There are many things that can make us gain weight. We all know that eating many more calories than we burn and leading a pretty sedentary lifestyle can cause us to pile on the pounds, but what about the other causes? Far fewer of us know that stress or even the company we keep can cause weight gain, but they can and these, and other surprising causes of weight gain could be the very things stopping us from obtaining optimum health and body size.
If you’ve been eating a healthy diet and exercising often, but your efforts just haven’t been having the desired effect, perhaps one or more of these surprising causes of weight gain have been holding you back.
Your Friends and Family
Yes, you have to take responsibility for your own health and wellbeing, however, if you spend a lot of time with friends and family who have bad habits, such as spending whole evenings eating junk food in front of the tube or indulging in too much alcohol or rich desserts, the fact is that you are more likely to do the same too. We are the sum of the people we are closest to and we need to be mindful of this if we are to lose weight and maintain optimum body health.
Studies are shown that you are 57% more likely to gain weight if only one of your friend is obese! That’s food for thought, right?
Stress
Stress is affecting more of us than ever before, which is not surprising given the fast-paced pressurized nature of modern life. Unfortunately, it is also the cause of or a contributing factor to many other illnesses and conditions including depression, OCD, and heart problems. It can also lead to weight gain. So, if you’re pretty healthy otherwise, but you’re stressed and the weight won’t come off, it might be worth looking at no credit check loans to consolidate your debts and kick your money worries to the curb or reducing your hours so that your job doesn’t overwhelm you too much, for example. Eliminate as many of the causes of stress as you can and your whole health will improve as your waistline reduces.
Your A/C
Say what?! You might be wondering how your air conditioning unit could possibly have an effect on your weight, but at least one study has found that women burn an average of 250 more calories each day in 80-degree heat than they do when it’s 70 degrees in the room. That means that women using the air conditioning unit to cool the room by 10 degrees could theoretically gain half a pound in a week more than those in the hotter environment. That’s a whole 26 pounds in a single year and a good reason to consider leaving the air conditioning off if you can stand the heat!
Your Home
Your home may be your sanctuary, but chances are there are a lot of things in your house that could be contributing to making your fat, or at least making it more difficult for you to lose those few extra pounds. Number one on the list would be the TV. The more time you spend watching TV, the more you are likely to eat and the less you are likely to move around – a deadly combination for the waistline I’m sure you’ll agree.
Another thing that could be sabotaging you in your own home is your plates. If you use large dinner plates and bowls to eat your meals, you will probably load more food onto your plate, thus taking in more calories than you really need to be satisfied each day.
If you leave junk food within easy reach in the kitchen, again, you’re more likely to eat it and gain weight as a result.
Then there’s the fact that dim lighting makes food seem more appealing so that you will probably eat more of it, to consider too!
Luckily, these are all things that it’s pretty easy to remedy, and if you paint the space you eat blue, that will act as an appetite suppressant too!
That Diet Soda Habit
A lot of people who are looking to clean up their diet and perhaps lose a few pounds think that they are doing well by switching to diet soda because it is calorie free. This is totally understandable, but unfortunately, it is unlikely to help in the long-term. You see, although there are far fewer calories in diet soda, some studies have shown that drinking them causes the body to crave sweet foods, which means you’re more likely to overeat sugary junk food when you drink them. Switch to sparkling water with a slice of lemon and you will probably see better results.
The Cosmetics You Use
You don’t eat cosmetics, so you could be forgiven for thinking that they would have no impact whatsoever on your weight, but you’d be wrong. Around 70 percent of all soaps. Shampoos, cosmetics and even household cleaners on the market, contain chemicals that can mess with your hormones, throw them off balance and potentially lead to weight gain. That’s why it’s always better to use natural products whenever you can.
Food Packaging
Similarly, lots of the packaging that is used to contain our food and drinks contain chemicals – primarily BPA and primarily in plastic- which can affect our eight negatively. That is because they mimic estrogen in the body, affecting the body’s natural weight regulation system and making it easier to pile on the pounds.
Meat
A lot of cheap meat is pumped with hormones that make the animals fatter. Unfortunately, they can make us fatter when we consume them too. That’s why it is always better to buy organic grass-fed meat if you possibly can.
Surprising Things That Could be Causing Weight Gain
If any of these things apply to you and you are struggling to achieve a healthy weight, try eliminating them from your life, or at least being more mindful of them and you may find that those pounds that clung to you for dear life start to drop off fast.
