Aside from the health disadvantages, one of the worst parts about putting on a few pounds is not being able to fit into your favourite outfits. In many cases, you might not even notice you’re gaining weight until you’re unable to button your jeans.
Rather than going to the store and buying a whole new size-up wardrobe, lose the weight you’ve gained by putting a stop to the following bad habits.
Physical Inactivity
Image via Flickr by oddsock
Sitting around on the couch or at the office all day is one of the worst things you can do to your body. In fact, people who are less active on a regular basis have a greater risk for health problems like cancer, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.
By getting active and striving for 30 minutes of physical activity each day, you can lower your early death risk by as much as 40 percent. Not to mention, it will be much easier to fit into all of your clothes.
Not Drinking Enough Water
Many of us don’t drink as much water as we should throughout the day. Staying hydrated is essential for keeping your digestive running as well as your skin soft and supple. Beyond that, being dehydrated makes you feel fatigued, which will make you less likely to be active.
So what can you do? Try drinking two 8-ounce glasses of water before each meal. Studies show that this helps you lose 5 pounds more than people who do not. On a daily basis, you should drink half of your body weight in ounces, meaning a 150-pound person should aim for 75 ounces of water.
Not Sleeping Enough or Too Much
Sleep is the time your body uses to repair itself and take a little break. Therefore, it should really come as no surprise that people who sleep five hours or less gained 2.5 times more belly fat. However, sleeping for over eight hours was nearly as harmful.
Instead of pulling an all-nighter or sleeping in until lunchtime, try to aim for an optimal six to seven hours of sleep. Your body will have enough time to recover, and you’ll see the numbers on the scale start to shrink.
Skipping Meals
Many people believe that if they want to lose weight in a hurry, all they need to do is skip a few meals a day to reduce their caloric intake. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
One study determined that people who skipped breakfast on a regular basis were 4.5 times more likely to be overweight. This is because not eating slows your metabolism, decreasing the number of calories you burn throughout the day. Even worse, it makes you extremely hungry, increasing your chances of eating too much when you sit down at the table for lunch or dinner.
Losing weight is certainly a lot harder than gaining it. However, by changing up your lifestyle, you should find that the pounds drop and stay away easier than ever.
What do you think of these tips? Do you also are guilty of these bad habits? What other bad habits you could add to this list?
*Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.
Thanks for stopping by,
Love you all ❤️
Franca 💋
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Carol desjardins says
Sounds good, back swimming and doing Pilate this week. Just need to watch what I eat.
amomentwithfranca says
Yes I need to be careful too! Now with my family around you go out more and you end up eating more! 🙂 x
Jeanette Leighton says
I am guilty of all of these but luckily my weight is ok atm
Lydia+C.+Lee says
I gained a stack of weight last lockdown and I didn’t care to be honest. I’ve been put on a cholesterol lowering diet and I’ve dropped a tonne of weight and fit back in all my clothes and I eat all day – I’m constantly hungry. It’s so weird. So for me, I think it’s what you eat that makes the difference. But I’m still a jiggle in peace person, myself. Just not under Doctors orders! #KCACOLS
Lydia+C.+Lee says
But the water is important – stops headaches too
Shelley Whittaker says
Couldn’t agree more with these tips Franca. I really struggled over winter with the lockdown and not being able to exercise or walk as much as I would have liked. But now that life is back to semi-normality, I can feel my body getting back to where it used to be with my normal good habits 🙂 #KCACOLS
Kendra says
The water part…yeah…#KCACOLS
Sam says
Defiantly find drinking helps a lot and getting the right balance of sleep x #kcacols
Hannah says
I’m terrible for not drinking enough water – I just can’t ever seem to make a habit of it! #KCACOLS