The 10 Root Causes of Weight Gain and How to Start Losing Weight

There are really 3 factors that you need to overcome if you want to lose weight:

1. Exercise – You need to increase the quality and quantity of exercise
2. Nutrition – You need to learn to eat healthily and in accordance to your requirements
3. Psychology – You need to develop the right mindset for losing weight.

Have you ever wondered why you, and scores of others like you, fail to lose weight every year? Do you know why you are overweight? Or even how to really reverse the situation?

In the technical or business world whenever a serious problem arises analysts work hard to determine the root cause of the problem, so that it can not only be put right, but also it does not happen again. So we at MotleyHealth.com have taken this same approach to the obesity and weight gain problem. The serious problem is weight gain, so what is the root cause?

The seemingly logical answer is that people are putting on more weight than ever before because of lack of exercise and poor diet. This is only partially true though. If these were the only problems, why do so many people fail to lose weight?

The real reason why people fail to lose weight is because of the lack of will power. You may want to lose weight, but unfortunately your mind has other ideas, as it continues to wanting to eat more food just in case of a future disaster. So, how do you learn to overcome your natural desire to eat too much food? Just follow our rules based on the root cause analysis of weight gain.

Root Causes of Weight Gain

1. Not Eating When Hungry

It is important that you learn to eat whenever you are hungry. This is counter-intuitive, but one of the main reasons you put on weight is because you binge on sugar-laden foods when you get hungry. The way to avoid this situation happening is to not allow yourself to get so hungry that you act irrationally.

Of course, this does not mean that you can eat all the time. The trick is to not starve yourself while at the same time not overeating. It is a careful balancing act, balancing your nutritional needs and your mental desires. If you consume small, planned meals throughout the day as part of a nutrition program, while also doing plenty of exercise, you can avoid getting hungry and therefore avoid binge eating.

If you do not think that this is possible, watch how a child eats. Children only eat when they need to eat, and then will only eat enough to fill them. You cannot even force a child to eat food that they do not want, but as an adult you eat food that you do not need. Be like a child, eat when hungry, but only what you need.

2. Emotional Eating

Emotional eating comes in many forms, but it is most common when you are feeling depressed or suffering from anxiety. Although some people stop eating when stressed, many others will combat their emotional turmoil with food. It is when you are stressed that you become weak and your natural desires start to take over. How many times have you grabbed a packet of biscuits and convinced yourself that “only 1 biscuit won’t hurt” and then go on to eat half the packet?

These events almost always occur when you have just had a stressful experience, either a bad day at work or an argument with a partner. Somehow our subconscious knows we are in a weakened state and tricks the conscious mind into having “just one” biscuit. Why? Well, the brain feeds on sugar and that is the real reason why we crave sugar.

So, how can you overcome this? The easiest way is to plan your kitchen better and also put up notices. For instance, place all the bad foods (check the glycemic index for information on what is bad, bearing in mind high sugar content is the biggest problem) into a separate cupboard. Put all your cookies and chips away in a tin and write a label on top of the tin that says “Come back again in 10 minutes if you really want one”. A child will not bother reading the note, but it could well save you from binge eating.

Another way to help prevent any form of binge eating is to ensure that there are healthy grabs and good foods available. So, always have fresh fruits and salad items that you can eat instead if you really feel the need to snack. Instead of grabbing cookies, toast and ice-cream when upset grab the carrots and humus dip or chopped pineapple and banana.

3. Not Eating What You Want

This is a somewhat controversial approach to weight loss, but it can be very effective. The idea is simply that people that are of a naturally healthy weight do not deprive themselves of treats. The reason why they do not put on weight is because they never overindulge. It is OK to have some cookies, chocolate cake, ice-cream, beer or even white bread every now and then. You give yourself these as treats though.

Do not fall into the trap of having whole days where you treat yourself, or even 2 days in a row of small treats. Limit yourself to once a week at most where you can have your favorite treats, such as a piece of chocolate brownie with your meal on Saturday night or a bacon sandwich on Friday morning.

The trick is to learn when a treat becomes an obsession. Some children are given “occasional treats” by adults, but adults who lack self discipline often treat themselves several times a day!

4. Not Questioning Your Reasons for Eating

This is another method for overcoming your instinct to eat. Every time you are about to eat something, ask yourself if your are really hungry, or do you just want to change the way you feel. The most important question is:

• Am I really hungry or do I want to change how I feel?

So often people eat because it is the time to do so. It is “lunchtime”, “dinner time”, “supper” or because friends and family are also eating. A very common reason people give for eating when not hungry is simply because they just felt that they should eat something. Not because they need to eat, but because it is a designated feeding time. We are not animals in the zoo, we should not have to follow strict feeding times.

5. You Do Not Think About Your Food

Thinking about what you are eating will help you to control your food intake. Overweight people are thinking about food all the time, except when they are eating. While eating the mind goes blank, almost into a trance, until all the food is gone. Why is this?

When you eat, a hormone called serotonin is released making you feel happy and wanting to carry on eating. The effect this has is that when you eat quickly you ignore the signal from your body to stop eating when you have eaten enough which results in overeating and then bloating.

By thinking about your food as you eat you naturally slow down, chew more and feel full at the right time. One trick is to put your knife and fork down while you are chewing, or if eating a sandwich, put it down too. Look at your food as you eat it, think about the food, its texture and the way it makes you feel. Savor it. And chew your food up to 20 times before swallowing it.

It is important not to eat while watching television, reading, drinking or working, as these all distract you from the food. The purpose of this is to teach yourself to eat slower all the time. The longer you practice this method of eating the easier it will become and in time you will naturally eat less because you will want less.

6. When You Are Full You Carry on Eating

So often people feel the need to finish their dinner. As children we are conditioned by our parents to “eat it all up”. Parents are often so concerned about children not eating enough that they end up encouraging their children to eat too much. Adults are literally programming their children to eat more than they need, to eat more than they want, and to eat faster and ignore their own natural body signals to stop eating.

To reverse this you must learn that it is OK to leave some food on your plate. If you have a sandwich, or pizza or bowl of pasta then you should not feel that you have to finish it. Food actually keeps in the fridge much better than most people think. If you cannot finish it today, eat it tomorrow. Save money and lose weight!

7. You Do Not Taste Your Food

This is a fun experiment that you can try. In a study a few years ago researchers found that when people we blindfolded they ate about 25% less than normal. Why? Because by not being able to see how much food they had eaten, or how much food was left on the plate, their only indication as to how much food they had had was by how they felt. More often than not, people felt full enough to stop eating long before finishing the food on their plate.

By being blind folded you are also more aware of the taste and texture of the food. Some people actually found that they disliked their usual daily meal when blindfolded. A classic example is the full cooked breakfast. In the study when subjects were sat down with their usual sausages, bacon, fried eggs, baked beans, hash browns, toast and ketchup, but then blindfolded, many found that the food was too salty and stodgy for their taste. Even though they had been eating this very meal every day for years.

Quite simply we have learned to ignore our natural body signals that tell us if we need food, or even like food, or not. By being blindfolded we can learn to start listening to our body response to food again and not just going with the flow out of habit. To lose weight you must learn to break old habits.

8. You Punish Yourself Over Mistakes

Often people are so serious about losing weight that if they miss a workout or allow their diet to lapse they punish themselves emotionally. If you slip up you have not failed. Learn to forgive yourself and move on, carry on with the plan.

9. You Are Not Drinking Enough Water

If there is one magic weight loss elixir, then it is water. Water is really the only liquid you should drink in large amounts on any day. Black coffee is good for a caffeine boost to help increase your workout performance. Water should be drunk the rest of the time. Fruit juices are high in sugar and your body does not react differently to sugar from fruit juice to that of sugar from candy. Sugar is processed and turned to fat if it is not used as energy. So do not drink those healthy fruit juices, as you should be getting enough vitamins and nutrients from your healthy diet. All juice just adds to more sugar.

Also, many people mistake thirst with hunger. So, next time you start to feel a little hungry in between meals, have a glass of water before your start to think about getting a healthy snack to eat.

So the secret weight loss weapon is water.

10. You Weigh Yourself Too Often

If you are doing all the right things to lose weight, if you are exercising properly, eating healthily and not cheating yourself, then weight loss will come eventually. The worse thing you can do is to keep weighing yourself. Whenever someone weighs themself and finds that they have lost less weight than planned they start to doubt their methods and themselves. All regular weighing can do is reinforce the idea that you are not doing things right. If you are losing weight then your progress should be obvious anyway, you will have more energy, your clothes will be looser, you will be fitter and feel stronger.

If you have to weigh yourself make it a monthly event, not a daily or even weekly chore.

Final Rules to Help You Lose Weight

1. Alcohol is allowed but no while you eat.
2. Grazing throughout the day is OK so long as you always follow the rules.
3. Do not eat breakfast if you are not hungry. Breakfast is still important, but only eat what you need.
4. Eat when you are hungry. This actually keeps metabolism at a high.
5. Never put your work first – your health should always come first.
6. Stop thinking of yourself as being overweight, instead imagine what you are becoming – fitter and healthier.
7. Every day plan the day ahead to make sure you do not risk slipping off the weight loss wagon.
8. Still eat mostly low sugar foods from the low GI food list.
9. Drink water throughout the day to stay hydrated and ward off hunger
10. Enjoy your food.
    

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