Do you have love handles? You know that fat around your waistline affectionately known as love handles. Those love handles aren’t so cute when you know how dangerous they can be. Visceral fat, the fat that settles around your waistline can be extremely dangerous to your health. Visceral fat is known to cause an increase in inflammation, (the cause of disease), raises cholesterol, narrows blood vessels, may cause blood clots, and of course contributes to the the increase of your waist size. As if that wasn’t enough it also raises the probability of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.

So those love handles could potentially cause a slew of health issues and potentially kill you. Fortunately, there are a few simple habits to give up if you want to trim your waistline and improve your long term health. Some of them will certainly surprise you, lets review them now.

Doing other things while you are eating

How many of you are on your phone or laptop while consuming a meal? Putting down your electronics while you eat and focusing on your meal will help you to pay attention to what you are eating as well as savor the flavors and textures of the food you you are consuming. The more mindful you are while you are eating, helps you to not overeat.

Eating too fast

Anyone who has been in the military knows about the mess hall, getting in, gulping down your food, and getting out. Did you know it takes your brain 20 minutes to get the message that your stomach is full? If you are consuming your food quickly, in that time you have already crammed in a lot of food your body didn’t really need. I learned that lesson some time ago and invariably when out to dinner with friends, I am always the last to finish my meal. Slower eaters take in fewer calories.

Getting poor sleep

What does sleep have to do with it? A study of adults over 40 who slept less than five hours per night gained more belly fat than those who slept more. About 7 hours of sleep is ideal to prevent a spare tire. However, don’t go in the opposite direction and overdo it, sleeping more than eight hours every night can also expand your waistline.

Eating late

I try to not eat later than 6:30, your digestive system requires time to burn off your meal. The later you eat your last calories of the day, the fewer hours your body has to burn them up. I admit, I sometimes give in to a craving for Handel’s ice cream at night, but if I do, I stay up later. The worst thing you can do is lay down after eating a meal.

Eating white bread

If you have been following me you already know my thoughts about white bread and other processed foods. All processed foods don’t have the necessary fiber to slow down your digestion. Your body digests white processed foods faster which raises your blood sugar and leads to weight gain. Stick to brown whole grain breads, pasta, and rice.

Drinking diet soda

Yes, you can reduce your calorie count by drinking diet sodas but that will not prevent you from gaining weight. Last year I posted a blog titled Pink, Yellow, Blue or Something Else? Artificial sweeteners contain aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin, all of which have fewer calories but are much sweeter than sugar. Equal and Nutra Sweet which contain aspartame are 200 times sweeter than sugar. Splenda, which contains sucralose, is 600 times sweeter than sugar. You would benefit by using a natural sugar like Stevia, or a raw brown sugar. Plain water is the best, you can add berries or other fruits, cucumbers, lime, or lemons to add flavor.

Skipping meals

This is the worst thing you can do to improve your waistline. When you skip a meal your metabolism slows down and you will likely overeat later when you are hungry. The best thing to do is eat small quantities of something throughout the day to increase your metabolism and weight loss.

Smoking

I don’t have to tell you smoking is bad for you, you already know. However you may not know that the more you smoke, the more fat gets stored in your stomach as opposed to your hips and thighs. Its a hard habit to break because of all the addictive chemicals added to tobacco these days, but at least try to cut back.

Eating on a big plate

Using a smaller plate actually tricks your brain into thinking you’re eating more than you are. If you eat from a large plate, you’re likely to finish it and eat more than you really need.

Not moving enough

Since I retired my Medicare supplemental plan offers all these freebies to promote my health. One of those is the Fitbit. The goal is 10,000 steps per day, but even if I do less than that, I try to take 250 steps per hour. I can achieve that just walking around my home. Get up and moving and putting in just 30 minutes of moderate intensity movement like walking, shrinks your waistline.

Being stressed all the time

Stress releases cortisol and cortisol settles around your waistline. Consistently elevated levels lead to weight gain. Learn some relaxation techniques, You Tube has tons, deep breathing, or meditation, they don’t have to be long, 10 minutes will help to decrease your stress levels.

With the exception of smoking, none of these habits are difficult to break. Do yourself a favor and start implementing some of them to shrink those love handles, improve your health and extend your life.

Until next time,

Peace, Love, and Blessings