We all know the feeling of putting on our jeans and feeling like they’re just a little tighter than normal. We try to convince ourselves that maybe they were left in the dryer too long and go about our day, drink our coffee, read the latest news, and go to work. But deep down we know that our bellies are feeling just a little jigglier than usual.
Once we determine that we are gaining weight and rule it out as a malfunctioning dryer, we start to get defensive about it. We start going over all of the efforts we’ve put into trying to be healthy recently and how mother nature must surely be out to get us. However, despite all of the kale that you eat, you may be missing some bigger clues. Here are some of the things you may be doing that you didn’t realize were making you gain weight instead of keeping it off.
Your Workout
Often when we start a workout program, we feel really excited about how many calories we must be burning. When we get off the treadmill and see that we’ve burned 400 whole calories we walk away with our shoulders rolled back and our pride riding high.
What a big workout like this can do, however, is to make us believe that it’s the only activity we need throughout the day. Often people take it as an excuse to spend the rest of the day inactive or making poor nutritional choices because they “got their workout in.”
Part of being physically fit means staying consistently active throughout the day. You will end up burning more calories if you move at a moderate pace throughout the day than if you were to work up a high heart rate for 30 minutes then partake in no other activity for the rest of the day.
“Diet” Foods
Often foods which are marketed as “low-fat” or “gluten-free” are perceived as having fewer calories. However, less gluten and fat does not equate to less caloric value. Make sure that you are still reading labels for how many calories are in something and not being a sucker for marketing techniques.
Snacking Between Meals
Snacking between meals is something that many people do throughout the day. They try to reach for “healthy” options, however, what they don’t realize is that every little bit adds up.
By the time you’ve added up all of your snacks between meals you may find that you’ve eaten the equivalent of an entire meal or more!
Beverages
Beverages are packed full of calories. Whether its a coffee, juice, or alcohol. Make sure that you are drinking mostly water throughout the day, otherwise, you can be sure that your weight gain is coming from what you drink.
