One of the keys to losing weight is to identify and avoid your personal triggers. Here are seven that may surprise you:
SENSORY CUES
In a recent Yale University study, insulin levels skyrocketed in hungry individuals exposed to the sight, smell and even the mere mention of charcoal-broiled steaks. Participants' bodies started converting glucose to fat even before they had taken their first bite.
I personally believe if they had enhanced the study they would have found that participants that were not so hungry would not have had the same response. How do you reduce hunger? The answer leads to the next trigger:
LACK OF FIBER
Low-fiber diets typically provide a lot of fat and calories but few nutrients. Such diets also lack bulk, which means you need to eat more to feel full.
High-fiber foods are filling, nutritionally dense and relatively low in fat and refined sugar. High-fiber foods also help stabilize blood glucose and insulin levels.
Make sure to take in at least 25 grams of fiber in your daily diet. Good sources include vegetables, legumes, fruit, and hearty salads like kale and collards.
INSUFFICIENT CALORIES
When you limit calories for an extended time, your body starts to pilfer protein from lean body tissue, destroying the muscle mass necessary to burn fat and calories. You also begin to manufacture an overabundance of "lipoprotein lipase", an enzyme that stores fat in your cells.
You may drop pounds on an extremely low calorie diet. But once you resume eating normally, your body will convert what it now perceives as excess calories into fat.
Don't eat less than 1,000 calories per day. And make sure your total calories are divided into many small meals throughout the day.
FINALLY, make sure you regularly add in some high calorie days as well to keep your metabolism high and to prevent your body from dropping into a "starvation" mode of a lower calorie burn.
DIET FOODS
You may assume that you can eat more if foods are labeled "low-fat" or "lite." Wrong. Despite the catchy labeling, these foods can be packed with sugar and calories. "Sugar-free" products may contain aspartame or saccharin; sweeter-than-sugar substitutes that can provoke a sweet tooth.
Make sure you read the nutrition and ingredient labels. Avoid foods that contain lots of sugar and fat. These two in combination promote fast fat storage.
SALT AND FLAVOR ENHANCERS
Scientists are not sure why salt triggers compulsive eating. It may trigger hormonal changes that amplify hunger, or we may eat more of the foods we find flavorful (keep this in mind when you're looking to improve the taste of foods you eat -- it could cause impressive fat storage).
Even worse than salt (which I don't consider bad in moderation), food manufacturers can choose from more than 2,000 flavor enhancers to make packaged snacks and meals irresistible. But many of these ingredients, such as monosodium glutamate and ammonium carbonate, may cause you to not only eat more, but also to store more of what you do eat as fat.
The reason is they are potent fat storage "nutrient partitioners". This means these flavor enhancers increase the percentage of fat your body normally stores when you eat.
Make sure you avoid foods with artificial flavor-boosters. Use lemon, herbs, apple cider vinegar and no-salt substitutes.
THIRST
People frequently confuse thirst for hunger. What's more, we neglect to count the calories we drink. For example, most 12-ounce sodas contain 150 calories. Even fruit juices are loaded with sugar and calories.
Before surrendering to cravings, drink a glass of water -- then reassess your hunger. When choosing beverages, stick to water or herbal tea.
NOT ENOUGH SLEEP
Sleep-deprived people may increase their daily calorie consumption by as much as 15%, according to research conducted at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Strive for eight hours of sleep a night.
Author Resource:-
Next, get the entire list of 20 "Blueprints" I created that allowed me to dramatically transform my body and win the 1998 Body For Life contest. Imagine finally getting the body you've always wanted! Only available at Harry's Blog
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 