24 September, 2014

12 Habits that make you gain weight

1. Watching TV or playing games on lap top/phone: These habits make you couch potato. You do not move much. You sit ideally and the body burns less calories.

2. Not chewing your food: If you do not chew your food well, you tend to overeat. Try to savor the taste. Eating too fast will make you overeat because you will not realize, when your stomach is full.

3. Eating while doing other things: Eating mindlessly while doing other things makes you overeat. If you are eating while watching TV, movie, talking on the phone, your mind is not in the food. You again do not realize when the stomach is full.

4. Eat to live or live to eat: Are you a self claimed foodie? Do you live to eat? Do you know the best eateries in your area? This is another reason for weight gain.

5. Depressive eating: Do you eat chocolates when you are depressed or treat yourself when you are happy? People binge. They eat to curb emotions. Play a sport to vent out the feelings. Dance when you are sad or happy. Do not eat emotionally or because you are bored and have nothing better to do.

6. Stocking food: Are you stocking biscuits, chips, muffins and chocolates in your pantry or are you stocking fresh fruits, vegetables in your refrigerator? This would determine your weight too.

7. Time for exercise: Is exercise your priority or do you have excuses for not having time to exercise? We all lead stressful and busy lives. You might say that you have lot of office work, stressful day at work, children need your time, etc. In all this, you have to take out time to exercise to be in shape.

8. Your group/ peers: What kind of people do you hang out with? Do they motivate you to stay fit and lean or do they constantly ask you to go out eating, drinking, clubbing with them? Do they honestly tell you that you need to lose weight or do they keep telling you that you look great the way you are and you should not lose any more weight? Think about it and choose people to hang out with wisely.

9. Not getting enough sleep: Sleeping less or getting inadequate rest reduces your metabolism and makes you put on weight.

10. Skipping meals: This is another cause of weight gain. To lose weight, one should have small meals at small intervals. It escalates and boosts your metabolism and the body does not go into starvation mode.

11. Partying and drinking: Does "chilling out" mean partying and drinking for you? Do you binge in a party? Are you staying awake till late because you are a party animal? These are direct causes of weight gain.

12. Not counting calories: People who are aware of what they eat, eat mindfully. As opposed to ones who eat mindlessly, without paying attention to how many calories they are putting inside.