Why is it that sometimes, the weight does not seem to stay off? You try everything, but still the scale keeps tipping in the wrong direction. If losing weight were easy, no one would be overweight. Unfortunately, the facts are indisputable – A greasy, cheese burger and french fries on the side, is way more delicious than an egg-white omelet.
Well, apart from dieting and exercising we also need to look out for 10 habits that might end up making us fat. Habits are hard to break, but if you can pay attention and try and curb these 10 habits that might make you fat, then you are on the way, to a slimmer you!
The top 10 Habits that will Make you Fat are..
1. Sleeping too little or too much
Believe it or not, a study has shown that people who sleep five hours or less put on at least 2½ times more belly fat, while those who sleep more than eight hours pack on only slightly less than that. A healthy number of hours to sleep, is to get at least six to seven hours of sleep per night. Along with exercise and proper diet control, this has been shown to be the optimal amount of sleep, for weight control.
2. Drinking carbonated drinks (including diet coke)
The average American guzzles nearly a gallon of soda every week. Don’t heave a sigh of relief just yet – Malaysians are catching up! On average, drinking one to two sodas per day increases your chances of being overweight or obese by nearly 33 percent. And diet soda is no better. Research has shown that artificial sweeteners trigger appetite cues, causing you to unconsciously eat more at subsequent meals and crave sweet drinks later in the day.
3. Skipping meals
Skipping meals actually increases your odds of obesity, and the worse meal to skip (which people often do) is breakfast. A study found that people who missed breakfast were 4.5 times more likely to be obese. Skipping meals slows your metabolism and boosts your hunger. That puts your body in prime fat-storage mode and increases your odds of overeating at the next meal.
4. Using big plates and going for buffets
Well, common sense will tell you, the bigger the plate, the more food you can take. The more you take, the more you eat. Taking a smaller plate is a way of making it inconvenient for the body to eat so much. Oh, and buffets? Don’t do it! What’s the purpose of putting yourself in an over-eating position?
5. Eating when emotional
Those who eat in response to emotional stress are 13 times more likely to be overweight or obese. Try chewing a piece of gum, drinking a big glass of water, or taking a stroll round the park or your housing area or the office. Disassociate food with stress. Oh, and don’t stock up on the ice-cream in your freezer, or other trigger/comfort foods. If it’s not around, you won’t be tempted to gorge your sorrows away.
6. Eating white bread
Stay away from white bread! Though it’s soft and fluffy and delicious.. it’s down right fattening! Whole grain breads pack in more fiber and are healthier than their refined-grain counterparts.
7. Going for the combo meal
When you go for the combo or items bundled together, you’re likely to buy more food than you want. Go for the ala carte and get out! Don’t sit around eating french fries you don’t need and guzzling soda that will go straight to your waist!
8. Watching too much TV
Sitting on your ass is the worse sort of diet! Just get up and get out of the house and MOVE. Of course watching TV is fine and everybody does it – but don’t do those 12 hour marathons over the weekend. And snacking whilst vegging out at the TV is the worse culprit for weight gain.
9. Eating too late
A study in the journal Obesity looked at the sleeping and eating habits of 52 people over seven days, and it found that those who ate after 8 p.m. took in the most daily calories and had the highest BMIs. Eating late means your body works overtime to digest the food whilst you sleep. All that energy could have been employed for burning fat instead. There’s also a phenomenon called the Nocturnal Acid Breakthrough which will end up giving you heartburn and GERD (reflux) if you keep up late night snacking. You might overeat in the morning to compensate for this heartburn.
10. Not drinking enough water
Drinking water is the body’s natural way to detox and wash all the toxins out of our system. In a University of Utah study, dieting participants who were instructed to drink two cups of water before each meal lost 30 percent more weight than their thirsty peers. And you can magnify the effect by adding ice. German researchers found that six cups of cold water a day could prompt a metabolic boost that incinerates 50 daily calories.
These are 10 of the habits that I feel, might make you fat. Do you struggle with any of these? How did you overcome them?
Number 11. Reading Cumi and Ciki’s food blog!
TED!! LOL, not here! haha
Avoid ‘All you can eat for $10.00’ deals!
haha.. true that! 😀