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8 Things That Are Making You Fat

If you're logging hours in the gym to no avail on the scale, it's time to rethink your game plan. Here, things you'd never suspect could be making you fat.

By Reader's Digest Editors
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1. Your Reading Comprehension

We all know that person, the one who eats burgers and still loses weight while you eat salad and yogurt and can’t shed a pound. Turns out the problem may not be your appetite; it could be your reading skills. According to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, healthy-sounding labels are duping dieters.
Read: Are Your Reading Skills Making You Fat?

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2. Your Diet Soda Habit

Put down the pop! Studies have shown that subjects who drink two or more diet sodas a day have waist size increases up to six times greater than those of people who don’t drink diet soda. These insidious sodas may be free of calories, but they're not free of consequences!

Read: Is Diet Soda Making You Fat?

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3. Lack of Sleep

New research suggests sleepless nights don’t just ruin your mood the next day—they could also damage your waistline. Researchers at the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital found that while sleepy folks seem to burn the same number of calories as well-rested people, they consume about 300 more calories a day.

Read: Why Lack of Sleep Could Be Making You Fatter

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4. The Room Temperature

Trying to lose weight? Turn down the thermostat. A cozy home could be contributing to making you fat, suggests research in the journal Obesity Reviews. When our bodies are cold, we shiver, causing our muscles to contract to generate heat—and burn calories.

Read: Can Turning Down the Thermostat Help You Lose Weight?

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5. Your Overweight Friends

A New England Journal of Medicine study declared that people can actually ''catch'' obesity from close friends. When researchers followed 12,067 people over 32 years, they concluded that those of us with very close friends who are obese have a 171 per cent higher chance of becoming obese too. The theory goes: you're influenced by your friends, and if they overeat, you may unwittingly follow their lead. Surprisingly, spouses have less sway over the belly than close friends of the same sex. The good news is that it may also work in reverse. Hang out with thin people and you might lose weight.

Read: 5 Diet-Friendly Date Ideas for Friends

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6. Eating Too Much

If you prescribe to the idea that eating small meals frequently throughout the day makes it easier to reduce overall calories, you could be doing yourself in. Turns out we're programmed to think that a meal is a perfect combination of proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. In reality, the mini-meals in some studies are much more like small—very small—snacks. How small? Check out the story below for a reality check.

Read: Are 6 Meals a Day Making You Fat?

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7. Toxic Chemicals

While you may never have heard of phthalates—a family of chemicals used to make plastics flexible—new evidence linking these and other so-called “endocrine-disrupting” chemicals with obesity has been growing. In fact, researchers have taken to calling many of these substances obesogens (obesity-promoting chemicals). A healthy immune system can help ward off the dangers of these chemicals, but why not boost your body's efforts by not packing your produce in plastic the next time you buy groceries?

Read: Are Toxic Chemicals Making You Fat?

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8. Your Stress Level

When you have chronic stress, your body steps up its production of cortisol and insulin. Your appetite increases, and so do the chances you’ll engage in “hedonistic” eating in the form of high-calorie sweets and fats. When you try to combat stress with food, you activate the reward center of your brain. After that initial feel-good spell wears off, you’ll reach again for the same thing that made you feel good, calm, and relaxed in the first place: more food.

Read: Is Stress to Blame for Your Weight Problem?

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Your Comments

  • zhang ya ming

    hey，i come from china，i can’t understand it，please write it shortly

    • puwetkoto

      china sucks

    • Secret Rat

      too shame

    • sam

      dumb bo

  • Mohammmad Reza Ghasemi

    hi every body .i am from iran and i love your magazine ,ploease provide us whit new tips for budybuilders.
    mohammad reza.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000150351258 Bebs Ferreras

    THANKS RIDERS DIGEST….

    • http://www.facebook.com/pooja.ashodhiya Pooja Ashodhiya

      Lol.. RIDERS??  very funny version of the magazine name.. ;)

  • Aokio

    really cool.  I’m from peru

  • Just Janet

    8 Things That Are Making You Fat should be expanded to at least 9.  You left out the possibility of medical problems, such as Thyroid disfunction.  When all conventional weight management efforts fail, you should see your medical doctor for tests that could reveal physiological problems that contribute to overweight.

  • Just Janet

    8 Things That Are Making You Fat should be expanded to at least 9.  You left out the possibility of medical problems, such as Thyroid disfunction.  When all conventional weight management efforts fail, you should see your medical doctor for tests that could reveal physiological problems that contribute to overweight.

  • Just Janet

    8 Things That Are Making You Fat should be expanded to at least 9.  You left out the possibility of medical problems, such as Thyroid disfunction.  When all conventional weight management efforts fail, you should see your medical doctor for tests that could reveal physiological problems that contribute to overweight.

  • Just Janet

    8 Things That Are Making You Fat should be expanded to at least 9.  You left out the possibility of medical problems, such as Thyroid disfunction.  When all conventional weight management efforts fail, you should see your medical doctor for tests that could reveal physiological problems that contribute to overweight.

  • Just Janet

    8 Things That Are Making You Fat should be expanded to at least 9.  You left out the possibility of medical problems, such as Thyroid disfunction.  When all conventional weight management efforts fail, you should see your medical doctor for tests that could reveal physiological problems that contribute to overweight.

  • Just Janet

    8 Things That Are Making You Fat should be expanded to at least 9.  You left out the possibility of medical problems, such as Thyroid disfunction.  When all conventional weight management efforts fail, you should see your medical doctor for tests that could reveal physiological problems that contribute to overweight.

  • Alloftheabove1962

    #9 narcoleptics never get enough rest. lack of proper sleep

  • mark t

    Whew, that was scary. Thought for a second they were going to tell me 12 beers a day was fattening me up.

    • Mcpurc

      I’m with you there.  That’s close to my count.

  • Patricia Voss

    Lots of good stuff here.  Just learned a lot…..

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000304762128 Fausto Buena Serrado

    its in genes, and self discipline….paolo from filipinas

  • lea nunez

    thanks for the tips..

  • lea nunez

    thanks for the tips..

  • http://www.facebook.com/pooja.ashodhiya Pooja Ashodhiya

    Very helpful… thanx for sharing :)

  • chris buhain ignacio

    thanks for sharing this RD!! i’m from the philippines working here in the middle east

  • Anonymous

    Mmm. Maybe overeating and under-exercising should also be listed.

  • Anonymous

    Mmm. Maybe overeating and under-exercising should also be listed.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mary-Ann-Kieffer/100001025547045 Mary Ann Kieffer

    How do you stop the government from putting fluoride in your water that might inhibit your thyroid’s action, when the fluoride messes up the iodine needed by the thyroid?  How can you reduce your stress level daily?  How can you make yourself sleep longer?  These are all great ideas, but now the solutions?  

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mary-Ann-Kieffer/100001025547045 Mary Ann Kieffer

    How do you stop the government from putting fluoride in your water that might inhibit your thyroid’s action, when the fluoride messes up the iodine needed by the thyroid?  How can you reduce your stress level daily?  How can you make yourself sleep longer?  These are all great ideas, but now the solutions?  

  • Carolina

    I strongly believe that “step” or “tip” N° 5 is DISCRIMINATION.. you can’t say that you’ll gain weight just for hanging out with people with some more kilos. 
    So you mean that fat people should not have friends? because now, nobody will want to have people that are not thin around.
    YOU ARE DOING A GOOD JOB PROMOTING ANOREXIA
    YOU STUPID GUYS DONT HAVE IDEA HOW A FAT PERSON WILL FEEL NOW WITH ALL THIS BULSHIT.

  • Carolina

    I strongly believe that “step” or “tip” N° 5 is DISCRIMINATION.. you can’t say that you’ll gain weight just for hanging out with people with some more kilos. 
    So you mean that fat people should not have friends? because now, nobody will want to have people that are not thin around.
    YOU ARE DOING A GOOD JOB PROMOTING ANOREXIA
    YOU STUPID GUYS DONT HAVE IDEA HOW A FAT PERSON WILL FEEL NOW WITH ALL THIS BULSHIT.

  • Josephestep

    If you eat less you will lose weight. You are fat because you eat to much.  

  • Rock2432000

    I may be the only person who is gonna read this & do the opposite because im trying to gain weight

  • Belynda12au

    i resent this,my reading skills are tops and i am not fat,so stick that.

  • 1124141827

    Yes! it’s ture1

  • Usedtobefat

    This article is stupid.

  • Proud2bcpa

    People, no need to attack here.  Be nice and civilized.  Difference sources have different opinions about meal frequency.

  • Lebanese

    #5 is very offensive. I’m appalled RD, you don’t need to use those stupid studies in your articles. Yes I know they have been proven and all, but there are a lot of other sick things you can prove with studies, like you have sexual urges towards your parents. That however has no contribution to our lives and will do nothing but disgust. Just have some will and you’ll lose weight, we don’t need to change the mechanism of our subconscious.

  • smarturine

    poop is marbles

  • Cody

    “Put down the pop! Studies have shown that subjects who drink two or more diet sodas a day have waist size increases up to six times greater
    than those of people who don’t drink diet soda. These insidious sodas
    may be free of calories, but they’re not free of consequences!” FALSE.

  • sam

    hi watever u talk a oad of crap hahahaha

  • sam

    siill billy