You diet. You exercise. So why is your gut still hanging over your belt? Because of these common pitfalls:

You Inhale Food

If you were a rat, you'd chow down for about 15 minutes, feel full, and stop eating. But you aren't. You probably eat so fast that your stomach hardly has time to alert your brain to tell your mouth to quit chewing before your stomach explodes.

Solution: Try this drill during your next meal. On every bite, chew, swallow, put down your fork, and take a sip of water. See how long it takes you to eat. Now, during subsequent meals, take just as long to eat, only without the drill. Another meal-prolonging trick for men with regular dinner partners: Turn off the TV, put down the Daily Racing Form, and actually have a conversation.

You're Starving Yourself

Slashing too many calories, particularly protein calories, pushes the body to conserve calories rather than burn them. It also forces your body to break down muscle tissue to fuel its vital operations. But that muscle is the key to your metabolism, or the speed at which you burn calories. More muscle means a faster metabolism and less body fat.

Solution: You do need to cut calories to lose weight. (Cut 500 today by eliminating one can of beer, 30 chips, and one Oreo from your diet.) But you need to make sure you\'re eating at least 1,600 to 1,800 calories each day to keep your metabolism from shutting down. And never cut protein during a diet. If you\'re a sedentary 200-pounder, you need about 75 grams of protein (about two chicken breasts) a day for muscle preservation. If you\'re lifting weights, aim for twice that much. Doing aerobics? Pick a number in between.

You Don't Get Enough Sleep

Sleep deprivation decreases the odds of shedding blubber and keeping it off. Researchers found that healthy men who snoozed only 4 or 7 hours a night for 6 nights in a row had higher glucose and insulin levels in their blood. This is a terrible state of metabolism for a man who\'s trying to lose weight, because surplus insulin boosts body-fat storage.

Solution: Hit the sack for 8 hours each and every night. And try to hit it for the same 8 hours. That is, establish a regular bedtime and waking hour. you have to wake up on most days, and make sure you\'re in bed at least 8 hours before. Company is optional

You're Too Refined

Most processed breads and cereals contain little fiber, the calorie-free component of plant foods that fills you up, not out. Plus, foods rich in fiber help control blood glucose and insulin levels.

Solution: I never thought I'd say this, but it may be a good idea to cut back on potatoes in any form (especially the fries, fellas). Experts say potatoes raise blood-glucose concentration quickly, as do snack chips, white bread, low-fiber breakfast cereals, and breakfast bars. Whole-grain cereals, nuts, and beans are blame-free, if not calorie-free.

You're Dry

When you're trying to lose weight, water is your workout partner. You need it to flush the waste products your body makes when it breaks down fat for energy, or when it processes protein. You need it to transport nutrients to your muscles. You need it to help digest food and keep your metabolism clicking along. And water keeps you from overheating during intense exercise on hot days.

Solution: Start the day by filling up a half-gallon jug with water (or any combination of smaller bottles that equals 64 ounces). Your goal is to drain the lot by the end of the day. Clear or light yellow pee is the universally recognized sign of good hydration.

You Can't Cook

So you took wood shop instead of home ec. I understand — a man needs to master power tools to feel complete. But unless you find a way to make your bird feeder edible, you need to master weight-loss tools, too. A man whose only kitchen skill involves the speed dial to Domino\'s is condemned to a diet of grease, salt, white bread, and sugar.

Solution: Step into the kitchen. (That's the room with the oven, sink, and refrigerator.) Open your freezer. You should see frozen berries and vegetables, which are as good as fresh but last many times longer. Look in your cupboards. You should see some canned vegetables, hearty low-fat soups, dried fruit, and slow-cooking oats. These foods help you lose weight because they\'re filling but low in calories. Best of all, you don\'t need much more than a can opener and a microwave to make them edible. (Dishes are optional.) This leaves you more time for your power tools.

You Think Fitness Trumps Fatness

Exercise alone won't make you thin. A recent study of military personnel who increased their exercise during a 3-year period found that they gained weight despite their extra efforts. Why? Food, most likely. They simply ate more than they burned off.

Solution: The last thing you want to hear, especially from a female, is that size matters. But trust me on this: Controlling portion size is absolutely essential to weight loss. And the best way to control portion size is to limit how often you eat out.

如果你是一只老鼠，你吃飽大概會用15分鐘，然后停止進食。但是你不是。你可能吃飯速度非常快以至于當你的胃實際上已經撐漲的時候你的大腦都來不及意識到你應該停止咀嚼了。

解決辦法：下一次吃飯的時候嘗試這些動作：每咬一口，慢慢咀嚼，放下你的叉子，喝一小口水。看看你用了多長時間。再吃飯的時候，花更多一點的時間來吃飯可以不用以上的動作。對飲食規律的人來說，另外一個延長吃飯時間的小計策是：關上電視，用筆記下當天的賽馬報道，當然也可以進行一下交談。

你正在讓自己挨餓

你破壞了太多的熱量，尤其是蛋白質熱量，迫使身體保存這些熱量而不是釋放。這也迫使你的身體分解肌肉組織以為身體的重要機能提供能量。但是肌肉組織是身體新陳代謝的關鍵，也就是會加速你體內熱量的燃燒。肌肉越多說明身體新陳代謝越快脂肪越少。

解決辦法：你需要減少熱量來減肥。（每天減少500卡通過少喝一罐啤酒，30片薯片和一塊奧利奧奶油夾心巧克力餅干。）但是你必須保證你每天至少攝入1600--1800卡的熱量以維持你新陳代謝所需要消耗的能量。而且吃飯時千萬不要減少蛋白質的攝入。如果你是一位體重200磅的辦公室職員，你每天需要75克蛋白質(大約2塊雞脯肉）來維持身體組織的機能。如果你正在曾重，需要的能量是上面的2倍。做有氧運動？那么在此區間任選一個數字。

你沒有足夠的睡眠

睡眠不足會造成身體內皮脂的流失。研究者發現一個連續6天每天只有4-7小時睡眠的健康人體內的葡萄糖含量和胰島素水平比較高。對一個正想減肥的人來說這是新陳代謝的一種可怕的狀態。因為過剩的胰島素會增加體內脂肪的存儲。

解決辦法：每晚保證8小時睡眠，并且盡可能是相同時間段的8小時。即有一個規律的就寢時間和醒來時間。你必須保證你在床上至少呆了8個小時的時候按時起床。連隊隨意。

生活過于精致

大部分加工面包和谷類植物含有微量纖維，這些無熱量植物成分使你的身體機能正常運轉。另外，富含纖維的食物有助于控制體內葡萄糖含量和胰島素水平。

解決辦法：我不得不這樣說，但是減少使用任何形式的土豆的確是一個好主意（尤其是油炸的）。專家說圖都能夠迅速提高血糖濃度，薯片，白面包，低纖維食物也一樣。如果不含熱量，谷物雜糧，堅果和豆類食品可以放心食用。

缺水

當你想減重的時候，水會是你最好的健身搭檔。你需要水沖掉你體內分解脂肪和蛋白時產生的廢物。你需要水將能量運送到肌肉組織。你還需要水來消化食物和維持正常的新陳代謝。而且水還可以防止你在熱天運動時過熱。

解決辦法:在一天開始的時候用一個半加侖的罐子裝滿水（或者其他的能夠裝下64盎司水的容器）。你的目標就是在這一天結束的時候將這些水喝完。透明的或者淺黃色的小便就是你吸收良好的最好的標志。

不做飯

比如，你可能長時間呆在木工房里而不是家里。我能理解--男人總是需要通過操縱電動工具才能感到充實。但是你也需要精通使用一些輕一點的工具除非你能像鳥一樣找到鳥食罐。如果一個人的廚房技能僅僅是像玩多米諾骨牌一樣的速度那么他應該被忌食油脂、鹽、白面包和糖。

解決辦法：走進廚房。（那個有烤箱、洗菜池和冰箱的房間）打開冰箱，你可以看到一些冰凍漿果和一些實際上已經是很長時間但是仍然很新鮮的蔬菜。櫥柜里有罐裝蔬菜、健康的低脂湯和烹飪燕麥。這些食品有助于減重因為他們是低熱量食品。最好的方法就是你只需要一個開瓶器和一臺微波爐把這些食品做成食物。這些可以使你離開電動工具一些時間。

你認為健康勝過肥胖

單純的運動并不能讓你變瘦。一項最近的研究表明那些軍人在三年的時間里盡管做了那么多的運動，他們的體重還是增加了。為什么？飲食，最可能的答案。相比較他們自己做飯而言他們在部隊更容易多吃。

解決辦法：你最后想聽的，尤其是女性朋友，就是身材問題。但是請相信我：控制身材的基本就是減重。并且最好的控制身材的辦法就是減少外出就餐的次數。