Sometimes, you can trace a habit you have back to the original source. Maybe it was your mom or dad always telling you to make your bed every morning, so you make your bed every morning. In high school, you started showering before heading out so now you start showering before you start your day.
Other times, we accrue bad habits in our daily lives. One day, we sit around with bad posture and before long, it feels weird to sit with correct posture. Other times, we are told certain things about certain foods and believe them, whether or not they’re good or bad.
You might be making some mistakes without even knowing them. That’s why it’s time to head back to the basics and make sure you’re avoiding those pitfalls, and what you can do to correct them.
Table of Contents
Not Drinking Enough Water
It’s one of life’s most basic principles: in order to survive, you need to drink water. Too often, people substitute juices or other drinks for their water requirement.
Yes, it can be hard to remember to drink water during the busy day but the best thing to do is drink a glass of water within 30 minutes of waking up each morning. With that, you’re going to help boost your metabolism, jumpstart your brain, and rehydrate. You did just go 7-9 hours without sleep!
If you’re finding it difficult, bring a water bottle from home today and make a point to go refill it at work or school whenever it goes on empty.
Not Enough Lean Meat
You don’t need to be a dietician or nutritionist to know that protein is important for your body. It helps you build up muscles, keeps your nails and hair healthy, and is important for blood health.
Just where you’re getting that protein though, is often the issue. Red meat is fine in small quantities, but you shouldn’t be making it part of your regular diet. Instead of relying on red meat, substitute it with lean meats like turkey, chicken, and lean beef.
You can use those to substitute just about any non-lean meat out there, making it delicious and healthy. Also check out non-meat sources of protein, like delicious falafel or trail mix.
Not Reading Labels Closely
Food is advertised just like anything else. The important, eye-catching parts are put in big letters at the front while secondary information is found in the corner or back of the box.
For example, you should be checking out serving sizes. While it may look great that the box of cereal only has three grams of sugar, how big is a serving size? Before you know it, you might have eaten 10 servings, putting a whopping 30 grams of sugar in your body in one sitting.
Along the same route, sugar-free foods are often packed with artificial sweeteners which can have negative impacts on your health.
Skipping Meals
Sometimes, life is busy and you realize an hour later you completely forgot about lunch. Other times, you think skipping a meal is a great way to lose weight. Both of these occurrences have negative impacts on your body. The meal most likely to be skipped is breakfast. It really is the most important meal of the day.
When you skip a meal, your body is going to look for other reserves to keep itself going. Or you may find later that you’re having unbearable cravings and you consume more than you normally would. Make sure you’re sticking to a regular meal plan.
Eating Whatever You Want After a Workout
Working out takes a level of commitment and dedication in of itself, and you should be eating something after your workout. One of the biggest pitfalls is people believe they can eat whatever they want after finishing a workout. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yes, your body does need fuel after working out, but you need to put something healthy back into it, like vegetables, nuts, lean meats, or other protein-filled foods.
The average person burns the number of calories in a chocolate chip cookie after one mile of running. Running a mile takes anywhere from 7-12 minutes, but you could eat 7-12 cookies in a minute. Make sure you have healthy post-workout food options when you call it a day.