Bad eating habits do not appear overnight, they become more present in our lives little by little and when we least expect it they start wreaking havoc on our health and our figure.
But your bad habits do not define you and should not control your life; learn to recognize them because this is the first step to getting rid of them permanently and reverting any harmful effect they’ve had on you.
Some of the most common bad habits people have are:
Not chewing food well
Digestion begins in the mouth. Chewing food well is the first step to proper assimilation. Eating slowly is also essential to recognizing your body’s signs of satiety; remember it takes 20 minutes for your brain to register that you’ve already eaten enough.
Chewing food well is essential to being able to eat mindfully. Sitting at the table, putting down your fork between each mouthful and sharing meals with others are just a few more things that can help you enjoy food more while eating less!
If you chew your food well and eat mindfully, you’ll end up eating less at the end of the day.
Skipping breakfast
It has always been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, however, in recent years some people have pointed to studies that suggest that eating or skipping breakfast does not make a big difference when it comes to weight loss.
Who is right? What you have to do here is rely on your common sense and find what works for you. Leaving home after eating a healthy and balanced breakfast will likely reduce your chances of buying whatever you find at the convenience store when hunger strikes by mid-morning. Similarly, it can help you avoid getting to your next meal completely ravenous. In spite of current trends, such as intermittent fasting, the most sensible thing to do is to have a good breakfast or take something with you if you’re on the run. We suggest you prepare in advance by boiling some hard-cooked eggs, soaking oats in water or milk and refrigerating them for breakfast the next day with fruit or fixing a sandwich with whole wheat bread, vegetables and protein to take with you in the morning.
Not getting enough sleep
Experts agree that sleep is as important to our well-being as diet and physical activity.
Lack of sleep causes fatigue and stress, considered risk factors for obesity and weight gain. It can also make it tough for you to make the best decisions when it comes to food choices. Fatigue can also steer you towards food that is fast and practical and that provides momentary satisfaction but that is high in calories, fat, sugar and salt.
Skipping meals
In a fast-paced world, delaying or skipping entire meals is common for many people. But what happens in your body when this becomes a habit? Your metabolism literally slows down. The first thing you will notice when you skip a meal is that when you finally do eat, everything will taste really good, that’s because your brain wants to avoid being deprived of the food it needs to function and wants you to eat more. When you don’t eat, your body produces a hormone called cortisol, which tells you to eat more and save every calorie possible in order to keep functioning amid the possibility of further food depravation. The primitive brain depended on this mechanism to survive at a time when food was scarce, but with food now available 24/7, putting your body into emergency mode is not the best scenario for weight loss.
Basing your diet on junk food
Understandably, fast food provides a quick, affordable, practical and good tasting solution to the problem of satisfying our hunger when we are short on time; but in the long run, the consequences can be devastating.
Junk food has earned its name because it tends to be very high in the least healthy versions of fat, flour, salt and sugar; while providing little to no nutrients. When your diet is made up mostly of these empty calories, you are not getting healthy amounts of protein, fat, fiber and micronutrients. The only response the body can have when submitted to a fast-food diet is progressive weight gain, which will not reverse its trend until the unhealthy foods are substituted for vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, protein and pure water.
In LIMARP our multidisciplinary team will help you to recognize your bad habits and design practical and effective strategies to overcome them. Call LIMARP today to find out how we can help you: (844) 855 4906 or fill out a contact form at www.limarp.com to receive a free evaluation.