You must have heard about not drinking water after meals or after being in the sun for too long. It might sound cliche or just another thing your grandma used to say but guess what? These commonly neglected health habits might just be the reason your diet plan ain’t working. We tend to focus too much on the what, how and why of our diet and health but rarely the ‘when’. I will share some health habits related to the time of our meals, exercise etc. It will bring about a great, healthy and positive change in your lifestyle if you adopt them.
Water
Drink water after you wake up to refresh your organs. Drink water at least an hour after or before meals. If you drink water right after meals, it will mess with your digestive juices and create problems.
Drink water before taking a bath. It helps regulate your blood pressure. Don’t drink water right after being in the sun, especially cold water. A sudden change in the body temperature is not too good for your health.
Sun
Make sure you sit in the sun when the rays are mild and not scorching. Sun burns all you’re gonna get. It shouldn’t be any time after 10 A.M. or before 4 P.M. This is because the sun rays are harmful after and before these respective times.
It also depends on which country you live in to determine the intensity of the sun heat, but this is a general time. Sunbathing would allow you to absorb vitamin D which in turn will help you retain calcium.
Meals
Eat dinner at least two hours before bed time. If not, you can definitely look forward to gas, indigestion or acid reflux. Your body needs time to complete digestion properly. Give it that.
Avoid eating junk food, fatty or sugary food at night. It overloads your digestion system. It also usually results in pimples in the morning. It’s just a myth that you will gain weight if you eat before sleeping because your body will store the food as fat. Yes, it’s ridiculous.
Fruits and Veggies
Eat fruits and vegetables in the morning or on an empty stomach for maximum absorption of nutrients. As your stomach is empty, it will hungrily and quickly digest the food that reaches it first.
Avoid eating fruits as desserts. Eat them as appetizers. This helps as some fruits boost your appetite. You can eat well after eating fruits.
Food combos
Make sure you know which food to combine with which. Some foods are not compatible with other foods e.g. lemon with milk, melons with anything, two high protein foods etc. You can do some research to know more about these combos. Eat these foods at a separate time.
Workout
Obviously, we all know that we should exercise on an empty stomach. The reason for this is because your body can supply you with the required oxygen. This won’t be the case if your body is busy digesting food.
Work out before you have your meals. Also, working out at night before bed is not a great idea. Your body is tired by that time. However, you can work out at least two hours before bedtime if you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to.
These are some of the health habits I have been working on and it has been great so far. I used to be reckless about my health habits and I suffered a lot because of it. Now, I have realized how important it is to be careful about ‘when’ you eat or drink or exercise in addition to ‘what’. Please add more tips if you have any in the comment section. I can definitely make use of them. 🙂
