Guest post by Evolve MMA, Asia’s premier championship brand for martial arts. It has the most number of World Champions on the planet. Named as the #1 ranked martial arts organization in Asia by CNN, Yahoo! Sports, FOX Sports, Evolve MMA is the best Singapore BJJ gym.
Everyone wants to shed off excess weight and shave a few inches off their waistline. It’s natural for people to want to look and feel better about themselves. For those gifted with the genetics to lose weight and get in shape easily, hats off to you. But some of us aren’t as fortunate.
That’s why we turn to workouts like a martial arts class and work our butts off in training so we can burn enough calories to lose weight. But in many cases, this isn’t enough. Every good fitness program needs to be accompanied by a solid diet.
We all try our best to be fit and healthy, but sometimes, despite all our efforts, our bodies just don’t react the way we want them to. We count the macros, we hit the gym, we try to stay away from all the unhealthy food that we deem unhealthy. But we still don’t see the results we crave. It’s certainly frustrating, to say the least.
Yet some of the so-called ‘healthy’ habits we try to introduce into our lives could actually be the culprit. There are a handful of habits out there that are not so healthy after all and could be hijacking our fat-loss.
It’s important to identify some of those habits here today, and eliminate them from our daily routines. If you’re in training, these are some great things to consider to help you along the way.
Today, Evolve Daily shares five supposedly healthy habits that could be sabotaging your weight loss.
1) Overindulging In Healthy Food
You have finally decided to buy whole foods and fresh produce, great! Stocking up the kitchen with healthy and fresh food is an awesome way to step into a healthier lifestyle. Although sometimes, when we categorize food into healthy and unhealthy, we tend to overeat the “good” food and we are not being mindful of the size or serving portions.
Always be mindful of serving size. Remember, it’s calories in and calories out when it comes to weight loss. You have to be at a caloric deficit in order to lose weight and make progress. If you eat too much, yes, even if they are vegetables, it can still make you fat.
Considering healthy food as something you can dabble in only for a limited time would impede you from making a positive, permanent impact on your health. But if you take it as a lifestyle change and if it is something you can maintain for life, it will be more likely that you would reap all the rewards and reach your fitness goals.
Don’t be afraid to eat a little of the “bad” stuff that you enjoy, too. Don’t deprive yourself of the things you love. The key point here is having a healthy relationship with food.
Also, allow yourself to enjoy all the food you love. Just remember portion control and moderation.
2) Grazing Or Snacking
For years we are made to believe that to keep our metabolism up and running is to constantly fuel our body with food. Recently there have been studies that debunk this claim. Analysts found that people who eat low-calorie diets feel more satisfied and less hungry when they ate three times a day, compared to the other group who ate six times a day.
This study emphasizes that small meals have no beneficial effect on appetite control. People end up consuming way more while grazing and snacking. Take note, every little thing you consume, whether it’s a couple of almonds or a pair of carrot sticks, still add into your total calorie intake for the day. Too much snacking will make you fat.
Furthermore, grazing confuses our bodies natural sense of hunger, causing us to eat more.
You can plan out your meals for the rest of the day that meet your daily calories and macros. An eating program like intermittent fasting, which consists of two or three meals per day, is also worth considering. The usual pattern is fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8 hours. Some people who go on this type of fasting usually skip breakfast and start eating lunch at around noon or later.
The amazing thing you can do with fasting is you can tailor it to suit your lifestyle and still enjoy the same benefits.
3) Sugar Substitutes
When someone is trying to shed a few pounds, they usually try to cut down their sugar intake. It might be easy for some people to avoid sweets and other sugary foods.
But unfortunately, not everyone can give up sugar that easily so they reach for “healthier” alternatives such as honey, agave nectar, maple syrup, and other natural sweeteners that still contain sugar, only that they are labeled differently to entice buyers. They are only marketed out there as healthier options to trick consumers into buying them.
In addition, some of the supposedly ‘healthy’ sugar substitutes contain harmful chemicals that could impact your health in the long run.
The trick with sugar is to not have it regularly. Don’t cut it out completely, but at the same time, try to limit its quantity. For example, you can have a ‘cheat’ dessert every week, not every day. Moderation and portion control is key.
4) Always Opting For Non/Low-Fat Choices
Again, this is another trick manufacturers do to manipulate consumers into buying their products. They would throw in all the big words like Low/Non-Fat, NON-GMO, gluten-free, and organic. But if you take a closer look at their labels, food is loaded with sugar.
These supposedly ‘healthy’ foods are packed with so much sugar to make up for all the loss of flavor that was sacrificed during the process of taking all the whole fat away. The added sugar spikes up the volume of simple carbohydrates in the low-fat food leading to increased calorie content, and actually makes the food less healthy overall.
If possible, try getting the whole fat version instead of the reduced or non-fat ones. You will end up feeling fuller and it also tastes a lot better too. Don’t be afraid of fat, it’s part of a healthy, well-balanced diet. But like all things, keep it in moderation.
5) Juicing
Juicing has received a lot of rave reviews from influencers and celebrities insisting they have lost weight through a juice detox. It’s a process where you extract juices from different fresh fruits and vegetables, and use it as a meal substitute or as a supplement to a supposedly healthy diet.
While in theory, it seems like a great idea to take in loads of nutrients from various fresh fruit and produce. The juice is said to be teeming with vitamins and minerals that are supposed to be easily digested by the body because it is already in liquid form. But the fact of the matter is that juice is loaded with sugar too.
It’s still healthy, per se, but it can be dangerous for people who are suffering from Type 2 Diabetes because of the high fructose content. Always take into consideration the amount of sugar your fruits and vegetables contain. Drinking them in juice form could also lead you to overindulge.
Furthermore, juicing leaves the healthy fiber of the produce out because it is discarded. Fiber, of course, helps with digestion and also makes you feel fuller longer. Instead of relying on pure juice, it’s better to enjoy whole fruits and vegetables so you won’t miss out on fiber and other antioxidants.
