How to Lose Weight

20 Habits That Make You Fat

Don't fall trap to these common diet downfalls

By Dave Zinczenko

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20 Habits That Make You Fat // Two women eating unhealthy food c Thinkstock

Image: Thinkstock

Decades ago, around the time of Steven Tyler's last haircut, a completely wrong-headed idea started being passed around America's dinner tables: Eating fat makes you fat.

Wrong. Eating fat won’t make you fat, any more than eating money will make you rich. Calories make you fat, and most “low-fat” or “fat-free” foods actually have just as many calories as their full-fat versions, because of added sugar and chemicals. And there’s no debate on this one: Since we made “cut down on fat” our favorite food craze roughly 30 years ago, the U.S. obesity rate has doubled. Among children, it has tripled. That’s a failed food policy if ever there was one.

But it’s just one of many “get fat” habits that can be turned into a “slim-down” habit, starting today. All you need is a pinch of resolve and a few new routines. Here are the 20 habits you can replace right now, compliments of the Eat This, Not That! No-Diet Diet.

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20 Habits That Make You Fat

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