It's not always just food and how much of it you eat that perpetuate the dissatisfaction you might have toward how much you weigh, how you look and how tightly your clothes fit. Many of the things that make you fatter are within your control to reverse but often go unheeded because they have become too ingrained as a lifestyle choice.
Food
Even "good" food, if eaten in excess, can add unwanted pounds. When your diet regularly includes the following, however, it can be a dangerously fast track to fatness: processed meats, sodas, fried food, fast food, candy, chips, sugary cereals, baked desserts, mashed potatoes, dairy products and alcohol. In a nutshell, any food or beverage that is high in fat, carbohydrates, sugar, sodium and calories might fill you up but also will fill you out without delivering the nutrition your body needs. The authors of "Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat" further suggest that certain foods might be affecting your digestive and immune systems, resulting in conditions such as increased insulin resistance.
Lifestyle
Along with a healthy diet, regular exercise is essential in managing your weight. Unfortunately, the combination of a sedentary lifestyle at home and at work might not have you up and about and moving as much as you should. A lack of time to prepare nutritious meals only reinforces the convenience and accessibility of fast food/junk food. According to Jackie Warner, author of "This Is Why You're Fat (And How to Get Thin Forever)," sleep deprivation is another factor that affects your weight because of its influence on the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that helps regulate appetite. A leaning toward obesity also might be a product of heredity, coupled with behavioral modeling in which the offspring of fat parents mimic the eating patterns they observed when growing up.
Stress
When you're stressed out, your body releases hormones such as cortisol. An excess of cortisol in your system slows your metabolism and its ability to process the foods you're consuming. Stress also impacts your blood sugar levels, a condition that can make you feel light-headed, exhausted or extremely moody. If you have an excess of nervous energy to expend, this often triggers emotional eating wherein you're not actually hungry but you need something to do to keep busy. In addition, stress causes your body to store more fat as a defense mechanism in response to the belief that your life is in danger and that sustenance might not be available in the future.
Self-Esteem
According to N.S. Xavier, author of "Fulfillment Using Real Conscience: Practical Guide for Psychological and Spiritual Wellness," a punitive superego can contribute to a lack of self-esteem that defines food as a proxy for affection and attention. If food was given as a reward or withheld as a punishment during childhood, the perceptions associated with self-worth can carry over into adulthood. Media has a strong influence on dietary habits as well. If you believe you never could be as glamorously thin as the models and actors you admire, you might be inclined to give up entirely on trying to slim down. The worse you feel about yourself on the inside, the more it reflects on the outside with unhealthy eating, lethargy and depression.
References
- "This Is Why You're Fat (And How to Get Thin Forever): Eat More, Cheat More, Lose More--and Keep the Weight Off"; Jackie Warner; 2010
- "Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat"; Roger Deutsch, et al.; 2002
- "101 Things to Do Before You Diet: Because Looking Great Isn't Just about Losing Weight"; Mimi Spencer; 2009
- "Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It"; Gary Taubes; 2010
- "Fulfillment Using Real Conscience: Practical Guide for Psychological and Spiritual Wellness"; N. S. Xavier; 2009
- "Handbook of Genomics and the Family: Psychosocial Context for Children and Adolescents"; Kenneth P. Tercyak; 2010
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