1. You Are Always Late
If you are forever late for every appointment, it’s indicative of someone who can’t keep up with his or her schedule, which means you’re probably stressed out of your skull.

If you are familiar with a tight chest that crops up when you’re running late and you get caught in a traffic jam then you know what I’m talking about. Stress triggers the release of cortisol, the stress hormone, and it not only increases your blood pressure, it causes headaches, stomach upsets, can cause chest pain, and it even slows your metabolism. Yep, stress is working against you to keep you fat. It gets worse, though, when you’re stressed out your body tricks you into eating foods that are packed with sugars and fats.

2. A Lack Of Snacks
Wait, we just told you snacks and stress are conspiring against you and now you’re mad I don’t have snacks?

It’s a little more complicated than that. It’s about having the right snacks. When you have healthy options at hand, you will eat them and be happy, but if you are faced with a vending machine or running to the nearest gas station for a bite to eat you’re almost always going to make the wrong decision.

So, whether it is in your desk drawer, glove box, or your purse (or all three, whatever works for you) you should have healthy snacks that have protein and healthy fats. Temptation averted and problem solved. Sorry gas station corndogs, these nuts are enough for me.

3. Constantly Thirsty
Hydration is vital to your overall health and wellbeing, but there’s something else in that. A lot of the time when you feel hungry, you’re really just thirsty. Therefore, you go and get yourself something to eat and give your body some extra food that it really doesn’t need because all it really wanted you to do was just drink a nice glass of water. According to a study from Purdue University, (on relationships between human thirst, hunger, drinking, and feeding, McKiernan, et al) around 60% of the occasions when we are thirsty we respond by eating.

Additionally, there’s no need to wait until you’re thirsty to enjoy a glass of water. In fact, you should be drinking water frequently enough to never feel thirsty. The general rule of thumb on water intake is to weigh yourself, cut it in half, and drink that number in ounces. However, if you live in a particularly hot climate or you’re incredibly active you may need to drink even more than that.

Guess what else? You can reduce your overall calorie count by enjoying a glass of water or two half an hour before you eat a meal. If you are one of those people that doesn’t love water, you can add citrus fruits, mint, or cucumber to give it a flavorful boost.

4. You Are A Night Owl
Poor sleep can increase your stress levels and has been associated with larger waistlines and even high BMIs. Unfortunately, tired brains crave the same types of junk food as you do when you’re stressed so you’re fueling your bad habits when you fail to get a solid seven hours a night.

5. You Love TV Land
Cooking shows are awesome, they’re fun to watch, and it’s great to experiment with new recipes. There’s one major problem with that – those recipes aren’t healthy. That’s right; people who cook from scratch to reproduce TV dinners have higher BMIs than those watchers who don’t attempt to recreate the recipes (Viewers vs. doers: the relationship between watching food television and BMI).

6. Eating To Celebrate
You don’t need to run to the nearest steakhouse every time you have something to celebrate. It could save you thousands upon thousands of calories every year, thus a pound or two! There are better ways to celebrate than by indulging in a calorific meal. Plan a trip to the beach, enjoy nature, or head to the zoo!

If you absolutely have to go to a restaurant, though, make sure you make smart choices when ordering. Avoid meals that are saucy, and choose meats that have been grilled or baked.

7. You Are A Meal Skipper
You got yourself caught up in a busy day and before you know it, you have a massive headache as you realize you haven’t eaten and you’ve fueled your energy with caffeine all day. Eating too few calories is just as bad for your body as consuming too many. It can result in a loss of muscle mass and slow your metabolism. When you skip meals, your body just won’t burn enough calories because it goes into conservation mode.

You can meal prep in advance, or stave off hunger by keeping healthy snacks (like nuts) on hand so that if you are in a position to miss lunch again you have options.

8. You Sit A Lot
Did you realize you sit for around 67 hours every week? Which means you only move for around seven hours of your 24 a day. That means compared to 50 years ago you’re burning 100 calories less every day. If you think that doesn’t sound like much… well, it equates to 10 pounds every year.

Get up and move around for a couple of minutes for every hour of sitting to offset the effect. Better yet, if you can stand while you work it’ll burn 50 calories more than just sitting down. So, by standing for three hours every day you will burn an extra 30,000 calories – a whopping eight pounds.

9. You Don’t Weigh Yourself
While weighing yourself too often can be upsetting, you should aim to weigh yourself three times a week. You need to keep track of your weight so you can correct any missteps immediately.

10. Impulse Buys
Save yourself the temptation of the supermarket impulse buys and self-checkout. There’s a reason that supermarkets place all those colorful candy wrappers as you’re leaving. There you are standing in line… perusing the magazines when the orange wrapped catches your eye. You’re helpless to resist, so don’t put yourself in that position.

The conclusion here is to be aware of what you are doing daily so that you can maximize your weight loss efforts. Better yet, so you don’t sabotage your weight loss efforts.
Coming soon are more daily suggestions to help you with your weight loss journey. If you want to lose weight safely and fast look at the Easy Weight Loss Jump Start section at the top of the Blog.  Many of our blog visitors have loss many, many pounds of unwanted fat. an easy weight Loss tip