Most of the reasons why people add weight during a lockdown are owing to their diet. People eat anything and at any time and expect to be healthy. In the second chapter, it was explained that what you eat has a direct impact on how healthy you will be. It is safe to say that it is impossible to be healthy when you eat wrongly.
During a lockdown, there is a strong possibility and tendency to develop poor nutritional habits that are detrimental to your health, which includes awful food combinations. Habits are powerful. They determine what you do and how often you do them. When a person develops unhealthy eating habits, then they have a problem.
If you developed an unhealthy eating habit, you might want to seriously consider changing them because habits decide how consistent you will be. When you have excess free time, it is possible to lose your sense of order and organisation and slide into some unhealthy habits. Let's look at the concept of habits closely.
What are habits
Every day, humans perform actions as long as they are alive. Scientists believe that about 40% of human action and behaviour comes from habit. Habits form the major part of the decisions people make. They determine how happy or unhappy a person is and will be. Everyone has a habit, either good or bad. Good habits enhance our productivity and improve the quality of our lives, while the bad ones do the exact opposite. From when a child gains consciousness of their actions and their being, they begin to form and develop habits that will grow with them and affect their lives. It is the responsibility of those around them to ensure only positive habits are allowed to grow.
Habits are basically what a person does on a consistent basis in certain aspects of their lives. People have unhealthy financial habits, which means they have some actions that they do consistently that do not help them grow their finances or attain their goals. There are certain unhealthy eating habits that will not let us actualize our goals of being healthy especially during a lockdown. Some of these habits were formed before or during the lockdown. If they are not worked on, they will jeopardize your quest to be fit, free from extra weight and the risks associated with it.
What causes bad habits
A lot of factors have been found to cause people to develop poor habits, including unhealthy eating habits. For example, most habits are formed as a response to stress and boredom. People form bad habits to cope with stress and boredom. From biting your nails to overeating and spending so much time on the internet, people will do just anything to stop being bored.
Our body isn't really wired to stop things easily; instead, it gets used to it after a while and it sticks. During a lockdown, boredom is almost inevitable. The lack of purposeful activities gives you much time, which leaves you bored. Some of the things you would rather spend your time doing are no longer available, so in your boredom, you develop poor eating habits.
Change your habits, transform your life
The key to living a better life is to change what stops you from living your best life, which is always your poor habits. For instance, to get more productive, you would have to eliminate procrastination and laziness. The moment you alter your poor habits, you have truly started your journey of change. Change is easy. It is all about working on your poor habits.
Identify them
To improve your poor habits, you have to identify them. Everyone knows what is wrong. It is almost like intuition. We are born with the knowledge of what is wrong or right, meaning we all know what is wrong or right. We can all identify our poor eating habits. Think and make a list of all the unhealthy things you do when it comes to food and then set out to change them because they can be changed.
Unhealthy eating habits
Have you ever seen someone full after eating a heavy plate of meal but still asks for more or orders a dessert? That habit is not always healthy. Some people eat continuously, where over a period of time they develop breathing issues and have difficulties sleeping. Their body has taken far more than needed. Unhealthy eating habits account for weight problems more than anything else.
The best nutritionists and dieticians will tell you that no one is perfect when it comes to eating. From time to time, we all show a little bit of poor attitude when it comes to food, especially our favourite, but some people have developed habits that they do consistently. These poor eating habits result in weight gain, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and a series of potential health problems.
Get rid of these
1. Quick fix: Most people have developed the habit of not taking some time to plan what they will eat. When they get hungry, they go for a quick fix like noodles or fast food. This habit will make it difficult for such an individual to be healthy. They will always go for the shortcuts or an easy way out. The body loves these unhealthy foods because the taste feels nice, but it does not need them. To remedy this, take some time to plan for what you will eat and if possible, prepare it ahead of time. Ensure you prepare foods that are high in nutrients and vegetables. When you plan your meal, you won't get to eat junk in reaction to your hunger. Try and press pause on the pizza delivery and enjoy some good healthy homemade food. Are you going to completely avoid these quick foods? Not at all. The concern here is that you do not make these foods habitual.
2. Processed foods: Some people crave and love processed foods, and these foods are fatty and salty and have been stripped of nutrients. They only offer a pleasant taste and soothe the cravings but are highly unhealthy.
3. Love for sugar: Candy, sweets, chocolates, cookies, soda should be reduced. Most people eat for the fun of the taste without minding the calorie being consumed. Some of these foods lack nutrients. The body can do more with vegetables than these quick- fix foods.
4. Eating without being hungry. This is also known as mindless eating and could be linked to ‘emotional’ eating. This happens when food becomes what you do to overcome boredom or tiredness. When you eat because you are sad or bored, you will eat without taking inventory of what goes into your body and that's not healthy or smart. Be sure to eat for the right reasons.
5. Unfocused eating: Some people eat and chat, watch TV or surf the net. Some even play video games. This is a poor eating habit. You stand a chance to overeat. Try to eliminate distractions when you are eating so you