Overweight?

Have you ever asked yourself why you are on the heavy side? Check out these unhealthy practices and see if you do some of them  - or all of them.

Eating Off Larger Plates

Compare the plates

One identified culprit is larger plates. A study conducted with obese individuals as subjects yielded a result that indicated that given the option to choose between small or large plates, 98.6 % of obese individuals chose the larger plates. Thus, it follows that the bigger the plate, the greater the quantity of the food is placed on them. When more food is consumed, more calories are taken. The higher the caloric consumption of an individual and more body fat is stored.

To avoid this deadly cycle, choose smaller plates and always be mindful of your food portions. If you feel you really need more, you can always go back to the buffet table for seconds.

Eating Too Late

Avoid this unhealthy practice of eating very late at night. According to a new study published in the journal Obesity which studied the sleeping and eating habits of 52 people over seven days, it was found that those who ate after 8 p.m. took in their bodies the highest calories and had the highest Body Mass Index (BMI).

While on “sleep mode”, the body still burns fat. This, however, is not the case when you sleep with your stomach full, because instead of burning fat, your body is busy processing the food in your stomach.

Too Much or Too Little Sleep

A study conducted by Wake Forest researchers revealed that people who sleep less than 5 hours a day puts on 2½ times more belly fat compared to those who sleep more than eight hours per day. Ideally, sleep should be for an average of 6 to 7 hours per night.

Are you sleeping too little or too much?

Drinking Soda – Even Diet!

According to a 2005 study, drinking 1 to 2 sodas per day increases a person’s chances of being overweight or obese by more or less 33%. Unfortunately for those who think diet sodas are okay, researchers in San Antonio who studied a controlled group of elderly subjects for nearly a decade found that soda drinkers increased their waistlines five times faster compared to the non-soda drinkers. The theory is that the artificial sweeteners used in the diet drinks trigger appetite cues, which causes a person to unconsciously eat more at succeeding meals.

Skipping Breakfast

People who are misinformed skip breakfast to loose weight. What these people do not realize is the fact that skipping meals slows the metabolism and boosts hunger. This puts the body in “fat-storage mode” which increases the odds that the person will overeat at the next meal. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that people who miss breakfast were 4.5 times more likely to be obese.

Want to lose weight and maintain an ideal weight? Avoid the 5 habits that makes you fat.

{ 0 comments }