For Those of You Who Made A Weight Loss Resolution

8 Lazy Habits That Make You Gain

by Alyssa Wells, Fitbie

Seemingly harmless habits like speed-reading the nutrition facts, working through lunch, or loading up on diet foods can come back and bite you in the butt—and the belly

You gloss over nutrition facts.

Do you know what’s lurking in your food? According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, it’s likely you’re turning a blind eye to the Nutrition Facts label. The study found that consumers view items listed at the top of the label more often than those at the bottom, which is where the ingredients are likely listed. Further data even suggests that the average consumer reads only the top five lines. What’s more, of the participants who reported that they always read the calorie count (33%), only 9% actually did. (The study used a computer equipped with an eye-tracking device to identify what participants read.) Even more worrisome, only about 1% read other key label components including total fat, trans fat, sugar, and serving size. "Serving size is so important," says Wendy Bazilian, RD, CPT, and author of The Superfoods Rx Diet. "If you’re not aware of how much you should be eating, then most of the other details on the label have little meaning. And there’s a good chance you’re eating far too much."

The only things you surf are the channels and the couch.

Adult Americans spend an average of 5 hours a day parked in front of the TV—the third most time-consuming activity in our lives after sleep and work. Too bad watching TV expends even fewer calories than other leisure activities like reading, writing, and talking on the phone. A 2009 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that scaling back TV time (and making no other changes to your diet or lifestyle) could burn extra calories. Participants who limited their TV watching to 50% or less, burned an additional 120 calories a day, proving that doing any activity other than watching TV (or eating) could help your weight-loss efforts

You skip meals.

It’s a lot easier to skip a meal than make over your eating habits when your goal is to cut calories. Unfortunately, it’s likely your hunger will drive you to overeat later, says Bazilian, and you may end up consuming even more calories than the skipped meal contained. Scaling back your eating by forgoing breakfast or lunch could also result in potentially dangerous metabolic changes. A 2007 study published in the journal Metabolism found that skipping meals during the day and eating one large meal in the evening (which is often the case, as most people skip breakfast or lunch, says Bazilian) resulted in an elevated fasting glucose level and a delayed insulin response in participants. These conditions, if they persisted long-term, could lead to diabetes. "The body needs to be refueled," says Bazilian. "The thermic effect of food increases your metabolism as a result of eating. Plus, your cells need a regular input of energy. When you skip meals it puts stress and strain on your system."

You don’t experiment with new workouts.

Mixing up your fitness regimen can help spur weight loss—and can help you find a program you love enough to stick with for the long haul. In a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers surveyed more than 1,100 people who had lost weight and kept it off. They identified weight loss and weight-maintenance practices that 10% of the group used, and noted some key differences between what it takes to lose weight and what it takes to maintain that loss. One variation the survey found was that respondents who lost weight successfully did so by participating in different types of exercises, whereas following a consistent exercise program was associated with weight maintenance. "We need to give ourselves opportunities to try new things and find something we love doing," says David Jack, director of Teamworks Fitness in Acton, MA. "You shouldn’t dread the workout. You should really look forward to it and feel uplifted by it. You have to challenge your mind as well as your body." You don’t have to pick up kayaking or salsa dancing to mix it up, says Jack. Simply adding a new piece of equipment like kettlebells, a TRX suspension trainer, or medicine balls can wake up your weight loss and prompt you to try other new things.

You don’t cut your food.

Slowing down your meal and slicing up your food can have serious weight-loss benefits. A 2009 Dutch study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who chewed large bites of food for 3 seconds consumed 52% more food before feeling full than participants who chewed small bites for 9 seconds. Researchers believe greater oral sensory exposure to a food—created by chewing a smaller amount for longer—helps signal your brain to make you feel full sooner and therefore decrease intake.

You rely on diet foods to help you slim down.

Diets foods won’t transform your body alone and in some cases they can even contribute to weight gain. One study even found that people eat 28% more when a food is labeled "diet." But foods marked reduced-fat or low-calorie are most dangerous, says Bazilian, if it spurs someone to buy a food just because the label features language that suggests the product is "healthy" or "healthier." "Rather than swapping in a diet variety of a food we already eat—like picking up skim milk instead of whole—people end up adding diet foods to what they’re already consuming," says Bazilian. "You won’t improve your health or weight by adding diet foods and not changing anything else."

You take your "rest day" too far.

If you spend your off day sandwiched between couch cushions, you’re not doing your body any favors. "When you take a day off from exercise to let your muscles repair and rest, you shouldn’t completely avoid movement," says Bazilian. "An easy hike or walk is great. Taking as few as 700 steps burns 30 calories, which, if done daily, results in 3 1/2 to 4 pounds of weight loss over the course of a year." Taking it too easy can also negatively affect your heart health. A recent study from the University of South Carolina found that men who reported more than 23 hours a week of sedentary activity—that’s about 3 hours and 15 minutes of sitting a day—had a 64% greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who reported less than 11 hours a week. Reduce your risk, and your waistline, by taking regular breaks. A 2008 Australian study published in the journal Diabetes Care found that increased breaks in sedentary time were beneficial to waist circumference.

You’re a spectator of healthy habits.

We have no trouble sitting through an hour of Top Chef or Chopped, but for some reason whipping up our own cuisine from scratch is just too time-consuming. "Most of those Food Network chefs aren’t opening up cans or pulling boxes and bags out of the freezer. Everything is fresh," says Bazilian. "When we prepare our own food we have more control over the ingredients and the nutrition." Bagged, boxed, and canned foods can contain sneaky sugars, sodium, and saturated fat in addition to being highly processed. Our need for speed in the kitchen also causes us to skip an important part of the meal—the salad course, says Bazilian. "Washing and chopping a head of lettuce is a huge barrier for a lot of people," she says. But giving up on the green stuff not only robs you of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, but also helps you eat less of the rest of your meal and consume fewer calories overall.