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TIPS! Five things that make you gain weight, number three will shock you

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Being overweight gets a lot of attention and sometimes leads to losing one’s confidence. Most times if not well managed it’s a serious health risk for both adults and children, leading to different types of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, among other health problems.

Gaining weight can occur for many reasons including pregnancy, adolescence, excessive alcohol intake, overeating, lack of exercise, mental disorders, peer pressures and the likes.

Rapid weight gain can do more than just damage your self-esteem, it can also deny you the privilege of living your dream life. For example, certain jobs require you to be fit but if obese you may be sadly denied the job.

However, being underweight can lead to as many problems as weighing too much.

Let’s see five things that make you gain weight.

1. Lack of sleep:

Sleepless nights don’t just ruin your mood the next day—they could also damage your waistline. According to new research in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, sleep deprivation can cause people to pack on extra pounds.

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Researchers at the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital found that sleep-deprived people seem to burn the same number of calories as the well-rested, but they consume about 300 more calories a day. Given that it takes just 3,500 calories to add a pound to your body, those calories can quickly turn into extra weight.

2. Your overweight friends:

A New England Journal of Medicine study declared that people can actually ”catch” obesity from close friends.

When researchers followed 12,067 people over 32 years, they concluded that those whose very close friends are obese have a 171 percent higher chance of becoming obese too.

The theory goes: you’re influenced by your friends, and if they overeat, you may unwittingly follow their lead. Surprisingly, spouses have less sway over the belly than close friends of the same sex. The good news is that it may also work in reverse. Hang out with thin people and you might lose weight.

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3. Skipping breakfast:

Skipping breakfast may make you particularly hungry later in the day, which can lead to overeating. In time, that can cause you to gain weight. People who skip breakfast tend to have less nutritious diets, which can increase the chances of high cholesterol and other risk factors for chronic disease.

Breakfast should be your most important meal of the day. In order to burn calories, you need to eat. Skipping meals will slow down your metabolism to storage mode as your body hangs on to every calorie never knowing when you will refuel again.

Research shows that people who skip breakfast tend to weigh more than those who eat breakfast regularly. Why? Eating breakfast may help you reduce snacking and avoid overeating later in the day.

A smart breakfast choice includes whole grains, lean protein and some fruit or veggies.

4. Your stress level:

When you have chronic stress, your body steps up its production of cortisol and insulin. Your appetite increases, and so do the chances you’ll engage in “hedonistic” eating in the form of high-calorie sweets and fats. When you try to combat stress with food, you activate the reward centre of your brain. After that initial feel-good spell wears off, you’ll reach again for the same thing that made you feel good, calm, and relaxed in the first place: more food.

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Sometimes we eat because we’re hungry, too, of course — but also when we’re stressed, angry, bored, depressed, frustrated, busy, not busy enough, getting together with friends over a meal.

5. Eating too much:

If you prescribe to the idea that eating small meals frequently throughout the day makes it easier to reduce overall calories, you could be doing yourself in. Turns out we’re programmed to think that a meal is a perfect combination of proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. In reality, the mini-meals in some studies are much more like small—very small—snacks.

Source Readers’ Digest

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