New Year Resolution To Lose Weight? Here’s What Could Go Wrong

With "losing weight" being the most popular New Year resolution for more than half of Americans, Dr. Jessica Bartfield sheds light on the things people do wrong while dieting.

A recent study published in Science Daily states that while many people begin the New Year resolving to lose weight, only 20 percent of the people succeed. While nearly two-third of Americans claim to be on a weight-loss diet plan, not many of them succeed. Therefore, Dr. Bartfield from the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery & Bariatric Care reveals some things that people do wrong while dieting.

"Dieting is a skill, much like riding a bicycle, and requires practice and good instruction," Dr. Bartfield said in a report. "You're going to fall over and feel frustrated, but eventually you will succeed and it will get easier."

Listed below is Bartfield's top for reasons why diets don't work for many people:

1. Not keeping proper count of calorie consumption

"Most people underestimate the number of calories they eat per day," Dr. Bartfield said. "The doctor suggests that it is a good idea to write down everything that one consumes in a day, even the 'tiny' snacks one eats in a day. This helps remembering and keeping count of the number calorie intake in a day. Bartfield also warns that it is necessary to pay attention to serving sizes.

"Food eaten outside of the home tends to be much larger portion sizes and much higher in calories. Try to look up nutrition information of your favorite take-out meal or restaurant and select a healthy meal before picking up the phone or going out to eat," she said.

2. Overestimating the power of exercise and activities

"Typically you need to cut 500 calories per day to lose 1 lb per week. This is very difficult to achieve through exercise alone, and would require 60 minutes or more of vigorous activity every day," Dar. Bartfield said. "A more attainable goal would be to try to increase activity throughout the day and get a total of 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise most days of the week. Buy a pedometer and track your steps; try to increase to a goal of 10,000 steps per day. But be careful -- exercise is not an excuse to eat more."

3. Irregular meal timings and eating habits

"You need a steady stream of glucose throughout the day to maintain optimal energy and to prevent metabolism from slowing down. Eat breakfast every day within one hour of waking up, then eat a healthy snack or meal every three to four hours," she said. "Try not to go longer than 5 hours without eating a healthy snack or meal to keep your metabolism steady."

4. Inadequate Sleep

"Studies have shown that people who get fewer than six hours of sleep have higher levels of ghrelin, which is a hormone that stimulates appetite, particularly for high- carbohydrate/high- calorie foods," Dr. Bartfield said. "In addition, less sleep raises levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, which can lead to weight gain."

Real Time Analytics