You exercise and you eat healthy – well you try! You jog, drink green tea and resist those pizza cravings but you still gain weight. Sounds familiar? Well, the reasons may be very surprising! Here are 8 things you did not know could be the reasons for your weight gain!
1. Your bedroom lights!
Who’d have thought that your bedroom lights might be the cause of weight gain. Just goes to show that there are traitors hiding in your very bedroom. Jokes apart, this surprising reason for weight gain is actually true. Sleeping with your lights on at night could actually cause weight gain! According to a study by the Ohio State University, your bedroom lights could actually be the cause of your mysterious weight gain. What exactly causes a messed up sleep cycle to cause weight gain, but it could be because of a spike in your melatonin levels. So make sure you turn your lights off before dozing off.
2. The room temperature
Your air conditioner, girls, can surprisingly be the reason for your weight gain. A research published in the Obesity Review suggests that a warm, cozy room could also be the cause of your mysterious weight gain. You burn more calories when the temperature is colder, maybe the winters are actually good for something.
Also read: 8 Beauty “Rules” EVERY Girl Should Break!
3. Your hectic schedule
All the more reason for you to take a deep breath and chuck that to-do list out. Research suggests that stress could be the reason for weight gain. The stress hormone, called cortisol, increases your appetite and affects the way fat is distributed, thus being a major cause of weight gain. This leads to fat being stored near the abdomen, giving you that much-dreaded paunch. So basically you need to chill!
4. Your “diet” drinks and food
This one study by the Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio found that people who drank diet drinks experienced a 70% greater increase in the waist circumference as opposed to those who didn’t. A lot of diet food including the health bars is actually a storehouse for calories and thus could be the reason for your weight gain. Plus, it’s believed that artificial sweeteners can slow down your metabolism, thus leading you to experience symptoms of weight gain. So look at the ingredients carefully before you buy food labelled ‘diet’, thinking it won’t affect you!
5. *Sigh* Your makeup
It saddens us to admit this but your cosmetics could be the reason for your weight gain. Most cosmetics and personal care products like talcum powder, creams, deodorants and moisturizers contain phthalates, which tricks the body into producing more insulin. This, in turn, leads to insulin resistance, which is deemed as the major reason for weight gain..
6. Your late nights
Less sleep is considered a major reason for weight gain. So don’t compromise on your beauty sleep and make sure to get at least 7 hours of uninterrupted night sleep. Not only is sleep good for your skin, it can also help in keeping that dreaded excess fat at bay! This may just be the easiest way to lose weight!
Also read: 7 Surprising Things That Might Be Making Your Hair Fall!
7. Pollutants in the air
The pollutants in the air can be the reason for your weight gain. Don’t believe us? Read for yourself here. It doesn’t help that we live in one of the most polluted countries in the world.
8. Your friends group!
The way your friends eat influences your eating habits too and could be a significant cause of weight gain. So if they indulge in fatty food often, the chances are so are you. Research has confirmed that if your friends are on the heavier side, you’re more likely to be on the heavier side too! Maybe that’s the reason all those hours you put in at the gym were yielding no result?
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