Gretchen Scalpi, RDN

Most people who are overweight or obese will tell you that they didn’t reach their current, undesirable weight overnight.  Weight gain during adulthood is usually a gradual process that happens slowly and over a period of years.  It’s not unusual to see someone gain 10 pounds over the course of 10 years, and while a pound a year does not seem like much, adding 10 pounds per decade could really add up.  An adult who gains 1 pound per year, starting at the age of 20, will find themselves 30 lbs. overweight by the time they are 50.

Our lifestyles change as we journey through adulthood, and even the small, seemingly harmless habits that we pick up along the way can really change the course of our health or our weight.  The habits can range from drinking a soda daily, watching an extra hour of  TV at night, or cutting down on sleep because of a demanding work schedule.  Put a few of these habits together and what you have is someone with a more sedentary way of life, who may be sleep deprived, and consuming a couple hundred extra calories a day.  These are conditions that promote weight creep – the gradual addition of unwanted pounds that most people hardly notice.

If you have experienced weight creep, you may want to identify those little habits you have picked up.  Changing those habits into  positive lifestyle behaviors could be more effective that dieting, and more likely to help keep off the extra pounds.

Tags: lose weight, obese, obesity, weight loss