Don't take your weight gain lying down. Launch a counter attack with these science-backed tips to fend off a bulging belly.
1. Manage Munchies
1. Manage Munchies
From 1909 to 1999, the average American's intake of appetite-stoking linoleic acid soared 223 percent. The worst offenders: fried foods, kielbasa, bacon, soy oil, corn oil, ham, mayonnaise, vegetable shortening, chicken thighs, and potato chips. Cut 'em out, or at least cut back.
2. Sleep It Off
Compared with men who log seven hours of nightly shut-eye, those who sleep only six face 24 percent higher odds of obesity. Motivate yourself by treating sleep as a competition, says Men's Health sleep advisor W. Christopher Winter, M.D. Bet against a buddy on your "score" in hours.
3. Dial In Discomfort
You carry a few ounces of brown fat, which generates heat by burning other fat. Since brown fat is activated by cold and hunger, keep your home in the mid-60s and eat low-cal meals, starting with breakfast, says Philipp Scherer, Ph.D., a professor of medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
4. Cut the Chemicals
Limit your intake of the waist-widening chemicals in plastics by using glass or stainless-steel containers. And watch the food in them too. "Eating organic will reduce your exposure to known or suspected endocrine disruptors," says Bruce Blumberg, Ph.D., an obesogen expert at UC Irvine.
For even more information on how fat is sabotaging your life, click here to read What's Really Making Us Fat.
For even more information on how fat is sabotaging your life, click here to read What's Really Making Us Fat.