As we get older it is sad how it gets more and more difficult to maintain a healthy weight. Along comes middle age and the spread that goes along with it. The key to maintaining a healthy weight is to stay on top of it. It does get harder to stay active as you age, but there things that you can do to stay healthy and maintain a healthy weight.
How To Maintain A Healthy Weight As We Age
Trying to maintain a healthy weight can be challenging. With fast food restaurants readily available, busy schedules, and family, eating a solid, nutritional meal goes by the wayside.
These are the latest World Health Organization findings:
- 37 percent of American have cardiovascular disease.
- 34 percent of U.S. adults have hypertension, a major risk factor for stroke and heart disease.
- 36 percent of Americans have pre hypertension, which is higher than normal blood pressure.
And unfortunately the statistics keep climbing every year.
So what can we do to start getting back on track?
Well these activities are easy to do to help you to maintain a healthy weight.
Put Away Your Electronics
In today’s society, almost everyone has a cell phone or computer. With busy schedules, often we check our phones when we eat. Justifying our behavior by doing two things at once. However, we are actually being self-destructive to our health.
Eating while watching or playing on an electronic like the television, can lead to overeating or under eating. The brain becomes distracted by the program, and you can lose track of your calorie intake.
Instead, use your mealtime as a break, both physically and mentally. Allow your mind to catch up with all the information it has received. Find a park bench where you can breathe in the fresh air and digest your meal properly before returning to work.
Start The Day With A Healthy Habit
Breakfast is one of the most skipped meals among American adults. As life has progressively gotten faster paced every day, eating is often skipped to get on with the day. Yet, as children, we are taught to always eat our breakfast before we go to school. Coffee is great, but we need more than that to fuel our bodies.
If you are a jump up and run kind of person, keep a loaf of bread or bagels besides your toaster with some soft butter or sugar free jam. While you are putting on your shoes, toast your bread, put your topping on, and head out.
If you are looking for something heartier, make breakfast burritos. Include veggies and eggs for added protein. This is also a great activity to do with the children. Create an assembly line and make enough for the week. Now the kids can tell their friends they made their own breakfast. It’s a win-win.
Here are some more great healthy breakfast recipes to try out.
Don’t Fall Back Into Bad Habits On Your Days Off
When we do have a chance to relax and sleep in, old habits tend to creep up. This is the best time to check your diet. Use this time to try new healthy recipes and incorporate it into your weekly meals. This is also a good time to pack snacks when on the go.
Treat yourself to a well-balanced meal a few times a week. Salmon and asparagus are great on the BBQ. For indoor meals try using your crock pot. A hearty stew with lots of vegetables is always a welcome meal.
Try Using Smaller Plates
Try using a salad plate as opposed to a dinner plate. This convinces the brain that there is more food on the smaller plate, causing you to think you are full when finished. This is called the Delboeuf illusion. It is the illusion our brains tell our hunger levels. When the same amount of food on large and small plates, is presented to the consumer, the consumer inevitably chooses the smaller plate believing they are getting more food.
Next time you are having a healthy dinner at home, use the smaller plate for your main course and the larger plate for salad or vegetables. When dining out, ask for a side plate for your meal. If you are still hungry later, you will have leftovers to reach for.
Eat More Color
This idea works great on salads and for snacks. The Centers for Disease Control recommend, “…federal guidelines recommend that adults eat at least 1.5 to 2 cups per day of fruit and 2 to 3 cups per day of vegetables.”
When making your next salad, add some red peppers and mushrooms for added protein. When craving something sweet, make yourself a fruit bar. Add fresh sliced strawberries, blueberries, and bananas to a Greek yogurt. For added crunch add some low-fat granola. Each week try something new and begin enjoying eating fruits and vegetables again.
In Conclusion
In order to maintain ha healthy weight over time, you also need to try and stay away from fast and convenience foods.
Do your best to avoid foods made from refined sugar and flour. – Eat fruit and vegetables every day and always opt for lean cuts of meat, and skinless chicken.
Get moving with some regular exercise on a daily basis, because being physically active will burn extra calories. Even making an effort to do a half hour a day will go a long way.
Make sure you check in with your body when changing your diet. The idea is to change your habits, and way of thinking about food.
Before long, you will enjoy the idea of cooking good food and eating healthier, as well as being more active. As French Author Francois de La Rochefoucauld once quoted, “To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.”
Please comment below if you can share any other valuable tips on how to maintain a healthy weight, especially as you get closer to middle-aged.