Are Healthy Habits Actually Making You Gain Weight?

How familiar does the following scenario sound? You stick to your healthy eating goals all week, taking the time to make a green smoothie in the morning and ordering a kale salad over fries at lunch. By the time the weekend — and dessert — roll around, you’re ready to splurge on a whole pint of Ben & Jerry’s. You were good all week. You deserve it, right?

According to marketing researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, this tendency that leads you to make a pit stop in the ice-cream aisle after you’ve done your diligence in the produce section is called the “licensing effect,” and it can be seriously sabotaging your health goals.

The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Behavior, looked at the behavioral catch-22 we can fall into when we’re good: When we make healthy choices, we give ourselves license to make unhealthy ones. The researchers found that grocery store purchases in “virtue” categories (like fruits and veggies) improve a shopper’s self-concept and in turn increase the likelihood of a “vice” purchase (like that Snickers bar staring you down in the checkout line). Not good for our overall health goals.

So what can we do to avoid this unhealthy trick of the mind next time we go food shopping? According to Keri Gans, RD, author of The Small Diet Change, your first line of defense begins before you even set foot in the store.

“Don’t go into a supermarket allowing yourself to be blindsided,” she says. “Create a shopping list, and then stick to it.” She also advises against going to the store hungry: “If you’re starved when you walk into the supermarket, everything is going to look good.”

Secondly, you have to have a strategy for coping with those moments of weakness. “Stop and take a deep breath, and realize what your goals are,” says Gans. “Unless your goal is to derail your healthy eating plan, it doesn’t fit.” In other words: Just because the ice-cream aisle is calling your name doesn’t mean you have to answer it.

And finally, knowing when to cut yourself a little slack can keep you from making big splurges. Gans calls these planned moments of giving into temptation, which allow us to retain control over our decision-making process. “No one is saying our shopping cart always has to be filled with produce,” she says. “We can keep ice cream in the house. We just have to make sure we’re not eating the whole pint, we’re eating a serving size.”

Ultimately, the cure for the licensing effect is a mindset shift. “We need to change the mentality that eating ‘good-for-me foods’ means we can eat ‘bad-for-me foods,’ ” says Gans. “Instead we need to be looking at the big picture, meaning all the nutrients that we’re choosing in a given day or week.”

She recommends applying the 80/20 rule to your diet — allow room for 20 percent of your food choices to be indulgences, and you won’t feel the need to go crazy in the dessert aisle.

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The 7 Biggest Weight-Loss Mistakes, According to Dietitians

Dietitians have seen it all when it comes to weight loss. From crazy fad diets to bulletproof coffee — while appealing, what sounds too good to be true usually is.

We are all susceptible to the lure of the quick fix or thinking there’s one magic bullet to achieve ultimate weight-loss success. But this mindset often leads to mistakes that eventually get in the way of the long-term goals we’re trying to achieve.

Is it possible to avoid some of these pitfalls that inevitably occur on your weight-loss journey? Absolutely — but we must be able to recognize those pitfalls first. Below are the seven of the biggest and most common weight-loss mistakes dietitians see, with tips from real-life RD’s to help you stay on course.

1. Too Many Rules

Losing weight is hard enough without having to follow a bunch of strict rules. Melissa Rifkin, MS, RD, says not eating after 7 p.m. is a popular “rule” that may work against you if you work the night shift or wake up very early. If you want to curb nighttime noshing, she recommends you stop eating two hours before bedtime.

Elizabeth Ann Shaw, MS, RD, finds her clients often avoid anything containing a trace of sugar, no matter the source. She recommends using natural sugar sources to satisfy a sweet tooth, like a delicious potassium-packed frozen banana topped with a tablespoon of nut butter and a few shavings of dark chocolate.

2. Cheat Days

Employing cheat days as a way to stay motivated is a common tactic while on a strict diet. But Rifkin warns that entire cheat days can be a trigger to get (and stay) off track and derail healthy habits. She recommends a treat meal instead of a cheat day. It’s much easier to re-establish healthy eating habits after one meal versus an entire day of indulgent eating.

Another issue for many dieters is alcohol. Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD, says her clients forget to count alcohol calories. “One glass of wine each night can supply an extra 100 calories per day (and 700 calories per week),” she says. “These calories add up over time and can slow weight loss.”

Instead, Rizzo recommends reducing your intake by half. If you drink wine every night, cut back to three nights per week. If it’s only one night per week, cut back to one night every other week.

3. Not Eating Enough

When dieting, many people think the less food you can eat, the better. (If you’re in the same camp, here’s more on why that approach doesn’t work). Rifkin says her clients skip meals because they’re too busy. Her answer? Find the time. “Wake up earlier, go to bed later, plan and prep your meals, bring workout clothes to work,” she says. “Do whatever it takes to keep your commitment to yourself and your health.”

Abbey Sharp, RD, couldn’t agree more. Instead of eating in an overly restricted manner, Sharp suggests focusing on choosing high-quality, nutrient-dense foods rather than just looking at the calories. By substituting high-protein, high-fiber options for high-sugar, high-fat snacks, you’ll naturally eat fewer calories without overdoing it or sacrificing nutrition, she says.

4. Thinking Short-Term

Angie Asche, MS, RD, says short-term cleanse diets are a huge mistake. “Weight regain is rapid after ending a seven- or 21-day cleanse, and fasting for too long can slow down metabolism, making it difficult to keep the weight off,” she says. Her advice: Don’t fall for the trendy diet fix or cleanse. Instead, stick to a diet that’s rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and healthy unsaturated fats. Drink plenty of water, cut back on alcohol and soda, and let your liver and kidneys do the cleansing!

5. Not Tracking Intake

Dietitians know that not keeping track of your intake is a common weight-loss downfall. As most of you MyFitnessPal users already know, keeping a food log will not only keep you honest, it also provides a realistic picture of your overall intake. “Journaling keeps you accountable,” says Sharon Palmer, RD. “It’s easy to dismiss all of the food you consume in a day.”

6. Overeating Healthy Foods

Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN, says her clients think that as long as they eat “clean” or organic, the calories don’t count. “You can easily overdo healthy foods… nuts, seeds and dried fruit are all fantastic sources of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, but too many may equal too many pounds.” Harris-Pincus recommends measuring out portions every time until you can eyeball the appropriate amount.

7. Focusing Only On Weight

“One of the biggest mistakes my clients make is to measure success only by the numbers on the scale,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, MA, RD. “Not everyone drops pounds quickly, and success comes in many forms. Cutting portions, not snacking throughout the day, learning to say ‘no, thank you’ without feeling deprived, learning to say, ‘yes, thank you’ without guilt, and balancing out meals are all measures of success that take a lot of work and deserve applause.” She says positive self-talk and consistency when making sensible food decisions can fuel weight loss and self-esteem.

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8 Signs You’re Eating Too Much Sugar

Sugar is delicious. Anyone who denies that is lying. But because life is unfair, sugar, especially in copious amounts, is really bad for your health. In fact, once you learn about all the ways sugar impacts your body, it’s difficult to look at it the same way (despite knowing how heavenly it tastes).

So how do you know if you’re eating too much? Here are eight red flags your body is sending you that it’s time to cut back on the sweet stuff.

1. You constantly crave sugary things.

The more sugar you eat, the more you’ll crave it. “More cravings then equal consuming more sugar—it becomes a vicious and addictive cycle,” Brooke Alpert, M.S., R.D., author of The Sugar Detox: Lose Weight, Feel Great and Look Years Younger, tells SELF. This isn’t just because your taste buds have adapted and left you needing more and more to get that same taste, but also because of how sugar gives you a high followed by a crash, just like an actual drug. “By eating a high sugar diet, you cause a hormonal response in your body that’s like a wave, it brings you up and then you crash down and it triggers your body to want more sugar.”

2. You feel sluggish throughout the day.

What goes up must come down. After sugar causes an initial spike of insulin and that “high” feeling, it causes an inevitable crash. “Energy is most stable when blood sugar is stable, so when you’re consuming too much sugar, the highs and lows of your blood sugar lead to highs and lows of energy,” Alpert says. Eating a lot of sugar also means it’s likely you’re not eating enough protein and fiber, both important nutrients for sustained energy.

3. Your skin won’t stop breaking out.

“Some people are sensitive to getting a spike in insulin from sugar intake, which can set off a hormonal cascade that can lead to a breakout like acne or rosacea,” Rebecca Kazin, M.D., of the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery and the Johns Hopkins department of dermatology, tells SELF. A sugar binge can show up on your face in just a few days. If your skin’s unruly, Kazin recommends reassessing your diet, otherwise “you may be treating skin for other issues without getting to the bottom of what’s really going on.”

4. You’re way moodier than usual.

The blood sugar crash that happens when you’re coming off a sugar high can cause mood swings and leave you feeling crabby. Not to mention, if your energy is also tanking, that just contributes to a bad attitude.

5. You’ve been putting on some weight.

Excess sugar is excess calories, and since it has no protein or fiber, it doesn’t fill you up (so you just keep eating it). It also triggers the release of insulin, a hormone that plays a big role in weight gain. When we eat sugar, the pancreas releases insulin, which carries sugar to our organs so it can be used for energy. When you load up on sugar, your body’s told to produce more insulin—over time, that excessive output can lead to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means our bodies can’t respond to normal amounts of insulin properly and therefore can’t use sugar the right way. The initial weight gain from simply eating too many calories from sugar is being compounded by the disruption to your normal insulin response (there’s a link between insulin resistance and obesity). What’s more, when the pancreas works in overdrive for too long you can develop diabetes.

6. You’ve been getting more cavities.

When bacteria chow down on food particles in between the teeth, acid is produced, which causes tooth decay. Our saliva maintains a healthy balance of bacteria on its own, but eating sugar can impact the pH and throw off the natural ecosystem. This gives the bacteria a chance to thrive and multiply, leading to cavities.

7. Your brain tends to get foggy, especially after a meal.

This fog is a common symptom of low blood sugar. When you eat a lot of sugar, your blood sugar levels rapidly rise and fall instead of gradually doing so. “Poor blood sugar control is a major risk for cognitive issues and impairment,” says Alpert.

8. Nothing tastes as sweet as it used to.

“Eating too much sugar basically bombards your taste buds,” Alpert says. “This sugar overkill causes your taste bud sugar tolerance to go up, so you need more and more sugar to satisfy that sweet craving.” When your taste buds need lots of sugar to feel like something is sweet enough, it can be tough to lower your base level. However, it you cut back and suffer through it in the beginning, you’ll eventually lower your tolerance again and be content with minimal sugar. You might even start to feel like things are too sweet for you and—gasp!—be happier consuming sugar in moderation.

—By Amy Marturana

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5 Ways to Squat Better

Squats, whether weighted or not, are hands down one of the best, most powerful full-body exercises you can perform: Not only will you tone your butt and thighs, but you’ll develop a stronger core—especially when you start to add on weight with a barbell, kettlebell or dumbbells. But with great power, comes great responsibility: Proper form is essential to seeing the benefits.

We turned to two New York City-based trainers—Keith Wittenstein, CF L4, coach at CrossFit Solace and Nick Lobotsky, CF L1, coach at CrossFit NYC—for some quick pointers on how to improve your squat technique.

1. Make sure to keep your weight in your heels. If most of your body’s weight is being grounded by your toes, you could fall over or compromise form and hurt yourself by being off-kilter. “Keeping your weight in your heels keeps you balanced and allows you to generate lots of force,” says Wittenstein. “It also activates the big powerful muscles of the posterior chain, including your glutes, hamstrings, calves and spinal erectors,” making your bod work harder—and look better. Plus, it helps take pressure off the knees.

2. Push your hips back as you go down. “Sending your hips back first, to initiate the squat, will help allow you to keep your weight in your heels as well as properly align the rest of your body,” says Lobotsky. If you begin your squat by sending your hips straight down, you’ll either end up on your toes in the bottom of the squat (see #1) or with your knees tracking way too far forward, past your toes.

3. Push your knees out slightly. When squatting, you want your knees aligned over your toes. So in reminding yourself to push your knees out slightly, you’re essentially preventing them from collapsing inward. Doing this “helps protect the knees and recruits more muscles in your hips,” says Wittenstein. Think about your knees pointing toward your pinky toes to achieve the positioning, he adds.

4. Keep your chest up. Don’t let your torso drop! Doing so will change your center of gravity, which can be dangerous if you’re using weight while squatting, explains Lobotsky. By holding your chest up and out, you’ll be able to keep the control the weighted bar better, he says.

5. Get loooooow. The goal when doing a squat is to have your hip crease below your knees when you’re in the down spot. “When squatting shallow or above parallel, the knee is doing most of the work and absorbing the force. By squatting below parallel, the knees release the force and the leg muscles start doing the work instead,” says Lobotsky. So not only will you see better results by getting lower, but you’ll also help alleviate pressure on your joints, too.

Now that you can squat like a pro, put your skills to good use with this one-song workout. You’ll feel the burn. Trust.

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6 Simple Tips to Avoid Vacation Weight Gain

It’s officially summer, which means ’tis the season for beach-inspired workout motivation, extra focus on your sun-protection routine — and diet-derailing vacations. For many of us, fitness goals tend to fall by the wayside in the face of sugary umbrella drinks and local dessert specialties.

But the good news is staving off the dreaded vacation-induced weight gain doesn’t have to require iron willpower, says Liz Josefsberg, a celebrity weight-loss coach and nutrition exercise specialist.

“I love to indulge on vacation, but I also love to balance my unhealthy indulgences with a couple healthy ones,” she says.

To stay on track and still get the most out of your vacation, follow these six tips.

1. Plan your indulgences.
It just wouldn’t be a real vacation without at least a few indulgences, right? But to keep you from going totally off the rails, Josefsberg suggests sticking to a “two on, one off” meal plan.

“Two meals each day need to be very healthy and on target,” she says. “For me, breakfast and lunch are easier to control with eating eggs, fruit or yogurt for breakfast and then a salad for lunch. For dinner, sample a local favorite and maybe enjoy a drink.”

You should also aim to pick your treats before you touch down at your vacation destination. If there’s a local ice cream shop that’s dominating Instagram, plan ahead of time to go there so you can look forward to it. That way you’ll be more likely to hold out for your big indulgence and pass up the dessert menu when it comes at dinner.

2. Stay active.
Keeping up with your 6 a.m. gym routine doesn’t exactly fit with the vacation mindset. And that’s OK. Instead, plan unique activities that will keep you active. Do a walking tour of the city, sign up for a beach yoga class or rent bikes for a day.

3. Take advantage of your tech.
One major benefit of our technologically advanced world is that we have access to information about great dining options anywhere, says Josefsberg. Take advantage of Instagram, Yelp or TripAdvisor to seek out healthy eats when you travel. You’ll get a unique local experience without the guilt.

4. Skip the hotel.
Booking your lodging via Airbnb or VRBO offers the opportunity to cook healthy meals instead of eating out constantly.

Says Josefsberg: “It reduces temptations like all-you-can eat breakfast buffets and even gives you a chance to feel like a local as you shop in markets and visit fruit and vegetable stands.”

If you’re in on a hotel, ask for a fridge in your room; on your way from the airport, stock up on some fruit, cheese and yogurt to keep from splurging between meals.

5. Go sans sangria.
We know, those beach days call for fruity drinks with little umbrellas in them. But they’re packed with sugar and calories, which means they’re major diet saboteurs.

“Alcohol is often the thing that undoes the most of our healthy efforts,” says Josefsberg, who advises committing to a couple of no-drinking days or keeping cocktail hour confined to dinner only.

6. Pack some snacks.
When all else fails, it’s not a bad idea to have some healthy snacks in your suitcase — especially for those endless days stuck in transit. To avoid convenience store junk food, Josefsberg advises slipping a bag filled with healthy eats like granola, trail mix and fruit into your suitcase.

At the end of the day, you have to remember to cut yourself some slack — you’re on vacation after all.

“Don’t get crazy about gaining weight on vacation if you do,” Josefsberg says. “The key is to get back on track as fast as you can when you get home.”

Make it a priority to stock up on healthy groceries, and get back to your regular eating routine as soon as you get home so your lax vacation habits don’t linger too long in your real life.

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The Secret Behind Sweating and Weight Loss

You’ve just had a seriously sweat-filled workout, and you’re already feeling lighter. You step on the scale, and your suspicions are confirmed — you’ve actually lost a pound! Yes!

This proves sweating helps you lose weight, right? Not exactly.

While you did step on the scale and see that your “weight” has dropped, it’s due to fluid loss, not permanent weight loss. In other words, as soon as you rehydrate (which you should do, stat, especially if you’ve seen a drop in your scale weight since before your workout), your weight will return to the level it was prior to the start of your session. For proper rehydration, the general recommendation is to drink 16–24 ounces of water per pound lost during exercise, which is important because dehydration can cause everything from muscle cramps to dizziness if not addressed quickly.

OK, but doesn’t sweating a lot mean you’re burning more calories, and that will help you lose weight faster?

That isn’t exactly true either. Despite what some brands or products claim, those heated yoga classes or sweat suits won’t help you permanently drop pounds by increasing your sweat level alone. Why not? Your calorie burn isn’t measured by the amount of sweat you shed during a workout but rather by the amount of intensity or effort you put into it. Measuring your heart rate or tracking your perceived exertion level during your workout is a much more accurate way to track your expenditure than by how sweaty you are by the end.

And if you don’t get super soaked during your gym session, don’t “sweat it” either — the amount each individual perspires has to do with the number of sweat glands you were born with. (Most of us have somewhere between 2–4 million of them.) The functions of sweat are to help cool your body and to regulate your temperature, whether you’re rocking it out in cycling class or waiting for the bus on a hot summer day.

So, what does it all boil down to? Sweat is a good thing — it’s your body’s cooling system, but don’t count on using it as your gauge for lasting weight loss. Breaking a sweat (and the amount you perspire) has more to do with your genetics and the temperature of your environment than the intensity of your workout or the amount of calories you are burning. Skip trying to simply sweat off the pounds with saunas and sweat suits. For true, lasting weight loss, instead keep your focus on a consistent, balanced workout plan and a healthy diet with the right caloric deficit.

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Grilled Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing

Grilled kale is ridiculously easy and fast to make. It brings out the best in kale, adding smokiness and crispiness. Tossed with fresh peaches and a light lemon vinaigrette, The Healthy Maven’s grilled kale salad creates a feeling of summertime all year-round.

Grilled Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing

Ingredients

For the lemon vinaigrette*

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 medium lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (certified gluten-free if necessary)

For the kale salad

• 1 bunch kale, stems removed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 shallot, sliced thinly
• 2 medium peaches, sliced
• 1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts

Directions

Combine all vinaigrette ingredients and set aside.

Heat your grill or grill pan to medium.

Brush kale lightly with olive oil on both sides.

Place kale directly on the grill, and cook for 1–2 minutes before flipping and cooking for 1 minute on the other. Kale should wilt and char slightly. Watch closely to ensure it doesn’t burn.

Repeat until all kale has been grilled. Transfer to a serving platter.

Top kale with peaches, shallots and hazelnuts.

Drizzle with dressing as desired.

*Recipe yields roughly 3/4 cup of salad dressing, so don’t feel as though you need to use it all. The dressing keeps well in the fridge.

Nutrition Information

Serves: 4 |  Serving Size: 1/4 salad + 2 tablespoons dressing

Per serving: Calories: 215; Total Fat: 15g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Monounsaturated Fat: 11g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 61mg; Carbohydrate: 18g; Dietary Fiber: 3g; Sugar: 11g; Protein: 4g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 474mg; Iron: 8%; Vitamin A: 140%; Vitamin C: 148%; Calcium: 11% 

Davida is a healthy living blogger behind The Healthy Maven, where she writes about healthy food, fitness and her insatiable sweet tooth. She aims to create delicious recipes that are healthy, gluten-free and filled with good-for-you ingredients but still taste as authentic as the originals. It’s not rare that she’ll throw spinach in her brownies! Check out more of her recipes on her blog and follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Photo courtesy of Davida Kugelmass. Recipe originally posted on The Healthy Maven.

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