 Ladies, think you're making the right choices in the gym and in the kitchen? Be sure to avoid these common training and diet mistakes! Mistakes. We all make them. In fact, I probably do a lot more things wrong than I do correctly; that's why pencils have erasers, right? There's nothing horrible about being wrong from time to time, just as long as you can learn from your mistakes and make a conscious effort to correct the problem and do things right the next time around. Every mistake you make is just another opportunity to try again and do it right. "Okay, enough of the preachy life lesson talk, Craven, get to the goods!" You got it. The last post I wrote about training and nutrition for women did a lot better than I had ever expected and I got a lot of great feedback from everyone, especially the girls. I received plenty of follow up questions regarding nutrition, and especially training. When I'd ask these girls what their programs were like, I'd see how they were doing things right, but more importantly, a lot that they were doing wrong. "Wrong" sounds like such an absolute statement to make. I think that word really only applies to mathematics, if your work doesn't yield the right answer, then clearly it's wrong. As far as diet, training, lifestyle choices, etc go, none of that is ever wrong. Some things are just LESS OPTIMAL. And me, well, I'm all about OPTIMIZATION. Being the sucker that I am for a pretty face and a squat body, I figured I'd address some of the biggest mistakes that I see women consistently make with their diets and training. Guys, take notes as well, because I witness a lot of you 'bros' making the same mistakes. Some of these ladies are even out lifting you! (I don't see many guys hit deadlifts, but girls are always more than willing to pull some big weight! Take a lesson from the babes, bro.)  Mistakes in the Gym 1. Not lifting heavy enough. Lifting heavy weights does not make women huge. I can repeat this until I'm blue in the face, but I feel it falls on those delicate deaf ears. Women think they understand this, but it still hasn't sunk in. It's time to evolve beyond using those pink rubber 5 pounders. I know they may personify your princess-like aura, but their not going to give you those goddess-like curves. Your muscles won't take shape and you won't lose fat if your'e curling and pressing weight roughly the weight of your iphone! Don't get complacent, either. Strive to increase your weights and/or reps as often as possible! 2. Unnecessary Ab work. It never fails. Every gym I walk into, just as the bros are cluttering up the dumbell rack so they can catch a glimpse of themselves in the mirror doing bicep curls, there's a whole flock of chicks relentlessly doing crunches and weird ab work in hopes of shedding that layer of flub and achieving that flat stomach. Working the ab muscles is important, but this is done indirectly if you squat, deadlift, and press with HEAVY weights. Revealing the six pack comes down to body fat- the less you have, the leaner and more tone your midsection (and everywhere else) will be! So reduce the direct ab work, fix your diet, and say hello to ms. washboard abs! 3. BOSU Balls and weird gym toys. The gym is no place to play with balls! Especially of the BOSU variety. Unless your training for Circ de Solei, you have no business even looking at these. Don't attempt to stand on one holding any sort of weight in hopes of "strengthening those stabilizer muscles". Your muscles will "stabilize" just fine under heavy squats and presses. If you're doing any kind of work on a bosu ball, you're just asking for trouble. But I guess chiropractors and physical therapist need clients, too? 4. TOO MUCH CARDIO. I hate cardio. Everything about it. And you should too. Not because it's a drag and painful to do, but because it's ineffective as a method of burning fat. I'm not saying a few minutes on the treadmill is going to wreck you, but you cannot make it the priority of your program. 2 hour sessions of moderate cardio will not make you lean. You'll end up flat, still chubby, and worse for the wear. Taking a brisk walk in the morning is actually a phenomenal way to increase fat burning throughout the day. It's easy, relaxing, and really helps you focus on the day ahead of you. Also HIIT (High intensity interval training) on a stationary bike, jump rope, or sprints is highly effective at burning fat. With HIIT, you're in and out in under 20 minutes You can't lose. 5. Post Training Meals: I'm going to drop a bit of dangerous knowledge, so be careful how you use this. Ready? It is virtually impossible-no matter WHAT you eat- to gain any body fat after lifting weights! Let that sink in for a moment. Does this mean you can hit up the Cheesecake factory for the 5 course special after a few sets of curls with those pretty pink dumbells and sessin of yoga? Absolutely not! This is only true when the workout has good intesnity with a higher volume of weights. So if you're squatting, deadlifting, and pressing heavy pretty frequently, feel free to enjoy some sushi with the girls or ice cream with your favorite movie tonight. You're earning it.  Nutrition Mistakes 1. Adopting a Diet Program Advertised on TV. "Lose five pounds the first week!" You know these gimmicks sound tempting. These fad TV diets 'work' by reducing your total caloric intake, so you will in fact lose weight. The problem comes when the program is over. Rebound effect sets in and your gaining all of the weight you lost and probably adding an additional few pounds on top of that. And since these diets are aimed mostly at women who don't train with weights, they're definitely setting themselves up for major rebound weight. You ladies will have greater long term success if you learn how to properly track your macro-nutrient and calorie intake. Cooking and preparing your own meals will serve exceptionally beneficial as well!  2. Eating Fake Health Food. You've all seen it. Special K Cereal Bars (seriously, what could ever be healthy about cereal? And when has anything good and nutritious ever come in bar form??) are garbage. They're a pure marketing gimmick and will get you to unknowingly put down 30 grams of sugar with little actual health benefit. All of these pre-packaged snack foods aren't doing you any favors by throwing these in between meals. All of the fat free, sugar free, high fiber, organic, and gluten free packaged products can still make you fat. Because these products appear to be healthy, they're easier to rationalize eating in excess. (Much like fruit, i'll get to this in a minute). Ensure drinks, Boosts, Slim Fast, Kashi cereals: These are the most insidious forms of junkfood because they masquerade as healthy and nutritous foods. As always, aim to consume the least process, most wholesome foods possible. 3. Not eating enough. You girls have to eat. Seriously. Especially if you're lifting weights. Eating is necessary, and I promise you it won't make you overweight. Drastically reducing calories makes you feel horrible, and on top of that, your body will adapt to it's new caloric equilibrium and because less efficient at using calories, especially if you're doing hours of cardio on top of this. Always remember to eat. 4. Going to Extremem with Carbs OR Fats. There's never any reason to be extreme with any method. I see a lot of women adopt a high carb-low fat way of eating that is not sustainable and won't help them if measures are extreme. On the other hand, some women will use the high fat-low carb and take this to an extreme. While this model does resemble a ketogenic diet (which i do endorse and impliment when necessary) it can be overdone and may not always be practical and useful when trying to reach your goals. The best bet, like with everything in life, is somewhere in the middle between the two. This is why it's important to track your macronutrient and calories. I can't stress this enough. 5. Being Mislead by SMOOTHIES. Have you ever wanted to consume 140 grams of sugar in a single sitting? Well you can accomplish that feat by ordering up your favorite large smoothie from Jamba Juice! But smoothies are supposed to be healthy, right? Yes, that's the claim made by saying they're made with nothing but wholesome fruits, but let's take a step back and examine exactly what's going on with that "oh so amazing mid meal smoothie". First off, if you drink an entire large smoothie, it's actually a lot more fruit than you could ever eat if it were in it's natural, whole form. If you eat a banana, chances are you're not going to follow that up with 2 apples and 3 cups of berries. And even then, that's a horrible idea. "But its only fruit,it's healthy, right?" Sure, but in small quantities. The fructose content (sugar) in a smoothie easily exceeds 100 grams, enough to spike your insulin levels higher than cheech and chong and put a brake on fat burning a good while. Even the fiber content of the fruit is greatly diminished from all fine processing from the blender. I always suggest to never use smoothies as a snack or meal replacement. You're better off eating a wholesome meal with protein and fat and a small amount of slow acting carbs. From here on out, you should only include smoothies into your nutrtion plan as a "once in a while treat" and add it to the junk food budget.  That's about it for this one, ladies! I hope many of you don't make these mistakes on a regular basis, but If you have in the past just don't sweat it and work on correcting those mistakes in the future. Health and fitness is not a sprint, your best results will come from being consistent with training and nutrtion. Sure, you'll make mistakes along the way. We all do. The best you can do is acknowledge those mistakes, learn from them, and correct them by making more optimal choices in the future. As always, keep the weights high, the squats low, and you'll change your body and your life for the best.
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