Are you gaining weight and you’re not sure why? These common habits could be the problem:

Eating Heavy Dinner

We’re always told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s also the best time to eat something heavy. If you’re trying to lose weight, this could be the best time for you to eat without restricting yourself to carbohydrates. It’s because during the day, we are active and it’s easy for us to burn all the calories we ate during breakfast.

This is the opposite when it comes to dinner. As much as possible, you need to eat less during dinner and stick with food that is easier to digest (that means steer clear of meat, which is tough to digest). Why? Loading up your body with calories that aren’t burned will result in weight gain (and your body will be too busy digesting to do your nightly detox routine) and nobody wants that. The solution? Eat less at dinner and try sticking to as few as 200 calories.

Eating in Front of the TV

After a long day at work, you’re tempted to have a movie or Netflix date with the sofa. While you’re at it, you’re probably snacking on something or eating dinner in front of the TV. While that sounds like a very relaxing habit after work, it’s contributing to weight gain. I bet you’re going to ask me why again, so here’s the answer: When you’re not mindful of what you’re eating and how much you’re eating, you’re less likely to feel full and you’ll result to overeating. If you’re not connected to what’s happening inside your mouth, your brain is less likely to process the information that you’re eating efficiently. The solution? Eat and be mindful of your portions. Before you even sit on that sofa and put your feet up, eat your meals on the table.

Nighttime, Alcohol Time

I’m sure this sounds familiar. While others tend to snack at night because of stress, others rely on a glass of wine or a bottle of beer at night. It might sound like a harmless habit, but it simply means that you’re consuming extra calories. A bottle of beer can have 200 calories and if you think of it, that’s already the same amount of calories that you should be consuming during dinner. A bottle or a glass isn’t as little as you think!

Blue Light

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “body clock”. Our body has a built-in circadian rhythm that signals the brain when it’s time to sleep. As soon as the sun sets, our pineal gland can sense the loss of daylight and starts to produce melatonin– a hormone that creates a feeling of sleepiness and drops your basal body temperature that signals your body that it’s time to sleep. Usually, melatonin starts pumping into your brain at around 9:00 PM.

But the thing is, modern technology such as TVs, mobile phones, tablets, and computers can mess up our body clock because of artificial light or “blue light”. Thus, delaying the production of melatonin and taking our biological clock for a spin. It can result in spikes of stress hormones called cortisol that suppresses melatonin. It also increases insulin that results in pumping up the production of the hunger hormone ghrelin. Just by the sound of the hunger hormone, we already know why using gadgets at night can be a bad habit that can contribute to weight gain. The solution? Have at least an hour before bedtime that you are no longer using any form of a gadget that produces blue light. Read a book instead, it can even help you relax and fall asleep. Here are a bunch more fantastic tips to help you get better quality sleep.