Friday, April 9, 2010
10 Bad Habits That Cause Weight Gain
These top 10 bad habits that can cause weight gain can leave a dieter feeling frustrated and confused when it comes to losing weight.
1 Not eating enough calories – When you don’t eat enough calories, this causes your body to feel that it’s starving. As a result, it slows down your metabolism and will hang onto those calories instead of burning them for fuel.
2 Drinking diet soda – Research has shown that drinking diet soda can cause people to eat more than they should. This is due to the artificial sweeteners used in diet drinks that act like sugar in the body, causing insulin levels to spike, which can lead to more hunger.
3 Avoiding whole fruits – While drinking juice can give you some vitamins and minerals, juice also has more calories and less fiber than you would get by eating the whole piece of fruit.
4 Not exercising – Your body was designed to move, so when you don’t exercise, it can begin to slow down and burn fewer calories. Over time, this adds up to weight gain.
5 Muscle loss – When dieting your body is forced to use energy it has stored either in fat or muscle. Of course, we want our bodies to consume fat not muscle, but if you don’t work at toning your muscles you could start to lose them. This is why is particularly important to do exercises that helps tone and build muscle so that you keep the muscle you have instead of losing it when dieting. Each pound of muscle you have on your body burns calories, even when you’re not working out.
6 Not planning your meals – If you don’t have a plan to eat healthy, it’s going to be much easier to gain weight. Try planning out your meals for an entire week to see how this might help you in your weight loss efforts.
7 Eating fast food meals – Eating fast food can cause weight gain, we all know this. Even fast foods that are called “healthier options” are often riddled with calories. When trying to lose weight it is best to avoid fast foods all together.
8 Eating too fast – When you’re eating, you should be seated, slowly chewing each bite of food. Since the body needs about 20 minutes to send the signal to the brain that it’s full, if you eat too fast the brain does not have time to catch up with your stomach and it becomes very easy to overeat (for more information, read the post “Eating Slower Improves Weight Loss“).
9 Extreme low-fat dieting – While it might seem like a good idea to cut all of the fat out of your diet, when you do this your brain will cry out for sustenance, which can cause extreme hunger pangs.
10 Drinking your calories – Even some pretty innocent looking beverages can contain 200 or more calories. Instead of drinking your calories in beverages such as sport drinks, specialty coffees, juices and sodas choose water or unsweetened tea instead.
1 Not eating enough calories – When you don’t eat enough calories, this causes your body to feel that it’s starving. As a result, it slows down your metabolism and will hang onto those calories instead of burning them for fuel.
2 Drinking diet soda – Research has shown that drinking diet soda can cause people to eat more than they should. This is due to the artificial sweeteners used in diet drinks that act like sugar in the body, causing insulin levels to spike, which can lead to more hunger.
3 Avoiding whole fruits – While drinking juice can give you some vitamins and minerals, juice also has more calories and less fiber than you would get by eating the whole piece of fruit.
4 Not exercising – Your body was designed to move, so when you don’t exercise, it can begin to slow down and burn fewer calories. Over time, this adds up to weight gain.
5 Muscle loss – When dieting your body is forced to use energy it has stored either in fat or muscle. Of course, we want our bodies to consume fat not muscle, but if you don’t work at toning your muscles you could start to lose them. This is why is particularly important to do exercises that helps tone and build muscle so that you keep the muscle you have instead of losing it when dieting. Each pound of muscle you have on your body burns calories, even when you’re not working out.
6 Not planning your meals – If you don’t have a plan to eat healthy, it’s going to be much easier to gain weight. Try planning out your meals for an entire week to see how this might help you in your weight loss efforts.
7 Eating fast food meals – Eating fast food can cause weight gain, we all know this. Even fast foods that are called “healthier options” are often riddled with calories. When trying to lose weight it is best to avoid fast foods all together.
8 Eating too fast – When you’re eating, you should be seated, slowly chewing each bite of food. Since the body needs about 20 minutes to send the signal to the brain that it’s full, if you eat too fast the brain does not have time to catch up with your stomach and it becomes very easy to overeat (for more information, read the post “Eating Slower Improves Weight Loss“).
9 Extreme low-fat dieting – While it might seem like a good idea to cut all of the fat out of your diet, when you do this your brain will cry out for sustenance, which can cause extreme hunger pangs.
10 Drinking your calories – Even some pretty innocent looking beverages can contain 200 or more calories. Instead of drinking your calories in beverages such as sport drinks, specialty coffees, juices and sodas choose water or unsweetened tea instead.
Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS)
We have all heard of Weight Watchers, they are so popular. There is another group that is also supportive in your weight loss endeavors. TOPS is a not-for-profit group that meets weekly for weigh-ins and meetings. The cost is minimal so it is easily affordable.
TOPS offers weight loss support through their weekly meetings, as well as support in additional ways, such as the telephone and emails. Founded in 1948, this group focuses on healthy and nutritious eating. They encourage weight loss
and lifestyle eating changes. Their meetings are informative and discuss topics, such as activity and fitness, weight loss, good nutrition and behavioral changes.
TOPS offers weight loss support through their weekly meetings, as well as support in additional ways, such as the telephone and emails. Founded in 1948, this group focuses on healthy and nutritious eating. They encourage weight loss
and lifestyle eating changes. Their meetings are informative and discuss topics, such as activity and fitness, weight loss, good nutrition and behavioral changes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)