6 Restrictive Bad Dietary Habits

Balancing Snacking With Healthy Nutrition

This article 6 Restrictive Bad Dietary Habits explains how restrictive eating patterns can wreak havoc on your healthy lifestyle goals. Realistically, these 6 restrictive bad dietary habits will not only slow you down but also tire you out, and even make you sick.

So if you are reading this, chances are that you are health conscious. And if you are, chances are that you have got at least one bad dietary habit. Do you know there are six ways you can cheat yourself nutritionally? Read on and find out what you’re doing wrong.

The No-Fat Fanatic

You believe fat will make you fat, so you avoid it. You see fat as enemy number one in your quest to stay thin. The reality is that good fats lower cholesterol, aid vitamin absorption, assist digestion, and regulate metabolism. And since the body will use its fat once the carbs stores are empty, dietary fat is important particularly if you exercise regularly.  Consuming too little fat increases the risk of injury and suppress your immune system.

Also remember there are good fats such as monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and omega-3s. Likewise, bad fats, like saturated and trans fats can harm your health. So just aim to consume about a half gram of healthy fats per pound of body weight per day. This you can do by adding good fats to the clean low-fat foods you already eat. For instance, use olive oil on top of your salad greens, smear peanut butter on apples or slices of bread, and stir-fry your veggies in soy oil.

The Nighttime Eater

You eat very few calories all day long, and then load on the calories at dinner and late into the night. Although for some people it’s an oversight. For many, it’s the absence of an eating plan for the day that leaves them starving by late afternoon. And later result in nighttime bingeing.

Thus in order to sustain your energy and blood sugar levels all day, eat a balanced meal with a mix of carbs, protein, and fats every three to five hours.  Also, plan two small snacks each day such as a handful of nuts or a couple of bananas, or corn on the cob. So that you are never ravenous come mealtime. And if you like jogging, plan the jogging around your meals, or your meals around your jogging. This means fueling up an hour or two before heading out the door and refueling within an hour of finishing.

The Exercise-Harder-Alcohol Binger

You justify binge drinking as the reward for a tough exercise or running.  A study confirms that serious leisure runners drink more alcohol than their sedentary counterparts. But no matter how much you run, the guidelines are clear. The health benefits of alcohol are reaped from one to two drinks a day. Anything more can be detrimental, particularly to runners who need to pay extra attention to hydration. And don’t assume you can save up your weekly allowance for Saturday night. Researchers say it’s much healthier to have one drink per day versus seven drinks at the weekend.

So what’s to be done? Choose alcoholic beverages that are diluted for less impact. For instance, instead of a glass of wine, fill half a glass with wine and top it up with water. Alternatively, drink a glass of water or plain club soda in between each drink to stretch the alcohol out over the course of a night. Lastly, after a rigorous exercise or run, make your first drink a big glass of water. And you can have that beer later if you must.

The Eat-Anything-and-Everything Persona

One of the 6 restrictive bad dietary habits is when you believe you can eat whatever you want after a rigorous exercise. Even when you’re aware of your poor food choices, you’re unable or unwilling to change. OK, accept you need extra energy to fuel your tough exercise. And assuming your diet is healthy, you can eat some cookies or a bag of chips. However, the trouble is if you eat some cookies or a bag of chips after every exercise, you feel your daily run is incomplete unless you end it with cookies or chips. That is a tough connection to break.

Hence, a better option is to strike a balance between the foods you need and the foods you crave. As such, build each snack and meal around at least one real food group, and enjoy your craving at the end of a meal. But ensure you replace something healthier for your craving. For instance, if you want chocolate cookies, try some apple slices dipped in chocolate syrup. For salty chips, try cheese or something crispy like veggies dipped in tangy salad dressing.

The Supplement Abuser

Supplement abuse is one of the 6 restrictive bad dietary habits and a dangerous one. You think if vitamins and minerals are good for you, taking more of them is even better. The reality is that supplements of any kind will only improve your performance if you’re deficient. Therefore what mega-dose does is create a vitamin and mineral imbalance, which can lead to health problems.

Don’t forget they are called supplements because they supplement an already healthy diet of whole foods. So, if you pick the right multivitamin, you may not need any other supplements. Look for a multi with 100 to 200 percent of the Daily Value for water-soluble vitamins B and C. And no more than 100 percent of the Daily Value for the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K. As well as 100 percent of the Daily Value for the trace minerals iron, zinc, copper, selenium, and manganese.

The Calorie-Deprived Runner

You burn more calories than you eat when you intentionally use running to lose weight. You do this by cutting calories and increasing mileage at the same time. Sadly, boosting mileage while dramatically cutting calories is a dangerous equation. Depriving your body of the fuel and calories it needs to perform physical activity will force your body into a state where it’s breaking down muscle for fuel.

In a situation when weight control is a concern, make healthier food choices instead of calorie deprivation. Also, eat small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism accelerated. Anyway, no active woman should eat fewer than 1,500 calories a day. And an active man should not take in less than 1,800 calories a day. So, stop thinking of food as calories but as fuel. That is, you should not be running so you can eat, but you should be eating so you can run.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/supplements/art-20044894

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