BLOG 76 COMMON WEIGHT GAIN TENDENCIES

BLOG 76 COMMON WEIGHT GAIN TENDENCIES

Weight and age creep up on many folks. As the years go by, the pounds add on and suddenly, one looks back and ask themselves, “What happened??” We are the product of our choices and priorities and that roller coaster of life likes to challenge us with new twists and turns. Well after looking at my countless magazines, books, and articles, I’m going to share with you the most common weight gain tendencies that many people struggle to overcome. 

When we were teenagers we ate from the dollar menu but still looked like a million bucks. Junk food was the normal snack; no questions asked a bag of chips would hold you over until dinner. These habits are formed, and then college presents a whole new world of choice making (without mom and dad). Think about it: “College offers many temptations. You're on your own and free to eat what you want, when you want it. You can pile on the portions in the dining hall, eat dinners of french fries and ice cream, and indulge in sugary and salty snacks to fuel late-night study sessions. In addition, you may not get as much exercise as you did in high school. College is also a time of change, and the stress of acclimating to school can trigger overeating. People sometimes eat in response to anxiety, homesickness, sadness, or stress, and all of these can be part of adapting to being away at school” (http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/freshman-15.html). For me, it was more like Freshmen 30 between having knee surgery, all you can eat every meal, alcohol, and being homesick. Jaws dropped when I came home for Christmas, but trust me I got myself back on track quickly.

And then the real world hits when we start to work. 8 hours of our day is suddenly consumed by tasks, demands, and responsibilities we weren’t accountable for before. Our time is now limited to what we do before or after work. Of course it depends what your job type is, but we can all agree that as technology has improved, the less hands on tasks and moving has been required of us. The office jobs are even more sedentary. For example, I found a study by CareerBuilder in which, “The study revealed that 49 percent of workers in the transportation industry feel like they've put on weight in their job, with 48 percent of those in health care jobs feeling the same. Other industries where at least 38 percent of workers have gained weight include financial services, sales, retail, manufacturing and IT” (http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4563-employee-weight-gain.html).

Relationships also pose a challenge to our weight. Dating requires dining and marriage can create that comfortable cushion to gain weight. A few extra drinks and happy hours add up. The game is over so the initial impressive stage is gone. Then the gym goes astray in order to spend more time together.
Well then you start a family. Mom gains pregnancy weight, dad gains sympathy weight, and then the kids come first. Those first few years you need a babysitter to get anything done. Hormones are everywhere. Only to find that years later menopause strikes to add to the weight gain again. That being said, “The 40-59 age range also happens to correlate with the same time that most women are perimenopausal. As we age, we start losing our muscle mass, and fat storage tends to increase. This change in body composition puts us at higher risk for metabolic disease, such as heart disease and diabetes” (http://www.obesityaction.org/educational-resources/resource-articles-2/general-articles/the-truth-about-menopause-and-weight-gain).

And along the way where was your fitness journey?? Probably on the back burner. Weight gain doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t come off overnight either. So our fitness journeys are just that…. a journey. Life’s circumstances are mere speed bumps. It isn’t that going to college, having a job, spouse, and family, are not positive in life, rather they are blessings that take precedence. We just have to learn to find time, balance, and the commitment to take care of our health and wellness in addition to these factors. We live, learn and better ourselves daily on this journey.