Article # 337. The Best and the Worst Habits For Weight-Loss

Inspite of your best efforts, you may feel like there is something missing in your current weight-loss regime, which keeps you from reaching your ideal weight goals or deviously tips the weighing scale upward without you realizing why. Studies have found that there are certain food groups and habits that stealthily add about one pound a year to your frame and goes unnoticed until you find yourselves seriously over-weight or experience related health conditions such as diabetes and blood pressure. While there is no magic bullet for weight control, here are some of the best and the worst choices that will determine whether you make it or break it in the weight-loss world:

Top Break-it Choices:

Potatoes: The most common snacking habits in America include potato chips and french fries, which spell disaster for those trying to maintain or loose weight. Studies have found that potato consumption alone can be responsible for 1.69 pounds increase over four years or half the increase in a person’s body weight over a period of time, much worse than soda and sweets put together. Next time you crave your fast-food fix or see the “you can’t eat just one” advertisement, think again.

Alcohol: An alcoholic drink a day contributes to 0.41 lbs increase over a period of four years. In the general digestion process, your body views alcohol as a toxin demanding immediate attention and when the body is focused on processing alcohol, it is not able to break down foods containing carbohydrates and starch that are then converted to fats and stored in your body.

Sweetened beverages: Loaded with refined sugars, sugar sweetened beverages make you pile on calories and play havoc on your bloodstream by spiking the insulin levels that eventually leads to conditions such as diabetes. Regular intake of sodas and juices is responsible for 7% of America’s calorie intake, and can be very easily eliminated from the diet by replacing these with unsweetened beverages, water and naturally sweetened juices.

T.V. watching: This warning is not only for couch potatoes but every two hours spent in front of the T.V. can increase your chances of obesity by 23 percent. Why? T.V. watching is linked to lowering metabolic rates, mindless snacking, external stimulus and brainwashing from food commercials, and increase in appetite. With average American households watching eight hours of T.V. everyday, this habit is a serious obesity threat.

Top Make-it Choices:

Yogurt: This easily tops the good-things list to burn tummy fat, increase metabolism and preserve lean muscle. Obese adults who ate three servings of fat-free yogurt a day as part of a reduced-calorie diet lost 22% more weight and 61% more body fat than those who simply cut calories. Packed with calcium and protein to promote weight-loss, opt for a low-fat and no sugar variety like Greek or Icelandic yogurt.

Probiotics: Ingested as supplements like the Lichi Lactospore Probiotic or added to your yogurt, the healthy bacteria promotes weight-friendly hormones and balances the digestion and the calorie ingestion process in the body which is responsible for regulating body fat and weight loss.

Non-smoking: You know that smoking has several health hazards but did you know that those who quit smoking gain an average of five-plus pounds over a 4 year period. So if you don’t want to fight weight battles later on, lay off the cigarettes.

Fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables: The plate symbol that replaces the old Department of Agriculture’s food pyramid, rightly gives equal weightage to these in your diet. For a healthy body weight and to prevent health problems, eat these in every color of the rainbow to ensure that all essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are available to you. Including more of these foods in your diet over time might not result in dramatic weight loss, but is responsible in the long run for a slimmer waistline and decreasing your risk for significant diseases.