5 Common Habits That Could Be Making You Fat

Enjoying a Few Too Many Brewskis

If you enjoy a few brewskis after your workouts while watching your favorite show, you probably wouldn’t think those drinks are contributing to your weight woes. News flash: They very well could be.

One of the all-time worst diet-wreckers is alcohol. And even a small amount can be bad news for your diet. In fact, one study recently found that out of all the habits that can lead to weight gain, drinking alcohol was the worst (even worst than eating out and watching lots of TV).

Here’s why: Alcohol is known to induce alterations in the brain that activate your appetite. At the same time, it acts on other areas of the brain that enhance the feel-good response of food, so we want to eat more.

Research shows that having alcohol before a meal will boost hunger and increase our enjoyment of eating the food, so you’ll have a harder time controlling your portion intake. In addition, alcohol is known to disrupt your sleep, which leads another physique-destroying habit: lack of sleep.

Not Getting Enough Zzzzz’s

Hundreds of studies now show that those who get insufficient sleep tend to be heavier than those who get 7 to 9 hours a night. When you get less than seven hours of sleep per night, hunger hormones are increased and so is desire for high-fat and high-calorie foods.

In addition, other studies show eating at night trips up the body’s natural hunger and appetite control mechanisms, making you eat more calories. Because humans aren’t bats or vampires, it’s a good rule to not eat past 8 p.m. and strive to get at least seven hours of sleep each night.

Excerpted from active.com

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