With the New Year come great resolutions, promises we make to ourselves, whether they are related to getting a better job, enriching our knowledge, making new friends or taking care of your body. Most of us use the night between years to think about healthy eating, losing that extra weight or just staying fit, but sometimes, our previous eating habits get left behind.
You know, it is not usually about what you can add to your life in order to make it better, but about what you need to change. The Teatox team has made a list of six eating habits you need to change in 2015, in order to get closer to your dream of having a healthy lifestyle.
Skipping Breakfast
How many times have you promised yourself you will start eating breakfast? We know, it’s hard to wake up a bit early when all the troubles of yesterday have affected your sleep, but there is no better way of improving your lifestyle than by eating breakfast daily. If you are on a diet, your breakfast is that time of day that you get to enjoy, even eat a little bit more, or take a bite of that forbidden food you’ve been craving for. The truth is that breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day, but it should also be the largest, so why rob yourself of that pleasure?
Eating Processed Foods and White Bread
Another results of our busy lives is eating more on-the-go, favoring snacks instead of fruits or vegetables, choosing fast food over cooked meals. Add giving up on processed foods on your list of things to change this year; there are a lot, and we do mean a lot, of healthy and organic ways of eating, that don’t involve spending hours in the kitchen. Play with ideas, enchant your taste buds with new recipes, and choose fruits or vegetable as your daily in-between meals snacks. Also, you should try and stay away from bread, especially white. It contains a lot of empty calories, and it can make your diet progress go off the window in just a few days.
Late Night Meals
Whether you are eating late because you didn’t have time for dinner, or simply enjoying a midnight snack alongside a good movie, you should know that this little habit of yours is costing you a lot when it comes to leading a healthy life. We all do it, and feel a bit guilty afterwards, but with New Year come new habits! If you can’t stop eating late all at once, at least make sure to snack on something healthy, instead of popcorn or ice-cream.
Eating without Chewing
Lots of people don’t know this, but in order to have a good digestion, you need to chew your food a bit longer, and take your time to eat, not finish a meal in under ten minutes. You can try a little trick in the beginning, until you can lose the habit of not chewing: count in your head. With time, you will be able to recognize a pattern, and see the things that make you eat this fast; whether it is the lack of time, getting lost in conversations, landscapes or movies; and you will be able to focus on enjoying your meals more.
Eating Large Portions
Sometimes we eat more than our body needs to stay healthy and fit, but don’t realize it because we are busy focusing on something else. Usually, eating on the run means not paying attention to what you eat or how much. Also, the things we drink have a lot of calories, but most of us forget to keep those in mind, and end up putting on weight without realizing why. There are a few tricks to cutting down on your portions: you can eat half of what you used to, especially if you are going on a diet, use smaller plates, and drink water or tea instead of fizzy drinks and heavy milkshakes. You might be surprised of how little food you need to feel full.
Using too much Salt
There have been a lot of discussions about the use of salt in foods, whether we should eat less, or not at all. The truth is that salt is an important addition to our daily meals, but when we use more than we should we end up feeling bloated, not getting the real taste of foods and even damaging our health. They key is to achieve a balance, and yes, sometimes, less is more.
We bet that there are dozen others nasty eating habits that could use changing or giving up altogether, but for you to stay true to your resolutions and lead a healthier lifestyle, changing these six will make a world of difference.
What other eating habits you would like to get rid of by the end of 2015?