4 Bad Habits That INCREASE Weight Gain

Hint: They have nothing to do with food

If you’re trying to win the Battle of the Bulge this holiday season, you’ll need to consider more than your diet. 

Of course, WHAT you eat—and HOW MUCH you eat—are key factors in your waistline. 

But there are other factors that could be sabotaging your best efforts that have nothing to do with food. 

Here are four surprising habits that could be making you pack on the pounds. 

The first is not getting good sleep. 

One study showed that people who slept for five hours or less per night put on 2.5 times more belly fat than those who got adequate sleep. 

This makes sense, since poor sleep alters two hormones that help regulate whether you feel full or hungry (leptin and ghrelin). 

Lack of sleep can also increase another problematic hormone—the stress hormone, cortisol.  

This is problematic for your mood AND your waistline because the hormone tells your body to hold on to fat. 

The second factor is drinking diet soda. 

You should be skipping ALL sodas, but especially the DIET kind.  

Drinks with artificial sweeteners tell your body to expect in influx of calories. When it doesn’t get any from the drink, it prompts your body to get them in other ways. 

Is it any wonder, then, that a study showed that diet soda drinkers developed a 70 percent larger waistline than non-soda drinkers? 

In addition to paying attention to what you’re eating, you should also be aware of the container the food has been stored in. 

You see, food that has been stored in aluminum cans can be full of a chemical called bisphenol A, or BPA.  

This chemical goes from the can, to your food, to your body. 

This is a problem because BPA can mess with your hormones—which explains why studies have shown that people with the highest concentrations of BPA in their urine have significantly larger waistlines and a higher risk of obesity. 

Finally, not getting enough protein can be bad for your waistline. 

Studies have shown that consuming plenty of high-quality protein is inversely associated with belly fat (the more protein, the less belly fat). 

Taking a protein supplement along with a calorie-restricted diet could also help reduce visceral fat – fat stored deep inside the belly.  

One reason could be because protein helps promote healthy gut bacteria, which has been connected to a loss of visceral fat.