Weight Gain Traps to Avoid

Liz Neporent is a diet and fitness expert and author of 12 fitness bestsellers. She regularly appears on national TV programs and is the president of Wellness 360, a New-York based wellness provider.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the weight gain associated with marriage. On average, married people tend to weigh more than non-married people, and those extra pounds typically show up shortly after the honeymoon.

A fellow blogger wrote in and asked me whether or not there were other common weight gain traps. Good question, I thought. And the answer is yes. Here are three major traps, plus some advice on how to enjoy the moment without fattening up.

Undergrad and Overweight. Everyone's heard of the 'Freshman 15', the weight gain associated with the first semester of college. It's actually more like the 'Freshman Five' but unfortunately, those few additional pounds of padding picked up during the college years often stick around for the rest of a person's life.

The main reason for the Freshman Five is what David Levitsky, professor of nutrition and psychology at Cornell, refers to as 'Sizzler mentality.' "Our studies show that the students who eat more frequently in the all-you-can-eat dining halls are the ones who gain the most weight probably because they can put as much on their plate as they want and it doesn't cost any more," he says. Students also tend to go on late-night pizza runs and take junk food study breaks, eating not because they're hungry but because food happens to be there. Interestingly, Levitsky's research hasn't found lack of exercise to be a factor.

Levitsky is studying ways to counteract this weight gain trap. So far, he's found that frequent weigh-ins act like a wake-up call to ensure things don't get too far out of hand. He also stresses the importance of understanding what a proper portion looks like and how many calories it contains.

Season's Growings. Notice more XXX-L Santas this year? Many of them don't need padding to pull off the fat and jolly look. Like most of us, Santa gains at least a pound each holiday season, a pound that's unlikely to be shed during the course of a year, so a decade's worth of eggnog and cheese logs results in a pretty significant spare tire. Those who are already obese are the most likely to suffer from accumulated holiday cheer, research shows.

"The average person consumes 150 extra calories on most days during the holiday season," notes Barry Popkin, head of nutrition epidemiology at the University of North Carolina. "On Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, you're likely to eat 25 percent more calories than usual." As for activity, Popkin says most of it revolves around the couch, kitchen and television, so there's little chance any of those extra calories will be burned off.

It is possible to avoid festive fat but don't expect a 20-minute walk to cut it. "Realistically, you're not going to skip a celebratory meal, so you've got to cut down on all other meals and find a way to double or triple your normal activity level," Popkin advises.

Desk Jockey Syndrome. Long hours, less sleep, stress, poor food choices. These are the hallmarks of the working stiff -- and it seems, a recipe for obesity. Catching fewer zzzzs alone is enough to expand your waistline.

Columbia University researchers who studied the sleeping habits of more than 18,000 people found that those who get by on less than four hours of sleep a night are a whopping 73 percent more likely to be obese than people who slumber seven to nine hours nightly; even those who caught six hours were 23 percent more likely to be obese. Lack of sleep disrupts levels of the "hunger hormones" gherlin and leptin; a drop in leptin and a spike in gherlin trigger hunger, which triggers overeating and inevitably, love handles. Add to that stress hormones that signal the body to store belly fat, plus endless hours behind a desk and greasy takeout fare, and the few investigations that have examined occupational weight gain show an average increase of 17 pounds for men and 20 for women.

The best way to put the brakes on your weight gain career? Take every opportunity to increase activity and find ways to trim calories off every meal and snack. Research shows that even small lifestyle strategies like going for a long weekend walk, counting calories and taking the stairs whenever possible can help keep your weight under control.

I'll be bringing you more of these weight-gain traps in the coming weeks. Got any of your own to share?