5 Surprising Ways You’re Getting Fat

You may need to lose a few pounds but seem to have a hard time doing it. Maybe you go to the gym and feel like you eat right or watch your weight by counting calories and choosing low fat foods but still you cannot lose weight.

These are good attempts but a variety of other things you might be doing may be counteracting your effort at slimming down.

These 5 surprising ways you’re getting fat could be the key you need to finally unlock the metabolism and lifestyle changes you need to maintain your optimal weight.

Diet Soda

Overall, soda is one of the major causes of obesity. It is loaded with not only a variety of chemicals but is packed with bad sugars. When diet soda hit the market with its promise of zero calories, sales went through the roof and still maintain high numbers.

Now researchers are uncovering this misunderstood beverage and how it is actually causing weight gain rather than minimizing it. It turns out that the increased sweetness from the artificial flavors used in diet sodas trigger the brain to crave more sweets.

These sweeteners have also shown that they could change the gut bacteria making one vulnerable to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. As a result, drinking even one diet soda per day could be causing you to pack on the pounds without even knowing it.

According to a study by researchers from the University of Texas, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, it was concluded that,

“In a striking dose-response relationship, increasing DSI [diet soda intake] was associated with escalating abdominal obesity, a potential pathway for cardio-metabolic risk…”

Stick to filtered water as your main beverage for a cleaner, thinner result.

“Healthy” Microwave Dinners

The food industry is always attempting to answer the call of a healthier minded population but their efforts can often go awry. This is the case with allegedly healthy microwave dinners that tout a list of naturally based ingredients with some not so good components thrown in.

Overall, the high sodium and sugar content of these processed foods are just as bad as eating donuts, chips and ice cream combined.

Prepare your own meals with fresh ingredients but if you must choose a frozen meal check the sugar and sodium content. If they are not through the roof you may have a diamond in the rough.

Vegetable Chips

Here is another supermarket shelf choice that may look like a win but is actually a wolf in sheep clothing. Veggie chips are made from high carbohydrate corn flour or potato starch with minimal powdered or pureed vegetables mixed in.

Most nutrients are eliminated during the manufacturing process of these chips and high levels of sodium are added to keep you eating them, just like conventional chips.

Stay away from processed snacks and instead reach for raw, organic choices.

Lack of Sleep

Sometimes it is not only your food choices but your other life habits that could be getting in the way of your belt size. Researchers are continually showing how inadequate sleep negatively affects the body in a variety of ways, including weight gain. Less sleep means poor eating decisions when you’re awake.

Reader’s Digest reports that,

“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.”

Another study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concluded that,

“Sleep restriction results in an insulin-resistant state in human adipocytes [fat cells]. Sleep may be an important regulator of energy metabolism in peripheral tissues.”

Make sure you get 7-8 hours solid sleep per night for optimal health.

Obese Friend Disease

Someone once said that you are the culmination of the five closest people you interact with. When it comes to weight gain, this may be a valid point.

A study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that after tracking the weight of 12,067 people over 32 years it was concluded that, “those of us with very close friends who are obese have a 171 per cent higher chance of becoming obese too.” (Reader’s Digest)

If you are overweight and have friends in the same boat then suggest a group change of eating habit. Not a diet, but a complete lifelong adjustment that includes more fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes while shunning processed foods, sugars, meats and salts. If there’s no success, find some thin friends.

 

Use these 5 surprising ways you’re getting fat to get a grip on your weight gain. Add in a solid exercise regiment that includes cardio as well as weight training along with more fresh ingredient based meals rather than boxed, canned processed choices.