10 Bad Habits to Break for a Healthier Weight
When it comes to reaching a healthier weight and maintaining it, it’s really important to develop the right daily habits. That’s because the wrong habits could jeopardize your weight, as well as your overall health.
Are you exhibiting the 10 bad habits below? If so, you should do your best to ditch them so that you can finally achieve your ideal weight.
1. Neglecting Sleep
If you’re the type of person who doesn’t really worry too much about getting enough sleep, you might be finding that your weight is hard to control. Sleep will play an important role in your ability to lose weight, and it could also help to keep the weight from returning, but if you don’t get enough sleep, you could end up disrupting your body’s production of hormones related to your appetite. If you don’t get enough shut-eye, you may find yourself feeling hungrier throughout the day, and researchers have even determined that individuals who are deprived are sleep are more likely to become obese. How much sleep should you get? Try to get up to 8 hours every night.
2. Drinking Your Calories
Drinking water throughout the day is the best way to hydrate your body without ingesting any calories. If you drink a lot of sugary drinks, from sodas to juices, and if you tend to have a lot of alcohol, such as beer and wine, you could be consuming a lot more calories than you realize.
3. You Eat a Lot of “Diet” Foods
Foods that are labeled “diet foods” should be avoided, as they’re far less likely to actually fill you up and satisfy you for long. Plus, they’re usually loaded with harmful ingredients, such as preservatives and additives, as well as artificial sweeteners and flavors, that your body doesn’t recognize and is more likely to store as fat. In the end, those supposedly diet-friendly foods could actually cause you to gain more weight. Stick with natural ingredients to prepare delicious meals instead.
4. Cutting Out All Fats
Are you still under the impression that all fat should be eliminated from your diet if you want to lose weight? Think again. Healthy fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids, are vital to health. Focus on eliminating saturated fats and trans fats only, as healthy fats may help you shed pounds while reducing cravings and helping you feel full.
5. Restricting Calories Too Much
Reducing your calorie intake is a smart way to lose weight, but are you overdoing it? If you are cutting your calories down to just 1,000 or less per day, you could actually be slowing down your metabolism. In addition to symptoms like nausea, fatigue, and diarrhea, you will end up having more difficulty losing weight. Eat enough calories to give you the energy that you need, and make sure to exercise to burn off excess calories and lose weight.
6. Skipping Your Breakfast
You might think that skipping breakfast is a good way to lose weight because you will be consuming fewer calories and less fat, but the truth is that if you skip breakfast, you could end up eating more sweets and fewer healthy foods throughout the rest of the day. Eating a healthy breakfast that is packed with fiber, protein, and vitamins and minerals is a great way to jumpstart your metabolism and keep you full until lunch so you don’t give in to sugary cravings for the energy that your body needs.
7. Grocery Shopping While You’re Hungry
Eat before you go grocery shopping. Otherwise, you will end up purchasing a lot of unhealthy foods that are designed to satisfy you in the short-term without giving you the nutrition that your body needs to stay at a healthy weight.
8. Ignoring Exercise
Eating right will only get you so far when you are trying to lose weight. If you are the type of person who only relies on their diet to get them to the ideal weight, you should consider adding more physical activity to your daily life. With exercise and diet combined, you will achieve results a lot more quickly and be able to maintain them for the long run.
9. Snacking After Dinner
Eating after dinner is a bad idea if you are trying to lose weight, as it usually involves mindless snacking that makes the calories add up. And when you go to bed, you won’t be burning off those calories. To satisfy your hunger, stick with some warm tea or something that doesn’t have any calories, such as sparkling water.
10. Grabbing Snacks on the Go
Finally, if you often find yourself hungry while on the road, while on the job, or while on the go in general, consider always packing some healthy snacks that will be within reach. Some fresh fruits and veggies, granola, or a variety of nuts are a few good examples of foods that will fill you up so you don’t go reaching for salty, sugary, unhealthy snacks.
