If you're spending hours in the gym to
no avail on the scale, it's time to change
your game plan. Here, things you'd
never suspect could be making you fat.
Your Reading Comprehension
We all know that person, the one who
eats burgers and still loses weight
while you eat salad and yogurt and can’t
shed a pound. Turns out the problem
may not be your appetite; it could be
your reading skills. According to a study
published in the Journal of Consumer
Research, healthy-sounding labels are
duping dieters.
Your Diet Soda Habit
Put down the pop! Studies have shown
that subjects who drink two or more
diet sodas a day have waist size
increases up to six times greater than
those of people who don’t drink diet
soda. These insidious sodas may be
free of calories, but they're not free of
consequences!
Lack of Sleep
New research suggests sleepless
nights don’t just ruin your mood the
next day—they could also damage your
waistline. Researchers at the New
York Obesity Nutrition Research
Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt
Hospital found that while sleepy folks
seem to burn the same number of
calories as well-rested people, they
consume about 300 more calories a day.
The Room Temperature
Trying to lose weight? Turn down the
thermostat. A cozy home could be
contributing to making you fat,
suggests research in the journal
Obesity Reviews. When our bodies are
cold, we shiver, causing our muscles to
contract to generate heat—and burn
calories.
Your Overweight Friends
A New England Journal of Medicine
study declared that people can actually
''catch'' obesity from close friends.
When researchers followed 12,067
people over 32 years, they concluded
that those of us with very close friends
who are obese have a 171 per cent
higher chance of becoming obese too.
The theory goes: you're influenced by
your friends, and if they overeat, you
may unwittingly follow their lead.
Surprisingly, spouses have less sway
over the belly than close friends of the
same sex. The good news is that it may
also work in reverse. Hang out with thin
people and you might lose weight.
Eating Too Much
If you prescribe to the idea that eating
small meals frequently throughout the
day makes it easier to reduce overall
calories, you could be doing yourself in.
Turns out we're programmed to think
that a meal is a perfect combination of
proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. In
reality, the mini-meals in some studies
are much more like small—very small—
snacks. How small? Check out the story
below for a reality
Toxic Chemicals
While you may never have heard of
phthalates—a family of chemicals used
to make plastics flexible—new
evidence linking these and other so-
called “endocrine-disrupting” chemicals
with obesity has been growing. In fact,
researchers have taken to calling many
of these substances obesogens
(obesity-promoting chemicals). A
healthy immune system can help ward
off the dangers of these chemicals, but
why not boost your body's efforts by
not packing your produce in plastic the
next time you buy groceries?
Your Stress Level
When you have chronic stress, your
body steps up its production of cortisol
and insulin. Your appetite increases,
and so do the chances you’ll engage in
“hedonistic” eating in the form of high-
calorie sweets and fats. When you try
to combat stress with food, you
activate the reward center of your
brain. After that initial feel-good spell
wears off, you’ll reach again for the
same thing that made you feel good,
calm, and relaxed in the first place:
more food.
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