Did you know that the food that you eat and drink can affect your weight? Before you get to understand how food affects your weight, let us know what is meant by nutritional habits. We will also get an insight into what can happen if you do not check your diet. Lastly, we will get to learn about various nutritional habits to improve your body weight.
Table of Contents
Nutritional habits are those choices or decisions that you make regarding what food you eat. Good nutritional habit entails eating food that contains the following: carbohydrates, proteins, minerals vitamins, and fats. A meal that lacks any of the above elements may interfere with your weight and your health in general. Poor eating habits may include:
- Overeating
- Starving oneself
- Eating processed food
- Consumption of sugary drinks
- Drinking alcoholic
- Cakes and biscuits
- Eating chips
- Eating chocolates
What Happens When You Don’t Work on Your Nutritional Habits?
Poor eating habits can impair your health and reduce your ability to live an active life. In a nutshell, bad eating can lead to stress fatigue and your capacity to work. Moreover, poor nutritional habits increase the risk of developing illnesses such as:
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- Heart diseases
- Cancer
- Eating disorders
- Osteoporosis
- Depression
Here are a few tips which can help you improve your body weight and ensure that you do not contract diseases.
1. Doing Regular Exercise To improve Body Weight
The benefits of exercise and physical activities cannot be ignored. Exercise can help prevent unwanted weight gain and at the same time enhances weight loss. That is, when you exercise you burn calories. Engaging in physical activities is advised routinely to control weight.
Physical Activities That You Can Do To Improve Body Weight?
Any physical exercise is encouraged. This may include walking, running skipping a rope, or running. What matters is how often you exercise. These are some of the physical activities that you can try out:
- Squatting-This activity entails standing with your feet apart and arms at your sides. You then bend the lower part of your back and knees at the same time. The idea here is to lower your back to make your back muscles stronger. You then put your hands forward to maintain balance while at the same time making sure that your back is straight. This physical activity is ideal for those who want to burn excess calories.
- Stretching-This exercise aims at maintaining your flexibility. It is an exercise that is recommended especially for the aging population. This is because when you grow old you lose your flexibility in the tendons and muscles. The loss of flexibility is what leads to the shortening of the muscles which increases the risk of joint pain, falling muscle cramps, and strains. It can also make it difficult to bend down when tying your shoelaces. This activity helps burn calories but not that much. Therefore other activities such as jogging and running are also recommended.
- Swimming-If you find stretching challenging, you can consider swimming. Swimming is arguably the best workout. Swimming improves your psychological being and also boosts your morale. This activity is just like running and it’s recommendable if you want to lose weight.
2. Eating Breakfast To improve Body Weight
Eating breakfast regularly helps kick-starting your metabolic system hence helping you burn calories. Moreover, breakfast is important because it gives you energy while you carry out your daily activities. Research has shown that good health is directly linked to eating breakfast. However, overweight breakfast eaters do not slim unlike those who take breakfast. This is because most overweight breakfast eaters consume delicacies such as pancakes and bacon. Therefore when it comes to weight gain and weight loss the food you choose matters a lot. Research has also shown that if you eat breakfast every day you have a lower chance of being obese or overweight. Though this is a subject for discussion, eating breakfast every day can control weight because:
- Breakfast helps in improving your energy thus controlling your appetite.
- When you take breakfast your stomach becomes filled up hence you may not feel hungry. This prevents you from grabbing any food near you, more so junkie food.
Are there other benefits of eating breakfast to improve body weight?
- Breakfast improves your concentration. When you don’t take breakfast, you may not be able to concentrate either in class or at your workplace. In this case, you stand a chance of being dull and also have body weakness. Studies have shown that a lack of breakfast affects your ability to focus, attention, and mental performance. Moreover, children who take breakfast stand a better chance of performing well in school as compared to those who don’t eat breakfast.
- Breakfast improves your health in general. When you don’t take breakfast your body may lack vital nutrients. On the other hand, when you eat breakfast, you improve your energy levels. Therefore, you can make wise decisions that enhance weight. This includes activities such as exercise and preparing meals at home instead of buying fast food. When you take breakfast you live a healthy lifestyle and hence lower the odds of getting diabetes and heart diseases.
3. Reducing Screen Time To improve Body Weights
That time that you spend on electronic gadgets such as cell phones and video game is what is screen time. Research has shown that people who tend to spend too much time watching TV or using other electronic gadgets tend to be obese. This is particularly more common among young children.
How does watching TV and using electronic gadgets lead to weight gain?
When you spend more time on screens your body is not active and hence little energy is used. When your body is inactive your normal appetite may be disrupted hence encouraging passive eating. Too much time spent on screen can also encourage you to buy marketing foods and drinks that encourage weight gain. One thing to note here is that screen itself does not interfere with your weight. Time spent on such a screen is what encourages excessive weight gain.
Nowadays most programs on TVs mostly feature commercials that encourage unhealthy consumption of junk food such as snacks and biscuits. Seeing such commercials can make you crave a cookie even when you are not hungry.
Is it possible to control screen time to improve body weight?
It is very possible to reduce the time that you spend watching your TV or your phone. You only need to put in measures that will help you reduce screen time. Here are some of the things that you can do to get that freedom:
- Removing screens from your bedroom. These gadgets include mobile phones, TV sets, computers, tablets, and play stations. They should be out of your bedroom regardless of how you love them.
- Eat without screens. Yes, eating food without your phone and TV with you. Research has shown that if you can dine together with your family you are likely to be healthy.
- Develop some family rules. Try to come up with a family strategy that will help in the reduction of screen time. You can also come up with other exciting activities such as playing chess together as a family or even playing hide and seek.
4. Self Monitoring to improve body weights
One of the most critical aspects of weight management as far as your eating habits are concerned is behavior change. You can start by assessing what you are eating and then drop off those poor eating habits. You can also check your eating habits by:
- Regular self-weighing. Weighing yourself more often helps you to know whether you are either adding or reducing weight. Sometimes, this habit can be discouraging especially if you are trying to lose weight. Therefore you should not give up. You can start by checking your weight say once a week.
- This may include food diaries. A diary that captures your eating behaviors is important if you are trying to modify your behavioral aspect of eating. The diary can also capture aspects such as your mood and attitude toward diet. It can also contain emotional triggers for eating.
- Using monitors such as pedometers and metabolic devices. These devices are popular and easy to use. They give you a report of physical activities daily. They sense your body motion and count your footsteps using a turned pendulum. Modern pedometers have the capability of estimating your calories.
- Use of accelerometers. Accelerometers are a bit expensive compared with pedometers. This is because they have the capability of capturing and measuring the frequency and intensity of an activity. They are also very accurate when assessing your physical activity.
5. Monitoring your diet to improve your body weight
It is no longer a secret that the food that you eat affects your weight. For instance, if you consume calories that your body requires, your weight will remain unchanged. On the other hand, if you take calories that exceed your body’s requirement the weight increases. In that case, it is important to know some of the drinks and food that you buy from the store can affect your weight.
Is it possible To Manage Your Diet To improve Body Weight?
If your guess is as good as mine then the answer is yes. If you can be able to control the kind of food that you eat, then you’re on the right track. These are a few tips on how you can control your diet:
Consumption of low-fat diets– Numerous pieces of research has shown that food that has less fat enhances the maintenance of a healthy weight and good health. Examples of such diets that are high in carbohydrates include rice and white bread. Consumption of these diets leads to obesity and is also a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. Therefore, the consumption of food low in fat will help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases.
Consumption of nuts-Nuts contains some calories. However, the calories from the nuts do not cause obesity or excess weight gain. Nuts are known to control your weight since they contain fiber and protein which make you feel less hungry. When you consume nuts then you are not likely to suffer from heart disease.
Consumption of whole grain-Whole grain includes oats, wheat, barley, and rice. Nutritionist recommends eating whole-grain. This is because whole grains are digested slowly as compared to refined grains. Whole grain is gentle on the blood sugar and insulin. Whole grain also increases calorie loss by reducing the number of calories that remain during digestion.
6. Control of Alcohol Consumption To improve Body Weight
Alcohol consumption can lead to weight gain. Alcohol inhibits your body from burning calories, making you feel hungry, and mostly leads to poor choices. Moreover, alcohol can also lead to obesity. Research has shown that those who drink on an empty stomach are at a high risk of being obese due to poor choices of food. In addition to this; excessive consumption of alcohol can also lead to heart attack stroke, liver diseases, and insulin resistance.
Are There Dangers of Being Obese?
- Obesity increases the chances of suffering from diabetes.
- Excess weight added presses on your skeleton muscles hence leading to osteoarthritis.
- You are likely to have low self-esteem if you are obese.
- People who are obese are at a high chance of suffering from heart disease.
How can you control your drinking, and improve your body weight?
- It is critical to know the caloric content of the alcohol that you are drinking.
- Make sure that you eat well before drinking alcohol.
- If possible, it’s advisable to quit alcohol consumption.
In conclusion, nutritional habits such as doing regular exercise, eating breakfast, and reducing screen time can help improve body weight. Other nutritional habits include monitoring your diet and control of alcohol consumption.
FAQS
What are some effective ways to improve body weight through nutrition?
Ensure you consume enough calories to meet your body’s energy needs.
Focus on nutrient-dense foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats.
What types of foods should I eat to gain healthy body weight?
Opt for whole, unprocessed foods like nuts, seeds, avocados, and natural nut butter.
You can also choose complex carbohydrates like brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, and whole-grain bread.
Are there any specific foods to avoid while trying to gain weight?
Avoid empty calorie foods like sugary snacks, candies, and sweetened beverages, as they provide little nutritional value.
Should I focus on eating more meals or larger portions of food?
Both approaches can be effective. Some individuals find it easier to eat more by having smaller, frequent meals throughout the day. Others prefer larger meals at regular intervals.