10 Surprising "Healthy Lifestyle" Mistakes People Make When Getting Started

Who hasn’t started a healthy lifestyle makeover only to feel like they fall short and failed miserably at it?

Getting fit isn’t always easy and when you goof up (and you will…trust me. We all do.) It feels even harder.

After working as a personal trainer and gym owner for the last decade (and helping thousands of people get fit), I’ve realized there are TEN common mistakes and mindsets to avoid when starting a new fitness plan.

I hope these insights will help you be kinder to yourself so you can—bit-by-bit—stay the course as you make the tiny daily upgrades necessary for a healthy body your future self will thank for!

Contrary to what you’ve been led to believe, becoming fit and healthy doesn’t need to be hard and you don’t need to feel miserable in the process. If you are, then you’re probably making some of the same mistakes I did at the beginning of my fitness lifestyle.

Ready for my list of the 10 healthy lifestyle mistakes people make when getting started? Here we go!

#1- Lower your calories.

Ah, the ole you have to be starving to lose weight. If I had a dollar for everytime a client said this to me…well, let’s just say I’d be living in a small beach house down south!

Of course, you need to be calorie deficient in order to lose weight but most of the time, being too calorie deficient leads to muscle loss, mood swings, binge eating & a loss of energy, just to mention a few. Our bodies produce millions of cells a day & millions die a day. It is vital we feed our bodies important nutrients to keep us healthy.

Being too calorie deficient is not only unhealthy but most can’t stick with it. So why be miserable only to fail. Your body needs calories to function & perform. Finding balance is the ultimate key to weight loss success.

#2 No more carbs.

Do you drive your car with no gas? I wish we could. That would give me more money to spend on Lululemon leggings! Our bodies are just like a car. We need to fuel our vehicles, just like we need to fuel our bodies. Carbs are our way of keeping our bodies moving, Without them, we feel run down. Our brains feel foggy & we diminish our strength.

There are good carbs, think sweet potatoes, oatmeals & rice. There are not so good carbs, think chips, candy & pretzels. Be careful when you’re reducing carbs. They really are vital to our well being. I always suggest no less than 40% of your daily calorie intake be made up of carbs.

Of course, you crave carbs. Your body needs them. Those cravings are a way of the body telling you exactly what it needs. Just keep in mind, your body isn’t going to remind you it wants good carbs so be selective when choosing how to fuel your body. The wiser the carb choice, the more the body will reward you.

#3 Do your workout first thing in the morning.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not a bounce out of bed & hit the weights kind of girl. I struggle enough with getting my kids up & ready for school on time. So if this was a must to be fit, well I’d fail miserably.

When I first started on my fitness journey, I really did believe this. I’d set my alarm for 5:00 am. It was cold & dark. I would head to the gym on autopilot feeling like a zombie. I would just go through the motions of my workout, not really getting into it. But hey, at least I could say I worked out, right? By week 2 I was over it! I couldn’t stick with it.

I know you probably have this vision that anyone who is super fit, must be up & working out hard every morning. Some yes, but not all of them. You need to work out when you feel your best. Heck, I clean my house at 11:00 pm & create killer workout plans at midnight. It’s just the way my internal clock works, so I go with it.

There is no right or wrong time to workout. What is wrong, is working out when you have no energy or drive. This will not only lead to you not sticking with it, but it will slow your progress. You will not work out as hard or for as long. Do what works for you. As I always tell my clients, keep it simple!

#4 Start running.

Does the very thought of running make you cringe? Do you think running is the ultimate key to losing weight? Ok, running does have its benefits but if you’re not passionate about it, don’t do it! If you told me that running is the only way to be fit, I’d run (well, jog…..slowly) away from you.

I’ve had 2 back surgeries & running more than 30 minutes causes me severe pain. I do everything I can to avoid running. There are many ways to lose weight without running long distance or jumping on that treadmill for an hour.

Short bursts of energy burn fat while preserving muscle mass (your muscle mass is very important for your metabolism health). Here are just a few examples:

• Jump rope w/o a rope

• Mt Climbers

• Burpees

• Spin Bike Intervals

• Rope Slams

• Sled Pushes

Add these to your workouts, doing 30-second rounds. Your heart will increase, you’ll be burning fat & saving your joints from repetitive jarring. So, if not being a runner is holding you back from getting lean, stop. Don’t run!

#5 You need friends to workout with you.

Oh, it sounds like a great idea & maybe it is if you have “like-minded” friends. Most friends have good intentions of keeping you motivated & helping you reach your goals. However, they can also lead to distractions & frustrations. If not handled properly, this will derail you.

When you become dependent on others to meet you at the gym or eat healthy with you, any setbacks they may have will become your setbacks. You have to want it for yourself. You have to have the willpower, no matter who is around you, to stick with your goals.

I had a friend that would beg me to workout with her. We’d set up a time to meet at the gym. She would text me 5 mins before our meet time & tell me she is running late. I would jump on the treadmill & walk slowly, waiting for her to show up. 20 mins would go by & I’d text her to see how long she would. No response. Keep in mind, I had a babysitter with my girls, waiting for me to return. 30 mins would go by & still no response. I would get so aggravated that I would go straight to the locker room & pack my things up & head out the door.

You see, I was too dependent on her showing up. I wanted her to want it as bad as I did. I gave her the power to derail me. Her making me mad would put me in a funk where I would be in the wrong mindset to do my workout alone. It was selfish of her to continuously do this, but it was my own selfishness of needing someone to push me. I was to blame for not doing the workout regardless of her intentions.

Don’t do this to yourself. Set up your goals & work on them. You don’t need to depend on others. You have it in you to do this! I promise you. Friends will fall in & out of this lifestyle but that doesn't mean it has to affect you.

#6 Don’t eat after 6pm.

What? No food after 6:00 pm? What about your nightly dose of Netflix? Who can get through a juicy season & have no snacks in your lap? That would be horrible. I couldn’t do it!

There have been many articles throughout the years stating you shouldn’t eat after dinner. But why? I’m always hungriest after dark. I eat up until I go to bed. The theory is that you will not burn calories once you go to bed. Well, I could give you many reasons why that is just not true. I won’t bore you with the details but your body does burn calories while you sleep.

If you’re following a calorie or macro plan, it doesn’t matter what time you eat. You can place ALL of your food during the day or during the night. I place most of my food in the evening hours. I like to eat when I am around others that are eating. I spend most of the daytime by myself, so I’m not triggered to eat. So I save my eating for my kids are home from school.

Again, do what works best for you. If you’re sitting around gnawing on your nails so you don’t touch any food, then you HAVE to be miserable. You won’t stick with it. Simplify. Eat when you’re hungry & stop when you’re full. Starvation leads to failure so plan ahead with snacks & meals so you know what to eat & when to eat. Do what works for you.

#7 Workout everyday.

So you start working out & you’re super pumped. You have goals in your mind, your grocery list written & you are determined to hit the gym. Sounds awesome!

Week 2 hits & you begin struggling with sticking with your new plan. You’re not giving up but man, this is getting rough. Week 3 comes & you decide to skip this day & that day. Before you know it, you’re down to 2-3 days of gym time.

You already know how this story ends. It’s too much & you end up quitting. You blame yourself for not sticking with it. You feel like a failure & you will never be able to reach your goals. Listen, it’s not your fault. There’s no way you can stick to this regimen. Trust me, I've tried it.

I encourage you to be realistic. Pick only days you know you can work out based on your schedule & the schedule of your family. Don’t put so much emphasis on how many days a week you can work out. Quality over quantity.

I tell all of my clients to pick days to work out & then pick 2 “active” rest days. These are simply days you do something fun that you enjoy that keeps your body moving. This will keep yourself in the routine of staying active & on a work out regimen.

Here are some examples:

• Hiking

• Walking

• Paddle Boarding

• Kayaking

• Yoga

• Swimming

• Skiing

• Rock Climbing

• Biking

Do what makes you feel energized, activities you can enjoy with your family. This will not only help you burn more calories but you’re getting your family to see that being fit can be fun. Who knows, maybe your kids will thank you someday for teaching them to choose a healthy lifestyle.

#8 Eat what you want. You’ve earned it!

Raise your hand if you’re guilty of this one. If you could see me now, you’d see I have both hands up! Back in the early days of my fitness journey, I would head to the gym, do my workout & head straight to my local Chick-Fil A. I was not going there for their grilled chicken salads either! Nope, not me. I was going for a large unsweetened Iced Tea (don’t want to waste my calories here) & a brownie. Not just any brownie. A brownie with the icing & nuts on it. (they no longer have them, so don’t rush out to get one. Sorry!)

I continued on this “brownie & tea” thing for months. During these months I would complain that I was hitting every workout, getting my water in & walking every day. Why was I not getting results? Hmm, not obvious! But I have to say, I really miss my naive days of thinking I was really doing something amazing. Or so I thought!

Once I became educated on nutrition, I started slimming my drive-thru visits. I couldn’t go cold turkey. I eventually got down to one time a week & I began to see results. I had to learn balance. If you took it completely away from me, all at once, I would've been miserable. I had to learn balance. I had to decide to make choices about my nutrition. I had to change the way I rewarded myself.

Start thinking of ways to reward yourself but without food. I like to go for a walk after dinner, by myself. Download an audiobook, a podcast or a new playlist. Maybe choose to take a hot bath with a book every night. Book a massage to reward yourself for not missing any workouts for a week or a month.

Pick something you look forward to. Something to keep you on track. Ask for support from your loved ones. This is important to keep you focused & working towards something you enjoy. Getting & being fit is hard & you deserve to treat yourself.

#9 You should be super sore.

Have you ever sat on the toilet after a super hard workout & wanted to scream in agony? Scream for someone to come help you get back up? The beginning stages of fitness can be brutal & painful. So many quit after a few days of soreness, thinking “ I can’t do this. I need to be able to function everyday!”

Relax, this is temporary. Once your body recognizes that working out is a your new norm, soreness will subside. You will have the occasional workout that leaves you sore & tender but that will be far & in between.

Soreness is just a side effect of the workout. Lactic Acid builds up in your muscles & makes them very tender. A nice brisk walk, a light stretch or a massage will flush the old blood from the muscles & you will quickly feel back to normal.

Please don’t think you didn’t workout hard enough if you find yourself not sore after a workout. This is not an indicator of a good workout. If you’re hydrated, getting your protein in, stretching & following up with cardio, you probably won't be sore. Soreness does make us mentally feel good about our workout but it should not make you feel bad if you don’t feel sore.

#10 The numbers on your scale will steadily decrease (my favorite mistake).

So you worked out a few times this week & you’re sure that scale should be going down. You are outraged that the exact opposite is happening. You want to smash that scale & throw it through the wall. I get it, trust me.

Nothing is more defeating than working hard on getting fit & needing that scale to tell you “Great job, keep it up! It’s working!” Instead, that flipping scale stares at you, giving you numbers that going UP instead of down. What is happening?

This scale game will derail you faster than anything else. This game has kicked me off my fitness journey many times. Don’t lose to this game. I was desperate for reassurance that all of my efforts were working. I ignored all the obvious signs of feeling better, sleeping better, to name just a few. I needed that scale to drop digits so I felt vindicated & could be pumped to continue on with my endless work of getting fit.

So why does the scale go up sometimes when you workout? Most likely, it’s your body retaining fluid. When you work out, your muscles get tiny little micro tears. Your body reacts to these tears as an injury. The body retains extra fluid to heal itself. Micro tears are a good thing & is part of shaping our muscles. Healing is also very important to the body. Retaining fluid is only temporary & once the body recognizes that it is not injured, it will let the extra fluids go. That’s when you will see the scale go down.

But if you didn’t know that, you would get caught up in the lies of the scale & throw the towel in before ever giving your body a chance to react. So many fall victim to this.

Instead of using the scale as a way of determining results, use a tape measure or pictures. More importantly, take a moment to recognize your energy levels, sleep patterns, your mood, your self confidence, self worth, your sense of pride of sticking with it & how your clothes are fitting. Don’t let the scale beat you down & break your spirit.

Let’s just be real…

Do you introduce yourself this way “Hi, I am so & so & I weigh 153lbs!” No! And we all lie on our license anyway! No one needs to know your weight & quite frankly, no one cares. It’s a number. That’s it.

I hope some of these “simple mistakes” I’ve made, save you from quitting your fitness journey. Starting & sticking with a healthy lifestyle is hard enough. You don’t these pitfalls making it even more difficult.

You can do this. Just remember me saying “Just keep it simple” Don’t try to do all things & all things perfectly. One day at a time, one rep at a time & one pound at a time. Each one is moving you forward.

If you need some fun, simple ways to keep you on track & inspired, please sign up below to be on the inside loop of tricks & tools to fast track you to all of your goals. I’d love to be a guiding light on your path to greatness!

Aimee Schwinabart is the founder of The Purely Fit—online workouts, nutrition, and fitness coaching that actually work! She specializes in short (super effective) daily workouts combined with customized nutrition plans to help real people shed excess fat and reveal toned, lean muscles. The Purely Fit approach to looking and feeling great prioritizes small, steady, super efficient workouts and nutrition upgrades to help you stay with it once and for all!