3 Surprising Ways Your House is Making You Fat
Did you know that your weight gain might be less about your willpower and more about how you've decorated your home? Factors like the colors of your walls, how you store your food, or whether your bedroom is comfortable enough can all contribute to your eating habits and stress levels. Read on to learn about the dozen ways your home could be tricking you into chowing down and gaining weight.
SEE ALL: 11 Ways Your House is Making You Fat at thisoldhouse.com
1. You Painted The Dining Room Red
According to the Pantone Color Institute, the color red increases blood pressure, heart rate, and appetite. Yellow increases energy, happiness, and-you guessed it-appetite. If any of the rooms in your house are painted in the warm colors of red, orange, or yellow-especially the kitchen or dining room-you are subliminally urging yourself to eat more.
On the other hand, the color blue has been shown to be an appetite suppressant. Because blue rarely occurs as food in nature (more often indicating rot or mold that can make you ill), humans have no appetite response to it. Paint the kitchen aqua, buy a blue light for your fridge, or serve dinner on blue dishware to help fend off cravings.
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2. You Don't Have a Pantry
If you are constantly looking at junk food, you will constantly eat junk food. That's because "you are three times more likely to eat the first thing you see than the fifth thing you see," says by Brian Wansink, PhD, director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab. To take advantage of this out-of-sight, out-of-mind effect, banish bad foods to upper cabinets and remote pantries. Instead, shelve healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts at eye level on the counter or in the refrigerator. Leaving sugary or salty snacks out will only encourage you to eat when you notice them.
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3. Your Kitchen is The Hub of The Home
Try changing the way traffic moves through your kitchen. Another study from Wansink's Cornell lab shows that people who pass through the kitchen during the day tend to eat 15 percent more than people who don't. If a side or back door into the kitchen is the primary way your family goes in and out of the house, try using the front door more to avoid food temptations. If you work at the kitchen table or talk on the telephone in the kitchen, you will be even more encouraged to take part in mindless eating, so move those activities elsewhere.
SEE ALL: 11 Ways Your House is Making You Fat at thisoldhouse.com
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