10 Habits Standing Between You and Your Best Body

You exercise, try to eat well and follow your doctor's recommendations -- and still, you find yourself fatigued, a few pounds heavier than you'd like and stuck in the dreaded fitness plateau. Don't panic! Instead, see if any of these habits describe you -- and take small steps to correct them:

1. You eat most of your calories at night.

Try to eat every four to five hours throughout the day to keep your energy level stable and the feeling of being famished at bay. Then, when dinner comes around, avoid eating a massive meal; research shows that people who eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper have lower BMIs than those who eat the same number of calories but save most of them for dinner. What's more, eating a lot close to bedtime can disrupt your sleep, which also hinders weight-loss efforts. Ideally, cut off eating about 90 minutes before bedtime.

[See: 7 Diet Mistakes Sabotaging Your Weight Loss.]

2. You forget to hydrate.

If you spend a great deal of time indoors, you probably don't sweat much and may slack on your fluid intake. Try to establish a regular hydration habit by starting and ending the day with 20 ounces of water, and make sure to have fluid at every meal.

3. You eat too fast.

Slow down by putting your fork down and taking a sip of fluid between bites. Include foods that you must chew at each meal, too. In addition, consider splitting the plate in two and eating just one portion. If you're still hungry, have the rest. You can also try the restaurant approach: Eat your salad first, then go into the kitchen to get you entree. The added time and effort will give you a better chance to assess your hunger. Finally, make sure to plate your food rather than eating it family style. Doing so will keep you honest with yourself about how much you're eating, and will relieve the pressure to "beat" your dinner mates to the last bites.

4. You always keep food within reach.

If you eat mindlessly and constantly throughout the day, make food a little less accessible. One study found that employees ate 5.6 more chocolates each day if the candy dishes were visible and convenient. So stop keeping snacks in your desk drawer and instead keep some fruit or hummus and veggies in the employee refrigerator. If that's not an option, keep only one or two portioned snacks on hand so you're not privy to a buffet. At home, keep less-healthy foods out of sight and options like a fruit bowl on the counter.

[See: 10 Unusual Weight-Loss Tricks That Actually Work.]

5. Your plates are too big.

One study found that campers who were given larger bowls ate 16 percent more cereal than their pals who slurped out of smaller ones. Put that finding into action by using a lunch container, bento box or portioned plate to keep an eye on servings. Ice cream is just as delicious in a small bowl, and dinner meals taste great on a salad plate. You can always go back for more, but you may find yourself satisfied with less.

6. You don't count your liquid calories.

Do you consume a lot of fancy coffee drinks? Sweetened tea? Lemonade? Summer cocktails? They are delicious, but they're also loaded with empty calories that don't make you feel full for an extended period of time. You can always get iced coffee with low-fat milk, squeeze a little orange into unsweetened tea and make your own lemonade with a smaller amount of sugar. For mixed drinks, try coconut water, flavored seltzer or even pureed watermelon as a mixer.

7. You're a sucker for salt.

If savory snacks are your thing, remember that potato chips aren't your only option. How about dried veggie chips made from beets, broccoli or carrots, or those made from roasted garbanzo, fava or edamame beans? A little bit of nut butter or cheese spread on celery delivers a satisfying crunch in a lower-calorie way. For dips, in addition to salsa and hummus, add fresh dill, garlic and chopped spinach to Greek yogurt for a creamy, delicious and lighter chip dip.

8. You don't eat enough carbs.

If one of your fitness goals is building muscle, keep in mind that cutting carbs altogether can impede your efforts. That doesn't mean you must sit down to a trough of pasta, but making sure one-quarter of your plate contains rice, pasta, potato, bread, tortilla or cereal helps with muscle protein synthesis. Increasing fruits and vegetables can also help.

[See: 5 Unintended Consequences of Eating Too Much Protein.]

9. You exercise on an empty stomach.

Exercising on empty may encourage the body to use its own muscle to fuel the workout so you don't see the gains you're looking for. Although the body can use stored fat as a fuel source, it may also use some lean mass -- leaving you hungrier after exercise and prone to overeating.

10. You avoid eating after a workout.

If you have a hard workout and see that you have burned a significant number of calories, you may try to minimize your calorie intake post-workout so that you end up in calorie deficit and lose body fat. The problem is that the body needs a little fuel to recover after a hard workout; otherwise, you lose muscle. And again, you may find that you are hungrier at some point later in the day and end up overeating. So a better strategy might be to parenthesize your meal, eating half before a workout and half after. Consuming the same amount of food -- but strategically timing when you eat it -- may give you better results, a better workout and less hunger throughout the day.

Leslie J. Bonci, MPH, RD, CSSD, RDN, is a registered dietitian nutritionist and the owner of Active Eating Advice in Pittsburgh. Her clients include professional athletes as well as "real" people. She is a media personality and has authored and co-authored six books including the "Run Your Butt Off," "Walk Your Butt Off" and "Bike Your Butt Off" series. You can find her blogs, videos, tips and recipes at her website: www.activeeatingadvice.com.