People immediately set foot into the dieting danger zone the second they tell themselves they are going to go on a diet. The term diet implies that they will be giving up the foods they love, that they will probably be going hungry, and worse, it implies that this will only be temporary, that as soon as they've reached their weight loss goal they will be able to go back to the way they were living.

Dieting is not about giving up the foods you love, and especially not about starving yourself. However, dieting is temporary, which is why most people eventually gain back all of the weight they initially lost. This begins a vicious cycle of one diet regimen pitfall after another.

Pitfall of a Healthy Lifestyle #1 Yoyo dieting

Any medical doctor will tell you that yoyo dieting will lead to the following health pitfalls.

Circulatory disease

Cancer

Respiratory disease

Diabetes

High blood pressure

Infertility

Pregnancy complications

Liver problems

Gallbladder disease

There is developing consensus among many experts that this type of dieting cycle is unhealthier to people than just being overweight.

For this reason, it is important that people who are overweight and decide to do something about it, attempt to get it right the first time. This is nearly impossible, but you can better your chances by avoiding the hundreds of fad diets being peddled in infomercials late at night.

Pitfall of a Healthy Lifestyle #2 Using the word diet

People have to stop thinking of weight loss as dieting and start thinking of it as healthy living. A diet will only offer short term results, which makes it detrimental to your long term health. But proper nutrition and exercise are better suited to this type of lifestyle.

Pitfall of a Healthy Lifestyle #3 Not exercising

Exercise is important, yet it is not as incremental as proper nutrition. By learning to eat properly, such as to eat healthy foods, smaller portions, etc, you can train your mind to not always crave the unhealthy foods that have made you overweight. This is not to say that you have to completely give them up. That's what dieting implies. So, living a healthier lifestyle means that you just cut back on those foods that are not good for you.

Pitfall of a Healthy Lifestyle #4 Not taking a break

Life is meant to be enjoyed, so if you enjoy pizza, then by all means continue to do so, but if you were eating it once a week when you were overweight, you will want to cut back to once a month, and then eat smaller portions.

People fall into a more vicious and dangerous dieting cycle when they look for a quick fix, or when they lack the determination to lose the weight. You can lose the weight and keep it off for good through proper nutrition and exercise. Will you slip up occasionally? Of course, no one said it was going to be easy. When you do slip up, don't beat yourself up over it. Just get back on track the following day. As you can see from the undesirable health problems listed above, it's better to regain a pound or two occasionally, rather that 25 or 30 and end up back where you started when you began dieting.