The growing trend of obesity in the United States has caused many health problems for the majority of Americans. There are many reasons people put on weight and most of it is due to their lifestyle. Here are 14 habits that you can kick in order to avoid the obesity trend.
1.TV Watching – Research has shown that people who watch about 2 hours of TV per day are more likely to be overweight than those that only watch half an hour of TV per day. Sitting stationary while watching TV causes your heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolic rate to decrease which means you are burning 20-30 less calories per hour. The same correlation has been made for children similarly, so keep your children away from the TV and outside being active in order for them to maintain a healthy body weight.
2.Eating Too Fast – With the fast pace of our world today, it seems as if our life has sped up as well. With our life being sped up, we feel as if we have to eat faster in order to keep up with our lifestyle. It takes the brain nearly 15-20 minutes to trigger the feeling of fullness to the body, which means that by the time you feel full you have already eaten too much. Fast eating can cause symptoms such as high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance.
3.Task Snacking – Task snacking is when you eat while you are doing other activities. Most of the time your attention is mostly on the other activity you are doing, whether it be your computer, driving, watching TV, or talking on the phone, therefore you don’t realize how much you are actually snacking. The lack of awareness leads to overeating.
4.Passion for Fast Food – People like the easy way out and what is easier than the drive thru? Everyone is too stressed and too busy to make healthy dinners, therefore resort to the convenience of the nearest greasy burger joint. The ingredients abundant in fast foods that lead to obesity are they are high in saturated and trans-fat, have low fiber content, and have large portion sizes. The three of those together is the obesity triple threat.
5. Eating to Manage Feelings– Emotional eating is the kiss of death to most people. People use food as their comfort or escape from emotions such as depression, anxiety, or loneliness. It has been estimated by experts that 75% of overeating is a result of emotions. Instead of eating to comfort your emotions, try to find a release by exercising or taking a relaxing walk.
6.Too Busy To Exercise – Again, time is everyone’s worst enemy in today’s world. With the busy schedules of people today, exercise if often what is forgotten the most. No one has time to go to the gym in the middle of the day, therefore their metabolism slows down and they begin packing on the pounds.
7.Your Friends Can Make You Fat – The New England Journal of Medicine coined the phrase that obesity is becoming “socially contagious”. The study concluded that if you have an overweight friend, sibling, or spouse your risk of obesity is increase 37-57%.
8.Lack of Sleep – A study conducted by The University of Bristol in the UK found that for every one hour decrease of sleep, after a full eight hours, was linked to almost 3% more body fat. Sleep deprivation boosts the appetite stimulating hormone ghrelin and lowers leptin levels, an appetite suppressor.
9.Unaware of Calories and Fat – Most people don’t read food labels and don’t really understand exactly what they are putting into their body. Being unaware of the caloric or fat value of the food that you are putting into your mouth can lead to weight gain because you could easily be consuming twice as many calories as your body needs, or much more.
10.Credit Cards – A study conducted by Visa that included 100,00 fast food restaurant transactions found that people who use their credit card to pay for food spent 30% more than those who paid with cash.
11.Missing Meals – Research has proven that breakfast is a very important meal and those who fail to eat breakfast are more likely to be overweight. Denise Bruner, an obesity specialist, claims that skipping meals results in “tremendous bout of compensatory hunger.” Therefore, it is incorrect to believe that if you skip meals you are going to lose weight, it has the opposite effect.
12.Uncomfortable Clothing – A study done by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse found that the clothing you wear has an impact on the amount of physical activity. Casual and comfortable clothing promote physical activity because you are more comfortable getting up and moving around because you don’t feel restricted by the clothing you are wearing.
13.Neglecting Scales – Although the scale may be some peoples worst fear, it can be used as your best tool when you are trying to shed the pounds. The University of Minnesota conducted a study finding that those who did daily weigh ins lost about 12 pounds over 2 years as opposed to those who didn’t weigh in only lost about 4 pounds in 2 years. Being aware of your daily weight can be used as a motivation tool and is a good way to keep your goal within reach.
14.Boredom – When people don’t know what to do with their free time, a lot turn to their kitchen just because it’s the only thing they know. The Priory Group in the U.K. found that people ate more when they were bored than when they were stressed.
To Your Health!
The Optimal Nutrition Team
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Sources:
“Habits That Make You Obese and Overweight.” HealthAssist. Web. 2 September 2010. http://www.healthassist.net/food/obesity.shtml.
