It's no secret that Americans as a whole make some pretty poor health choices. With fast food restaurants and delicious treats around us, who can't help indulging? According to Byrdie, more than half of what Americans eat is ultra processed. Amy Lee, MD, gave us some tips on how we can be leading a healthier lifestyle!
Forgetting About Your Toothbrush
To avoid late night snacking, brush your teeth right after you eat your main course at dinner. Eating dessert and snacks as a post-dinner treat can add as many as 1,000 calories to your day! Brushing your teeth immediately after dinner will help keep you from eating because your motivation to snack will go down once your mouth is clean, and because minty toothpaste overpowers your palate and makes dessert much less appetizing.
Focusing On What You Shouldn't Do
Focus on what you should do instead. If you visualize yourself eating a cookie all day, you're going to be fantasizing about it a lot. It's good to focus your attention on eating something healthy instead toc help curb temptation.
Scheduling Too Much Time To Work Out
Force yourself to pick out a few exercises, and do them to the best of your ability until the clock runs out. This will help you stick to your routine and better reach your goals. Instead of giving yourself an hour to meander around at the gym, try 20 minutes of highly focused exercise. If that works, you'll find yourself exercising more regularly because you eliminated all of your excuses!
Eating Snacks Too Quickly
Snacks that you think are healthy, such as granola bars, crackers, and protein bars, are all snacks that you can munch on too quickly. These snacks are dense in calories and eating too many too quickly can result in some major calorie counts! Instead, choose snacks that take a bit more time to eat such as pistachios, walnuts in the shell, whole oranges, and broiled shrimp.
Making New Years Resolutions
Dr. Lee typically tells her patients to avoid making New Year's goals at all costs since only such a small percentage of Americans actually stick with and achieve their resolutions. Rather than going for a previously unattainable goal, set a short-term goal such as a monthly resolution.