It is so beyond frustrating when you are eating healthy, working out, cutting the booze and doing all of the systematic approaches to losing weight and feeling great – yet you’re not seeing any improvements.

When I work with women who have these issues, they are typically making one of these metabolism mistakes. Cutting down on empty calories and processed foods does have its benefits, but taking it too far can have the reverse affect. Here are some diet-derailing mistakes, and how you can fix them.

1: Not drinking enough water: You could be causing some big backups within your digestive system if you aren’t properly hydrated.

2:  Restricting your calories: When you start restricting yourself to less than 1,200 calories per day, your body’s metabolic function comes to a halt and actually stops your metabolism. When you feel hungry, eat. Listen to yourself and be intuitive. Eat the righttype of calories and you will soon see that you won’t have to count numbers all day.

3: Eating the wrong foods: The number one food group that you can easily switch up: white carbs. Not only are white carbs not giving you sufficient amounts of fiber to help you stay full and energized, they are empty calories. Think of your body as an engine, and the fuel you give yourself is what drives you to perform tasks all day. So, if you are giving yourself junk and processed foods to consume, your engine (your body) will not function at peak performance.

4: You’re restricting calories so that you can save up for your girls’ night martini: Have you ever had a night out with 1, 2, maybe three cocktails and then woke up the next morning feeling…backed up? It’s the booze. Drinking one too many alcoholic beverages can slow down your metabolism, digestion, and fat burning abilities. Even worse is when you try to save up calories to have the cocktails, you are making the calorie restriction mistake plus the booze mistake!

How to boost your metabolism:

1: Yoga for metabolism: This article from MindBodyGreen.com shows various yoga moves that can aid with digestion. Try some of these before you go to work today!

2: Eat foods high in iron & protein: Not eating enough iron could lead to low energy levels and a slow moving metabolism. Protein also ensures that we maintain proper muscle composition so that we can be lean fighting machines. Focus on high iron and high protein foods such as beans, Greek yogurt, nuts, and dark leafy greens.

3: Pump some iron as well as eating iron: Strength training with weights will help you burn calories even after your workout. Don’t be scared about getting bulked up, focus on lower weights at first to build stamina and create lean muscle mass.

4: Add cayenne pepper to your diet: Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin, which has been linked to increased metabolism. Sprinkle some cayenne into your next soup, stew or stirfry. Remember a little can go a long way!