Controlling weight involves eating healthy foods and avoiding unnecessary fats. It also includes watching your portion sizes. Eating on smaller plates can help you eat less, and eating regularly-timed meals can reduce hunger and cravings.
Limiting screen time is another important step in controlling your diet. Studies show that people who spend too much time on their devices are more likely to binge and eat emotionally.
Obesity
Obesity is a condition when you take in more energy from food and drink than you use up through physical activity. This extra energy is stored in the form of fat, and it can lead to weight gain over time.
Your diet and the environment can affect your ability to control your weight. For example, a diet high in fat and low in fruits and vegetables can contribute to obesity. Liquid calories can also add to your calorie intake, especially those from alcohol and sugary drinks.
Other factors that can cause obesity include a lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits. Obesity can increase your risk for certain non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal problems and sleep apnea. It can also lead to a lower quality of life, including avoiding public places and experiencing discrimination.
Self-control
Self-control, or willpower, is the ability to regulate emotions and behaviors in the service of a larger goal. It is the key to achieving many of life’s goals, including weight loss and exercise. However, it is difficult to maintain self-control over the long term. This is because self-control is a limited resource that depletes over time. Psychologists call this ego depletion.
Fortunately, self-control can be improved through effort and practice. Avoiding temptations, focusing on a specific goal, and practicing healthy behaviors can all help. These strategies can also be passed on to children, who will likely find it easier to develop self-control as they get older.
For example, researchers have shown that people who use self-control to resist a dessert in the present benefit a hypothetical future version of themselves who will be slimmer and healthier. The trick is to prevent yourself from consuming dessert when it’s tempting, and finding healthy distractions. This can be accomplished by staying away from restaurants that offer high-calorie foods and by avoiding the bakery and snack aisles at the grocery store.
Weight cycling
Weight cycling, also known as yo-yo dieting, is the repeated loss and subsequent regain of body weight that occurs in conjunction with diet-related changes in body composition. This is a common phenomenon and it has been linked to health problems including increased risk for metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Although epidemiologic studies suggest that weight cycling has negative consequences, there are some methodological issues and controversies surrounding existing research on this topic.
It has been suggested that weight cycling may be more detrimental than obesity maintenance in terms of disease risk because it increases the prevalence of adipose tissue accumulation and reduces energy expenditure. It is also likely to increase systemic inflammation, which is associated with obesity and increases the rate of progression to diabetes. Several experimental studies support these findings and show that weight cycling may lead to fluctuations in cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure, heart rate, sympathetic activity, and circulating levels of glucose, lipids, and insulin.