Your Biggest Weight Loss Enemy

What do you think is the most vicious enemy of losing excess weight for most people? Is it your local McDonald's or a donut shop? Perhaps these venues make people indulge into the guilty culinary pleasures more often than they otherwise would, but... are fast food restaurants really responsible for people's excess weight? Hardly!

There is another, much greater and a much more fundamental cause for gaining weight. Are you ready to hear what it is? - it's BOREDOM.

Boredom is often mentioned as a cause of many problems including depression, anxiety or simply a bad mood. However, boredom is rarely discussed as a leading cause of obesity, but it clearly is.

The main reason that people of all ages and walks of life overeat is because they find themselves too often and for periods of time that are too long without being engaged in an interesting, social activity outside of their home that will keep their mind and their body away from food. Browsing internet, watching TV, playing video games and reading a book are all fun activities, but whenever we engage into any of those "from the comfort of your own home" hobbies, we tend to make many roundtrips to our fridge or even worse - to the snack bar in our kitchen. It so happened that it's more fun to browse our favorite sites or to watch a movie while eating popcorn or chips and consuming thousands of empty calories without even noticing it.

Thus, if you are serious about losing excess weight and maintaining a healthy body size, you absolutely must, must, must get involved in one or more social activities during your free time. Make it fun, make it something different - enroll in a dancing class, take a martial arts course, take a class at a local community college in something you have been interested in for a while but didn't have the opportunity to learn before, volunteer at a local hospital a few hours a week, or join a running / rock climbing / walking club. You would be surprised at the extent of the positive changes that including just one extra social activity will have in your life. It is likely to make you feel much better about yourself and help you raise your self esteem by allowing you to learn a skill which you can be proud of. Being part of a social / sports group will also bring new social / professional networking opportunities that would not have been available to you otherwise. Finally, being away from home and interacting with people will keep you away from being bored and your mind off of that bad stuff you would be binging on had you been home for all those hours.