Often, the places we wanna lose from the most are the last to go. So by taking multiple angles in areas, we can see fat loss occurring in other places and know how to stay on course.”

13. Mistake 5: Trying to Out Exercise Your Diet

The next bad habit, one of the “most challenging to break,” is trying to out-exercise your diet. “Many of us fall into this habit because it actually does work, at least to start. But this is also what keeps us stuck in that yo-yo dieting cycle, struggling more and more to lose the weight.”

14. It Will Work for a While, But Your Body Will Adapt

“As we get older, it works because most of us are more comfortable being uncomfortable in our training than we are with making nutritional changes. We can also create that calorie deficit to start by doing more in our workouts, and it makes us feel really in control to push hard. We feel good about our hard work, but working hard doesn't mean we're working hard in a direction that moves us forward,” she says. “And over time, our body adapts to the training stimulus, which means we aren't creating the calorie deficit we once were. So at that point, either our diet needs to change, or we need to train longer and harder. At some point, though, trying to do more in our workouts is going to burn us out, or it will lead to injury or even metabolic adaptations. Those metabolic adaptations then can make it harder and harder for us to lose as we get older.”

15. Instead, Your Nutrition Should Match Your Goals

“The simple fact is our nutrition has to match our goals, and by adjusting our diet, we can see our performance in the gym even improve. As we see that amazing body recomp happening, we will truly see the hard work and sweat we're putting in during our workouts pay off. And I think it's key that we really recognize that at times, we won't feel like our hard work is paying off. We won't see linear progress towards our fat loss goals,” she says.

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16. Mistake 6: Viewing Exercise as a Means to Lose Weight

Her next bad habit is “treating your workouts only as a means to lose weight,” she says. “While we do wanna design our workouts and our diet to work towards a singular goal, I think it is also key we set complimentary goals that further motivate us to do the habits we need to see results. And that's why I found a secret to consistency and success in seeing results was setting performance goals.”

17. Focus on Specific Performance Goals

“I stopped seeing my workouts as just a chance to burn more calories by focusing on specific performance goals, like improving my pushups, conquering a scale, lifting more weight in a specific lift, addressing an imbalance or even training for a competition. I helped keep myself more motivated to train hard. I have more purpose for each workout, and then I have something to track in the gym to see my hard work,” she says.

18. Shifting Your Goals Will Help You Lose Fat Anyway

“Building towards this ultimately also helped me lose fat because it kept me doing the habits I needed to. I wanted to eat to fuel and feel my best, which resulted in better body comp. I wanted to do the recovery. I needed to be able to train hard by setting complementary goals like performance goals for our workouts; we better help ourselves stay motivated to do the habits we need. Even when fat loss results are slow, or we've hit a plateau, it allows us to celebrate wins to keep moving forward,” she maintains.

19. Mistake 7: Don’t Feel Like You Are Starting Over

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The final bad habit that “sabotaged” her for years was “starting over every January,” she says. Every holiday season, she would make excuses and “pack on the pounds.”

20. She Realized the “Power of 1% Improvements”

“That's when I realized the power of 1% improvements. Just being a little more consistent, focusing on doing a minimum could help me move forward even during a time I didn't care as much or have the motivation and focus,” she says. “Too often, we rely on a perfect 21 days or six weeks, but doing the ideal only during those times doesn't allow for true habit changes or results to snowball. So it's key.”

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21. It Doesn’t Have to Be “All or Nothing”

“Stop the all-or-nothing habit changes and realize that sometimes something is better than nothing. Embracing doing the minimum at times,” she recommends. And if you enjoyed this article, don't miss 20 Incredible Ozempic Success Stories of All Time.

"I had never experienced an exercise high in my life, and I couldn't imagine living without bread, rice, and noodles," confesses Richa Prasad. After years of failed diets and a medical scare, she discovered that sustainable weight loss didn't require the intense lifestyle changes she'd been attempting.

Meet Richa, who, along with Lucy Liang, founded Coach Viva—a company helping people lose weight through simple, sustainable habits. Her approach? Work smarter, not harder. Here's how she lost 20 pounds using three surprisingly simple habits that finally stuck.

Why Your Past Weight Loss Attempts Failed

"There was a secret part of me that felt weight loss was something to get over with—like I was dragging behind in a race," Richa explains in her post. This mindset led to a cycle of intense starts and disappointing stops.

"Look at your lean friends," she says. "They aren't doing anything intense. But I kept trying to catch up to them with unsustainable plans, only to fall behind and regain the weight."

The First Lazy Habit That Changed Everything

After booking a personal trainer and dedicating months to exercising, Richa learned a crucial truth: "Physical movement contributes just 20% to our metabolic rate—and only 5% comes from structured exercise."

Instead of intense workouts, she focused on simple movement. "Even if you went to the gym for two hours, it doesn't compensate for 14 hours of sitting," she explains. "Adding a little more movement every day compounds to a big metabolic boost."

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A Realistic Movement Plan Anyone Can Follow

"Start by checking your average daily steps," Richa advises. "If it's below 6,000, that's your sufficient goal. Set an upper goal 1,000 steps higher for high-motivation days."

The beauty of this approach? "Because this isn't intense, my hunger levels didn't spike, so sticking to my nutrition plan was way easier. When I'm walking, I'm not mindlessly snacking, and the bar is set low enough that it minimizes the all-or-nothing thinking."

The Second Habit That Made Food Choices Simple

"With so much conflicting nutrition information out there, figuring out what to eat can feel like navigating a minefield," Richa acknowledges. Instead of eliminating food groups, she developed three simple rules:

1. "Drink one glass of water before eating. Early stages of dehydration manifest as hunger, not thirst."
2. "Have one palm-sized amount of lean protein first. It causes the highest metabolic rate of any macro."
3. "Use a half-cup-sized bowl for everything else. This gives your brain time to catch up with your stomach."

The Final Habit That Sealed Her Success

After testing 33 different sleep hacks, Richa discovered the key to maintaining her new habits: consistent sleep. "Your body doesn't understand the concept of a weekend," she explains. "All it wants is predictability."

Her three-step sleep routine:

• Wake up at the same time daily—even on weekends.
• Get immediate morning sunlight.
• Keep phones out of the bedroom.

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Why These Habits Actually Stick

"Weight loss is like a domino effect," Richa concludes. "You tip one small domino, triggering a chain reaction leading to massive results." By focusing on these simple, "lazy" habits rather than extreme measures, she found sustainable success that lasted—without feeling deprived or exhausted.

"The start-stop approach unsurprisingly caused poor weight loss, but these habits? They're so simple I actually kept them. And that made all the difference." And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

What are the key health habits of people who have lost weight and managed to keep it off? Maria Lucey is a Registered Dietician based in Ireland and Bermuda who “has helped hundreds of people successfully lose weight.” However, according to the pro, “the real power comes in keeping that weight off.” In a recent viral video, she shares “seven effective habits that I use personally and share with my clients to help them stay slim after losing weight.”

Weight Control Varies for Everyone

Maria starts off by explaining that “weight control is not always an easy task” and that it is easier for some to maintain their weight more than others. “There are huge genetic components to weight: your hormones impact your weight, what medications you're on, even how your mother ate when you were in the womb can impact how you manage your weight later in life,” she says. “So please don't be disheartened if you're struggling. You may need a deeper dive with the help of a dietician to do this.”

Habit #1: Self Monitoring

According to Maria, a “huge centerpiece of any behavioral weight loss intervention is encouraging people to self-monitor.” Checking your weight, aka weighing yourself, is key, she says. “As a dietician, I often have people who like to come to me to check their weight, and they like to keep coming back, which helps them stay accountable.” However, you can also weigh yourself at home.

How Often Should You Weigh Yourself?

“The optimal frequency for how often you weigh yourself is going to depend on when people are actively trying to lose weight. I often recommend checking your weight every two weeks. This is usually enough for most people. It's more likely to show truer results when focusing on the big picture, and it will be less impacted by daily fluctuations,” she says.

When Should You Weigh Yourself

If you are going to weigh yourself, the best time to weigh yourself is first thing in the morning “after you've gone to the restroom before you eat or drink anything,” says Maria. “The reason for this is that your body has had enough time to digest all of the food and drinks that you've had the day before. And when you weigh yourself in the morning, you want to wear as little clothing as possible or at least wear the same thing every time you step up on the scale.” Also, if you choose to weigh yourself once a week or every two weeks, “make sure you weigh yourself on the same day of the week,” she recommends.

Habit #2: Get Organized and Meal Prep

Another habit is getting organized, “and there is no secret cheat code here,” she says. “I always say to my clients, nobody accidentally falls into a salad for lunch or a lovely home-cooked, nice balanced dinner. You need to have some sort of a system and some element of organization in place.” This doesn’t mean “everything needs to be crazy planned out and that you're eating out of Tupperware all of the time, but taking some time to plan ahead each week is important,” she says. She meal preps on a Sunday for the next few days. Then, on Wednesday, she does a mini meal prep for the rest of the week and is less structured on the weekend. “It's finding what works for you,” she says.

Habit #3: Get Your Nutrition in Order

The next habit is focusing on nutrition. “Now, I am presuming that everybody watching this video is thinking that I am just about to tell you not to eat processed foods, but you might be in for a shock here. To get very real, eating healthy can be challenging. You have to be quite organized, as just mentioned,” she says. “I always say that if you make nutrition too complicated, it will just become something that you don't want to do.” While she doesn’t expect her clients to “be completely eating whole foods all of the time,” she does encourage them to avoid processed foods for the most part. “Tinned beans, microwaveable packets of rice and quinoa, jars of pasta sauce, these are all examples of processed foods that can come in handy,” she says. “I do, of course, advocate for staying away from foods that are highly processed most of the time. And these are foods that have really long ingredient lists. And in the ingredient list, there's lots of things that you don't even recognize.”

Habit #4: Don’t Clear Your Plate

“People who tend to maintain their weight loss, they tend to eat their meals out twice,” she says, stressing the importance of not clearing your plate. “If you go out to a nice restaurant and you're served a monstrous portion of food and you can't eat at all, there is no need to feel obligated to eat it,” she says. “Even in the really fancy places, they almost give you the box when they see that you're struggling. And I think this is great. It eliminates food waste. And if you have this really amazing meal and you don't want to leave it behind this way, you don't have to feel bad if you can't eat it all. So it's a really good habit to take your time to enjoy the meal when you are eating out. It takes time for your brain to send signals to your stomach to tell you that you're full. So eat it slowly and see how you're feeling. If you're still hungry, that's fine. Finish the meal, but if not, ask somebody for a box so you can bring the rest of it home. You can enjoy it that evening or the next day.”

Habit #5: Get Into a Food Groove

Variety is important for a balanced diet, but “too much variety can backfire,” says Maria. “People who are successfully managing to control their weight and their eating habits have what I like to call a food groove. The majority of their meals consist of well-planned staples. There are a few surprises thrown in, but for the most part, their diets are fairly predictable. And what I mean by this is that they are fairly consistent with their major meals.”

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Habit #6: Don’t Overcomplicate Exercise

“When it comes to what type of exercise is best, I always say start at level one, which is just finding something that you enjoy and stick to it consistently. You don't have to overcomplicate it more than that,” says Maria. “Now, if you can go a step further up to level two, you want to try and have a balance of cardio exercises like running, fast walking, or cycling, as well as some strength resistance exercises. This is the type of exercise that will utilize your muscles. A balance of both is the most important thing for your health.” She also stresses the importance of daily movement over your two workouts a week, like “walking that little bit further, taking the stairs, carrying your groceries,” she says. “All of this movement contributes to what we call non-exercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT for short. So this is the amount of energy that you're using throughout the day that isn't coming from that planned-out exercise. And this is actually a bigger calorie burn than the structured exercise that you were trying to do in the first place. So making your lifestyle just a little bit more active in your daily routines is really valuable.”

Habit #7: Snack Smart

Lastly, she stresses the importance of having balanced snacks. “By having regular meals and snacks, you have more control than when you do eventually sit down to have your meal. This prevents overindulging, and it helps with managing your portion sizes. You can eat in a way that feels much better for your body,” she says. “Eating regularly is often an overlooked but easy-to-incorporate tool that can help you massively when it comes to your weight and your eating habits.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.