Wouldn’t it be great if all you had to do were snap your fingers and—poof!—you're a size 2? We all know weight loss isn’t nearly that easy, but there is some truth to thinking yourself thin. Your attitude and perspective are absolutely essential to dominating a weight-loss and/or shape-up plan (like the one in Six Weeks to Skinny Jeans). Your thoughts are what will guide you to success or to failure. If you’re in the wrong state of mind, you won’t stick it out through the exercises or follow the eating plan.
It’s no coincidence that just as holiday travel hits its peak, your diet takes a nosedive. But it’s not just stress, temptation, and mashed potatoes dripping with gravy that take a toll on you. “There seems to be an assumption that when you travel, you can’t eat healthfully, so you don’t even make an attempt,” says exercise physiologist Monika Woolsey, R.D. Nice try.
Fueling up is even more important when you’re on the move. The right foods can help prevent jet lag, ward off road rage, and give you energy to deal with your family when you finally get where you’re going. The pickings may be slim (in a not-so-good way) at some common travel pit stops, but dietary salvation is still entirely achievable—as long as you pack this guide in your carry-on.
There was a point in the not-so-distant past when gas stations sold gas, not soft pretzels. Gyms had water fountains, not vending machines, and food trucks were parked at carnivals, not around every corner. Today, roughly a quarter of the calories in the American diet come from snacks, according to a study published in The Journal of Nutrition. And that figure has jumped 41 percent in the past 20 years.
"Everyone is constantly eating, especially foods that are convenient to buy and hold," says Phil Lempert, a food-industry analyst in Santa Monica, California. And you guessed it: Those convenient foods often tend to be the ones most laden with fat, sugar, and sodium. Snacks in general have more calories than ever before. No wonder the obesity rate among American adults has shot from 15 percent to 34 percent over the past 30 years. But aside from being insanely accessible, why do these between-meal bites have such power? We found out.
Snack Psychology
Sure, we eat snacks because they taste good, but we’re also motivated by our ideas about what they are—and what they supposedly can do for us.
Growing up, Brandi Byers stayed active by playing basketball and taking fitness classes, and she ate lots of salad. Still, her figure was more like “a football player’s,” she says, than like those of her slim, fit friends. And when she began attending Arizona State University, she grew careless with her eating habits. “My best friend and I got an apartment—and too many groceries,” recalls the 29-year-old e-learning training consultant from Phoenix. “By sophomore year, my eating was out of control.” Along with scarfing too many bagels and bowls of pasta, Brandi let her workouts wane. She packed 40 pounds onto her 5’3″ frame in just 18 months.
The Change
Several months before Brandi was to be a bridesmaid in her best friend’s October 2009 wedding, she couldn’t squeeze into the gown she’d ordered. “I could never tell my friend that I couldn’t be in her wedding because my dress didn’t fit!” she says. She vowed not only to sport the size-6 dress but to shed the extra pounds for good.
