Gaining Weight

It’s no secret that most Americans gain weight because of overeating and a sedentary lifestyle.  A sedentary lifestyle is characterized by someone who has a desk job, watches television a lot, sits in front of a computer a lot, or spends too much time in social gatherings eating and drinking.  The sedentary activity does not cause the weight gain by itself.  The person gains weight because of the amount of calories consumed and his or her lack of exercise.

When people are inactive, their bodies will not burn much fat, because only active muscles burn fat.  Sitting causes weight gain because when people are sitting, their muscles relax and become inactive.  When they stand up and walk around, their muscles become active again.  So when they are in the sitting position, they take away the main metabolic process that continuously burns fat, which is muscle activity.  A sedentary lifestyle makes it easy for people to gain weight, but the body has many built-in ways to keep them from losing weight.