Create Healthy Eating Habits.
Modern times have made it harder to pursue a healthy lifestyle through its constant need to balance life and personal living. Most times, work consumes most of the time, leaving less or no time to encourage a healthy living.
But the relevance to life is through the choices we make, and making healthy eating choices is one of the best ways to encourage healthy living.
Before an active plan to start Healthy living is made, you have to consider some factors such as;
● Genetics; your genetics play a big role in your lifestyle, as it contains your information on how your body is different from others. Knowing this would make you consider the health plan you want to make for yourself through food choices, and what keeps your body healthy and active.
● Weight; your weight is also important to know if you need to start a healthy relationship with food. Although everyone is recommended to start a healthy relationship with food, people who are overweight or underweight pose a health risk that shortens lifespan and encourages several illnesses.
● Your current lifestyle; Your current lifestyle makes it easy for you to determine your relationship with food. It might be healthy and balanced, with enough amounts of nutrients fueling your body and making you active, or it might be unhealthy, with less amounts of nutrients nourishing your system rather, more of unhealthy foods that suppress hunger and drown out negative feelings. Changing your unhealthy relationship with food can also change your poor lifestyle choices, as you’re more likely to drop unnecessary habits that deteriorate your health more. Habits like consistent eating, skipping sleep, consuming large amounts of unrecommended food, and drinking alcoholic beverages incessantly.
● Your body type; Your body type determines your level of fat distribution in the body. This also determines the type of workout routines that are best for your health and figure. For example, if you have a pear body shape, you are more likely to gather more fat around the hip area of your body, and necessary workout routines and careful dieting can keep your fat level at bay. Strive for more lean muscle mass than an overgrowth of fat in your body. Although fat is important for bodily functions and balance, a high fat level can lead to diabetes, weight gain and cardiovascular diseases.
● Your Relationship With Food; Do you indulge in emotional or stress eating? Do you detoxify your body regularly and do you take foods that improve your gut health? These are factors you should take into consideration when mapping out a healthy lifestyle plan. The basics of health comes through the nutritional value we get from food, and having a healthy relationship with food improves health drastically. Make sure to eat a balanced diet daily, indulge in snacks occasionally and stop unhealthy eating habits.
These factors, when taken care of guarantee a longer lifespan, less visits to the physician, and a happier life.
Introduction To Healthy Relationship With Food.
While some people have developed the habit of binge eating and other unhealthy eating habits to relieve stress, cope with a situation or feel better, creating a healthy relationship with food can reduce the impact of these habits.
Having a better relationship with food involves the outright balance of food and eating habits, whether considered good or bad. It helps you minimize the fads on food and strict dieting (strict dieting can lead to binge eating and guilt after, as you continuously and consistently crave for the food you stopped yourself from eating. The best way to tackle the problem is having these foods occasionally, which can help reduce the urge to crave certain foods.), Reduce guilt when taking a snack(you do not need to feel bad for taking a snack, just don’t make it a regular habit!), And minimize large and unnecessary calorie intake.
According to research, people who follow strict dieting rules are more likely to overeat snacks and have incessant cravings for said food. This term is known as Counter-regulation. Terming a particular class of food although it contains less nutritional value than the rest as bad and unworthy makes it harder for a person who is constantly avoiding such to stop craving it.
This is why balance is important in food as it creates a healthy relationship and also relieves unnecessary anxiety for certain food choices.
Did you know…
That strict dieting, anxiety and fear of judgment for your food choices and binge eating are signs of an unhealthy relationship with food.
Advantages Of Healthy Eating Habits.
There are several advantages to having a healthy eating habit. Some of which might be confused with creating unhealthy relationships with food (such as dieting, watching calorie intake) but these can be tackled through balance and proper management of how we eat.
Here are advantages of healthy eating habits through proper relationship with food that you need to know.
● A strong immune system.
● Less anxiety or fear of taking a snack.
● A sound and proper mind and a healthy body.
● A nourished and glowy skin, healthy hair, strong nails and an improved eyesight.
● A healthy heart.
● For pregnant women, it increases chances of proper health for mother and unborn child. It also helps improve breast milk quality for lactating women.
● A healthy and proper weight.
● Better and longer sleep.
● Overall mindfulness and discipline.
● A great and positive relationship with food.
● Improved digestive health.
● Reduced risk of life threatening diseases and;
● Longer lifespan.
These benefits greatly increase the quality of living as it prevents organ failure due to stress, improves digestive health and reduces risk of developing cancer.
Replacing foods low in nutritional value for the better is recommended to anyone who strives for a healthy lifestyle.
Signs Of Unhealthy Relationship With Food.
A positive relationship with food takes time and several degrees of mindful practices when it comes to eating habits.
Feeding is much more than survival or the relief of hunger. Although the main purpose of eating is for nutritional benefits and an active body to perform daily tasks, humans are built on certain cultures and traditions that are related to eating. Food can be a universal call of celebration, socialization, and to some degree, happiness, pleasure and bonding.
Appreciating food for more than its ability to ‘’cure hunger’ and give strength gradually improves your relationship with food, thereby causing a more balanced lifestyle.
Note that;
Balance, mindfulness and moderation are keys to health, happiness and contentment, and a much longer lifespan.
These are signs that you have an unhealthy relationship with food that you need to change.
● Binge and emotional eating.
● Eating late at night or right before bed.
● Indulging in severe alcoholic and toxic food habits.
● Feeling guilty after taking a snack.
● Incessantly skipping meals.
● Taking medications to reduce or control appetite to lose weight.
● Ignoring your body’s need for food.
● Avoiding foods considered bad or less nutritional.
● Indulging in food fads and myths instead of facts.
If you face any of these signs, do not get depressed! There’s help and hope. Gradually debunking the fads that hang around certain types of food helps you improve your relationship with your eating habits.
For people who are confused about the signs of a healthy relationship with food, here are signs that identify that you have a great relationship with food. Everyone is different, and you may not have all the signs. This is perfectly normal, as people were brought up with different beliefs and practices. As far as it doesn’t interfere with your health, you are good to go.
● You enjoy a vast variety of food without self judgment and guilt.
● You eat at a scheduled time, and eat in a balanced proportion.
● You do not follow a very strict diet, which increases your need for food options considered bad.
● You do not get guilty for eating a particular dish.
● You do not eat late at night, or when you are very weak.
● You do not overeat, and you listen to your body’s response to satisfaction.
● You enjoy food moderately. Too much of everything is bad and not beneficial for health.
● You do not skip meals.
These are the signs you need to look out for if you are considering change or improvement of lifestyle. Strive to change your unhealthy relationship with food as it affects your eating habit and health.
How To Develop A Healthy Eating Habit.
While developing a healthy eating requires self discipline, it is not as hard as you think it is.
It is important to understand the need for healthy eating as it sustains life and encourages growth. These are proven ways to develop a healthy eating habit you should take a look at.
● Drink lots of water; Water refreshes the body and flushes away toxins. Water also aids in digestion and reduces risk of constipation. Taking water is beneficial to health in so many ways. If you’re looking for a habit to pick up on that encourages healthy eating habits, you should try drinking water regularly.
● Don’t skip breakfast; Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, as it fuels the body for effective physical activity. Skipping Breakfast would result in low energy and moodiness, and making it a habit deteriorates health gradually.
● Be moderate with your food choices; making schedules to follow a diet and introducing portion control helps develop a healthy eating habit by reducing the amount of need you have for a particular food option. For example, you have a scheduled time to eat snacks and the amount of protein and other classes of food is proportional.
● Replace unhealthy foods with a more nutritious option. Most times, a burger is not unhealthy, but the ingredients make the burger filled with unnecessary fat and salt content. Replacing white bread for brown, butter for plant butters or oils and red meat for lean white meat helps in increasing the nutritional value of the burger while making it delicious. Replacing milkshakes with protein shakes is a more nutritious option, while being a tasty snack.
Developing these habits not only promises better health, but a vibrant skin, stronger immune system and self discipline and mindfulness. Seek professional help if you feel the need to, and practice a healthy lifestyle. Your relationship with food will increase significantly, making life easier and better.
Summary:
Having a healthy relationship with your diet is the best way to reduce consistent fear of judgment of what you eat. Practicing effective healthy eating habits like drinking water, eating well portioned and balanced meals, and eating snacks sparingly help in getting a healthy body in no time. There are signs you need to look out for if you are concerned of having an unhealthy relationship with food, and promoting a healthy lifestyle starts from tackling those signs. Our health relies on what we eat, and proper relationship with our food solves most of the problems.
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