It’s the new year. That calls for new resolutions in 2024, and that includes staying healthy! No more junk food, and no more late night ramen!
We know we often lose focus when it comes to these new year resolutions, but well, let’s see how long that lasts this time yeah?
In the meantime, let’s keep up that healthy lifestyle for you! Things you may or may not know about the things that you consume on a daily basis, are sometimes the worst health offenders! Let’s talk about them!
The Common Offender: Sugar
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For our first check, we want to remind everyone about sugar.
Have you been told to reduce sugar intake? It’s not an overreaction! Your dentists say it, your parents say it, and even general practitioners say it!
It’s not without reason. Sugar is a leading cause of diabetes and obesity AROUND THE WORLD. When it gets bad, it’s REALLY that bad. You risk straining your liver, pancreas, and digestive system because of the sugar overdose. Then there’s also the vulnerability to flu, colds, hormonal imbalances (mood swings!) and depression.
Well, not all sugars are harmful, but chugging them through your cola bottles, gummies, coffee sweeteners, cake and even kaya on toast can all add up!
We get it, sugar is in almost every commodity that we put into our bodies. But it doesn’t mean we can’t be more stringent about its consumption! According to experts, the ideal daily consumption limit for sugar is no more than 36 grams for men, and 25 grams for women.
Want to know how much there is in our morning Milo, Horlicks? Here’s a compiled list for you!
[The Straits Times]
It’s time for some self-reflection, and be more watchful of what you’re popping into your mouth just to get that taste of sweetness!
Stop Late Night Snacking!
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Some of us may have irregular sleeping schedules, suffer from insomnia or may simply be staying up late! Regardless, your body needs food to function. Going past the regular sleep time causes your body to act up, as they’re tricked to require tomorrow’s intake in advance!
You look through your pantry and kitchen, and find simple dishes to fill your tummy.
But don’t always listen to your cravings! Studies have proven that late night snacking has a correlation to poor health outcomes like obesity and heart diseases!
If you REALLY want to have supper, try to avoid any food that starts with “instant”. Stuff like canned soups, pasta, noodles contain A TON of sodium. There’s also the asian special “MSG”, or monosodium glutamate. Consuming too much of these only exacerbates bad health conditions, especially when taken during irregular periods of the day.
Sometimes, fruits are enough when you just want something to nibble on.
Are You Stress Eating?
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Life gets harder as you grow older. With more responsibilities, come more work. When you’ve bottled up enough, some of us turn to stress eating.
Just by the name alone, we already know it’s unhealthy. Yes, it’s a genuine eating disorder! Yet sometimes, stress eating can seem discreet and go undetected! How can you tell if you’re showing signs of stress eating?
Well for one, true hunger gradually builds. You satiate hunger with a number of different foods. On the other hand, stress eating comes and goes! It always feels like you “NEED” to eat.
Another sign would be that this ‘hunger’ is often triggered by a specific event or mood. You would also want to eat something really specific… like chocolate!
Stress eating is a phenomenon that ties heavily into your mental state, so be sure to keep both mind and body fit, to keep your food habits in check!
Making Informed Decisions
A key aspect to the road of being a health-conscious individual, is most definitely to be “in the know”. This means understanding food labels, knowing what kinds of foods to eat, and most importantly, planning out a diet!
Food Labels
Food labels reveal all of its nutrition information. It’s really up to the consumer to figure out what they should avoid, and what they need more of. It’s always a good habit to look at the food label of what you’re buying, so you know what is actually entering your body!
Sometimes, you should really hold off grabbing that bag of potato chips before realizing how much fat, salt and sodium it contains!
Healthy Foods
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Healthy food sometimes get the bad stigma of being ‘less tasty’, but that’s far from the truth! With a little bit of research, you can find substitutes for many of the pleasure foods that you used to consume! Healthline states it best in their dedicated article for health foods, as they share some of their top choices that do not compromise both in nutrition value and their tastiness!
For example, natural berries and juices over sweet drinks laced with artificial sweeteners, dark chocolate over manufactured milk chocolate, and a whole bunch of nuts and seeds!
Diet Planning
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Is your body metabolism higher than average? Do you incorporate exercise into your lifestyle? What kind of work do you usually do in a week? Many factors that define your daily life will warrant a custom diet.
It may feel daunting at first, being calculative of the amount of sugar, fat and other essential vitamins you need to consume constantly. But trust us! Once you’ve set a good pattern and found the right foods and amounts, you’ll feel much better about yourself!
A well-balanced diet will naturally contain a variety of health-promoting nutrients, resulting in a positive feedback loop: less worry, lower tension and keeping you satisfied with your life!
If you’d like some more general pointers for reference on creating a healthy diet, you can check many resources left by other health-conscious individuals online. If you want something more visual to know what you’re getting into, check out the YouTube community for healthy eating!
Conclusion: Finding Your Sweet Spot
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As with many things in life, managing your eating habits really just boils down to moderation! We’re not telling you to abstain completely, just to manage your diet properly. Because we know that there is definitely a way to get to that sweet spot!
You’ll just have to find out the quirks of your own body, and balance yourself between treats and nutrition!
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