Fat Habits Leading to Obesity

We know most of the diet basics: reduce calories, increase your amount of exercise, etc, etc. But here are a several diet habits that are probably making or keeping you fat.

1. Starving Yourself.

The brain relies on glucose to function and make good decisions. People who go without eating first thing in the morning are setting themselves up to practice less constraint at lunch and dinner time. A study from the American Journal of Epidemiology found that people were 4.5 times more likely to be obese when they breakfast-skipped.

2. Drinking Your Diet Away.

When we're out having a glass of wine or beer at a restaurant, we're a little more focused on the time we're having than the excess calories we're downing without thought. The average mixed drink can contain a whopping 500 calories! And how often do you find yourself leaving without having at least another round? Don't dine on draughts.

3. Causing a Man-made Drought.

Speaking of droughts, DO make sure you treat water the same way you treat your fruits and vegetables – it never hurts to add more! Actually, you're supposed to be drinking an ounce of water for every 2 lbs of body weight. Make sure you keep your metabolism buzzing…drink your water.

4. Cheating on the Weekends.

You dirty dog, you. Stay faithful the whole rest of the week, just to throw it all away in a weekend! Seriously though, if you find yourself justifying a couple 'off days' every week, soon you'll be cheating on your diet 30% of the time. You do the math. Just because it's Steve and Tanya's wedding on Saturday, doesn't mean you need to pre-party and post-party Friday and Sunday.

5. Eating and Drinking 'Diet' Foods.

You may be thinking you're doing yourself a favor, but you're not. Low fat foods are often substituted with higher carbohydrates, which cause your blood sugar to skyrocket and let you freefall right back into hunger. A 2011 study out of the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio showed that people who drank 2 or more diet sodas a day increased their waist circumference 500 times that of non-drinkers over a period of about 10 years. Best advice: drink more water.

6. Emotional Eating

Your boyfriend breaks up with you, and so you find yourself wanting to hash it out with a girlfriend over a pint of gelato. Not only do you find yourself excusing the momentary indulgence, but you find yourself excusing the 2-month long indulgence it really turned into. When you finally gather yourself enough to put yourself out on the market again, you realize that you don't fit as well into your 'going out' clothes. Don't let stress blanket you in a fat sweater – give yourself a moment, but then get back to the things you enjoy in life. This will get you smiling again and make you much more attractive.