Breaking news! The eating habits that you should avoid after the age of 30 are the same bad eating styles which he made habitual during those formative years, between the ages of 11 and 22. He probably knows them: too many dinners in the car, drinking 20-ounce sodas, inhaling bags of Doritos, eating pizza for breakfast. The problem is that, in 30 years and overyour body, your cells, your metabolism, and heck, your whole life is different.
“As a kid, you burned off all that extra energy you took in; as an adult, you’re probably a lot less physically active, responsible for doing a lot more and dealing with a lot more life stressors,” he says. Joan Bordeaux, RD and blogger. “Because of all of that, your diet plays a much bigger role in your health — you need to wake up to what you should have been paying attention to all along.”
Bordeaux doesn’t mind ringing alarm bells in your ears if it helps you adopt a healthier lifestyle. After all, she sees the results of a lifetime of poor eating habits every day in her job as a nutritionist working with very sick patients in long-term intensive care.
“I have worked on both sides, in the outpatient clinic doing preventive counseling and, in the hospital, treating chronic illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressureY heart disease.” Therefore, he is well aware of the advice that people ignore until a health problem forces them to take it seriously.
“The public health message is everywhere,” she says. “How diet affects the body is no secret. Many people need to be diagnosed with a life-threatening disease like diabetes to get an idea and start making changes.”
We’re sure you’d prefer prevention to treatment, so here are six eating habits to avoid in midlife to help you live a better life. a longer and healthier life.
“I’m human, I like my treats,” Bordeaux admits. “An occasional piece of cake is not going to give you diabetes.”
But a slice of cake here, a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies there, and a chocolate bar to lift your spirits every afternoon could send your blood sugar skyrocketing. prediabetes zone.
Look for patterns in the big picture, says Bordeaux. One of the best ways to identify unhealthy eating habits is to track everything you eat and drink on your smartphone or in a notepad.
“Within two days, you’ll notice eating habits that you’ll want to start breaking,” she says.
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“Something I never move on is sugary drinks,” says Bordeaux. “Customers will try to compromise that, but I won’t budge because large studies and meta-analyses show a strong association between soda and other sugary drinks and weight gain and increased risk of disease.”
Start weaning yourself away from sweet things gradually. Drinking water. You don’t need the extra calories from sugary drinks, she says.
Do you need more motivation? Verify What happens to your body when you drink soda.
There is a term for this: eating without thinking. It’s what happens when you binge on Netflix and don’t realize you ate the whole pint of ice cream until episode three. We often get into the habit of mindlessly eating when we are under stress.
“Seeking food to cope and comfort is a common habit that leads to overeating,” says Bordeaux.
The solution is to recognize when you are stressed and choose to be present and aware.
“Practice mindful eatingBordeaux says. “Start small and realistic. I recommend choosing a meal of the day, maybe on a weekend when you have more time. Eliminate all distractions and be present with your meal. Eat slow. Enjoy it.”
Food should be enjoyed, not put in the mouth.
skipping meals losing weight or trying too restrictive diets will backfire.
“Those only lead to long-term damage at the expense of short-term gain, and your weight loss will be mostly just water weight,” Bordeos warns.
The greatest danger of habitual food denial is getting caught up in yo yo diet.
“This tells the primitive part of your brain to go into survival mode, which lowers your metabolism and causes the body to hang on to every calorie,” says Bordeaux. “This results in the regaining of that weight, and to add insult to injury, it will likely add additional weight as well.”
Don’t fight your cravings; they are too powerful.
“Give yourself permission to satisfy a cravingBordeaux advises. “When you get too strict and try to suppress cravings, you’ll overindulge later.”
There is a technique to satisfy a craving without overeating. You guessed it: mindfulness.
“Live in the moment and savor your gift,” says Bordeaux.
Flying means making quick decisions on the fly. That can be dangerous when it comes to your diet. If you wait until you are hungry to decide what to eat, you will inevitably end up choosing the Fast food Y processed Foods, such as canned or packaged foods full of preservatives, refined grains, and sugar. The antidote to this unhealthy eating habit is planning.
“The quality of the diet is something I preach; it takes knowledge and time to make better decisions,” says Bordeaux.
For example, Bordeaux says you must first understand the dangers of too much saturated and trans fat before you can make an effort to consume healthier fats like olive oil, flaxseed, avocado, and omega-3 fats of fatty fish. Planning also helps you control portions.
“When you’re starting to practice mindful eating, use measuring cups for portion control,” says Bordeaux. “Not all the time, just early on when you’re learning what a healthy serving looks like.”
These are all habits that many of us have spent years, maybe even decades, developing, so Bordeaux recommends being patient with yourself and taking small steps to break them.
