Food addiction It s not just willpower that

Food addiction

It’s not just willpower, that makes us overeat and gain weight. Sometimes, it’s that sneaky bad habit you developed without even realizing it. The next thing you know, one little bad habit can equal out to a lot of weight gain. The worst part is, you might not even realize what you’re doing to your diet. Here, quick fixes for some of the most common bad eating and lifestyle habits that can cause you to dial pounds.

plan: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Mindless eating Night full of snacks Endless snacking Emotional eating Eating too quickly

The Bad Habit: Mindless Eating Cornell University food psychologist Brian Wansink, discovered that the larger the plate you eat from, the more you unknowingly eat. In one recent study, Wansink found that audience given extra-large containers of hard popcorn still ate 45 percent more than those snacking on fresh popcorn out of smaller containers holding the same amount.

• The Fix: Eat from smaller dishes. Try swapping out your large dinner plate for a salad plate, and never eat straight from a container or package.

The Bad Habit: night full of snacks Diet folklore suggests that eating at night is almost never a good idea if you want to lose weight. Although many experts say this old saying is pure myth, problem it’s not only what you eat but also when you eat has the meaning. Scientists at Northwestern University found that mice given high -fat foods during the day (when these nocturnal animals should have been sleeping) gained significantly more weight than mice given the same diet at night.

• The Fix: After dinner, teach yourself to think of the kitchen as being closed for the night, and brush your teeth — you’ll want to eat less with a newly cleaned mouth. If a craving hits, wait 10 minutes. If you’re still truly hungry, reach for something small like string cheese or a piece of fruit.

The Bad Habit: Endless Snacking Here’s a bad habit many are guilty of: snacking round-the-clock, often on high-calorie foods that are full of empty carbs. A recent study at the University of North Carolina found that it isn’t just a problem for adults: kids are snacking more and more often on unhealthy junk food including salty chips, soda, and candy.

• The Fix: Keep only healthy snacks within reach, such as carrots and cucumber slices, yogurt says Jessica Crandall, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Don’t stock your desk with potato chips or cookies you know you can’t resist.

The Bad Habit: Emotional Eating You had a bad day at the office, and when you get home, you open the refrigerator and eat — not a good diet strategy. “You put food in your mouth as a remedy for stress” Crandall says. A number of studies confirm that emotions, both positive and negative, can cause people to eat more than they should.

• The Fix: Find a new stress-buster, Crandall says. “If you’re stressed out at work, when you get home, take a walk instead of eating or call a friend who will be empathetic, " she suggests. "You can take some of the stress off your shoulders. ” Choose any activity you like as long as it keeps you out of the kitchen.

The Bad Habit: Eating Too Quickly It doesn’t give your brain time to catch up with your stomach. Your brain doesn’t signal that you’re full until about 15 to 20 minutes after you’ve started eating. If you gulp down your meal in 10 minutes or less, you could end up eating way more than you need. In a study of 3, 200 men and women, Japanese researchers found that eating too quickly was strongly associated with being overweight.

• The Fix: To slow down your eating, physically put your fork down between bites, take smaller bites, and be sure to chew each bite better. Also, drinking water throughout your meal will help you slow down and feel fuller as you go.

The Bad Habit: Snacking With Video Games If you’re watching TV, sitting in front of a computer, or playing video games, it’s not only mindless snacking in front of the screen that you have to worry about. A new study found that teens who played video games for just one hour ate more the rest of the day, which resulted in weight gain. The researchers weren’t sure why playing video games caused the boys to eat more, but said it’s possible that sitting in front of a computer all day could have a similar effect on adults and lead to snacking.

• The Fix: Take frequent breaks when you’re in front of the computer — get up and walk around the room or office every 15 to 30 minutes. When the workday or your favorite TV show ends, remember to carefully monitor what you consume to you don’t overstuff yourself.

Be healthy and follow your diet!