Are you feeling frustrated with your lack of progress in your weight loss journey? The culprit could be some sneaky habits that have crept into your daily routine without you even realizing it.
Don’t worry, identifying and breaking these habits is the first step towards achieving your weight loss goals.
Here are nine common habits that could be keeping your belly flabby, so you can take control and start seeing real results.
1. You never get up from your desk
Being a workaholic can affect your belly fat. Sitting eight hours at a desk without breaks means you’re losing out on physical activity that can help you burn calories; it also decreases activity of the fat-burning enzyme lipoprotein lipase.
Stand up and stretch every so often, take bathroom breaks, grab water from the kitchen, or walk around the block at lunch.
2. You rely on sit-ups to get a six-pack
Unfortunately, sit-ups or crunches aren’t the magic answer to a flat stomach if they aren’t accompanied by cardio.
Those exercises tone abdominal muscles but don’t burn fat, which is key to eliminating belly flab. Find out how to lose belly fat, according to a personal trainer.
3. You skip meals
Whether you’re too busy to eat lunch or you think starving yourself will help you lose weight, depriving your body of food for long periods of time is just inviting belly fat to appear. Not eating slows your metabolism, which means you’ll burn less calories, and it can make you prone to poor food choices or overeating when it does come time to eat.
If we haven’t eaten all day, we’re famished and you can’t make rational decisions about what to eat when you’re that hungry
4. You let weight gain get you down
We do fall off the bandwagon, but don’t stay in that rut. Get back into a good lifestyle as soon as possible. The longer you don’t exercise or eat right, the more damage you’re doing to your body and the longer it’ll take to get rid of that belly fat, she says.
5. You can’t manage your stress
Stress is inevitable, but if you don’t learn how to manage it, you could find yourself with even more reason to fret when you start gaining weight.
Studies suggest that stress can cause you to crave foods high in fat and sugar because it triggers an increase in the release of cortisol, which affects hunger. You should especially look out for the 15 worst foods for your stomach.
6. You eat in front of the television
Distracted eating, like watching television or working at your desk, can make you eat more, according to Harvard Health Blog.
study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that slowing down and savoring what you eat can help you eat less. Here are more tricks for busting belly fat in a single day.
7. You let your emotions take over
If you struggle to keep your emotions in check it could impact your weight and your mindset. Brigham Young University researchers found that middle-aged women who had “less-than-positive” emotional health were 59 percent more likely to gain weight than women who felt happier.
8. You can’t say “no” to dessert
If dessert if one meal you just can’t seem to give up, you’ll probably have to give up on ever having a flat belly. Sugar causes visceral belly fat to pile on, so a sweet treat every night can do a lot of damage.
If your sweet tooth is overpowering, try substituting a piece of fruit for ice cream or cookies; while it still contains sugar, it also has fiber and other nutrients that help keep weight in check.
9. You don’t get enough sleep
Not getting the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep a night can cause your belly to balloon. Lack of sleep increases your chances of making unhealthy food choices the next day because you’re low on energy, and gives you another reason to skip the gym.
Too little shut-eye can also mess with your metabolism, which affects how much fat you burn. Here are some more potential reasons your weight-loss plan isn’t working.