6 Things Causing Your Belly Fat

Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones. You do not have to watch your weight or lose belly fat, you devour what you like, you boast about not having to work out, and you shake your head in pity at your chronically-dieting friends.

Each day we make small choices that make a big difference to your body weight. Because we think little about these minimal decisions, the weight multiplies until it’s time for a full weight loss plan of action. Rather than waiting for the inevitable, start spotting these 6 diet saboteurs that may be steadily adding inches to your waistline.

Uncontrolled Weekends

Researchers have found that people take in significantly more on weekends without even noticing it; especially on Saturdays when fat consumption is at its highest. Those extra weekend calories can quickly add up.

To stay clear of overindulging on the weekends, control portion size and limit your alcohol usage

Eating On the Run

Eating on the move can lead you to eat too rapidly for your body’s hunger and satisfaction signals to keep up. If you take less than 20 minutes to eat a meal, you could be setting yourself up for cravings and over indulgence.

Over-Sized Portions

Cook at home instead of eating out and use a smaller plate for your meals. Don't forget that 1/2 your plate should be filled with vegetables and 1/4 with a lean protein. If you must eat at a restaurant, ask for a doggie bag before you eat and pack up the excess portion to avoid digging into too much food.

Costly Coffee Shop Beverages

Those specialty drinks can cost you about 370 calories and 15 g of fat. As a substitute, opt for a regular coffee with two tablespoons of sugar and you’ll strip about 17,000 calories a year from your diet, which is almost 5 pounds.

Skipping Meals

Skipping meals is another way to wreak havoc on your metabolism. Your body might store extra fat to prepare for other missed meals. Instead of skipping meals, eat small nutritious snacks such as a handful of nuts or fiber rich cereal when you can’t get to a complete meal.

Green Tea and Weight Loss

You’ve seen green tea products marketed everywhere; everything from green tea supplements and extracts to “diet” teas. While there is no shortage of product and marketing information on green tea, I was curious to see what the scientific literature showed. Specifically, I wanted to find out if green tea would be an effective strategy to lose unwanted fat.

Population studies show that consuming 2 cups of green tea a day for 10 years is associated with a lower body fat percentage, suggesting that green tea could be an effective weight loss aid. Particular interest has been given to green tea catechins which are antioxidant compounds also found in chocolate and red wine.

Green Tea Catechins with Caffeine

7 Trials involving Green Tea catechins and caffeine showed an average weight loss of 3 lbs when compared to those taking caffeine along. Surprisingly, 6 trials involving Green Tea catechins with caffeine showed even less weight loss of 1 pound compared with those who took no caffeine.

Green Tea Catechins without Caffeine

2 trials involving Green Tea catechins alone showed no significant weight loss.

Discussion

I should say that these studies used different forms of green tea. Some involved actual green tea drinks and others used green tea extracts. The combination of green tea catechins and caffeine looked to be the most effective for weight loss considering that green tea catechins alone showed no weight loss.

Green tea already has caffeine in it so perhaps there is an additive effect of the catechins and caffeine responsible for weight loss since the combination was more effective for weight loss than caffeine alone and catechins which showed no weight loss.

Is Green Tea an effective strategy for weight loss?

Green tea itself will not result in significant weight loss. Remember that weight loss with green tea was 1-3 pounds over an average of 12 weeks. For pharmaceutical weight-loss products on the market, patients are considered to have failed treatment if they have not achieved a loss of 5 pounds after 4 wk of therapy. So by this measure green tea would have failed as a weight loss drug.

What do I recommend?

If you drink 2 cups of green tea a day you should expect to lose about 1-3 pounds over 12 weeks. By all means drink green tea; just don’t think you’ll drop a couple pant sizes because of it. Oh… one more thing.. “diet tea’ is no more effective than regular green tea.

Also stay away from Green Tea Extract Products! There have been reports of green tea extracts causing acute liver failure and some patients even required liver transplants.

Foods That Will Wreck Your Diet

There are a ton of foods out there that will make you so hungry that you'll feel hollow inside. These foods can be detrimental to your weight loss efforts. These include any food that has been stripped of its fiber, such as white bread; food that turns to sugar quickly in the body, such as white potatoes; and food loaded with sugar, starch, and fat.

Some examples include:

• White bread
• White pasta
• White potatoes
• Pastries
• Doughnuts
• Cookies
• Cakes, pies, and other sugary baked goods
• Candy and candy bars
• Potato chips and other packaged and fried snacks

Why do these foods give you that irresistible urge to raid the fridge or pantry? It has to do with their composition.

The more fiber is removed from your food, the harder and more rapidly it hits your bloodstream. The sugar and refined starch it contains cause your blood sugar to soar sky high.

In response to that sugar surge, your body churns out insulin--so much that it drives your blood sugar below where it was before you ate anything. When blood sugar is that low, you feel tired and hungry, and in need of another quick pickup--often in the form of something sweet.

The Lure of Fat and Sugar

These ups and downs, coupled with the wrong food choices, can wreak havoc on your attempts to manage your weight loss. When a food contains both fat and sugar, as many of the foods listed above do, it can be downright addictive since many of us crave the taste of fat and sugar.

Make a habit of reaching for natural, wholesome, high-fiber foods and snacks instead. The Biggest Loser recommended whole foods are digested more slowly, causing fewer spikes in your blood sugar.

What's more, they tame your hunger, rather than drive it wild with those crazy blood sugar ups and downs. Before long, you'll lose your sugar/fat/starch tooth and be in better control of your cravings.