#360fit: Five healthy habits that aren't doing you any favours

FitnessLink 13:48 18/05/2016
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  • From sneaky product marketing, fitness magazine headlines or good old hearsay, we’re constantly bombarded with health advice that forms our daily habits.

    But before taking in everything that’s thrown at you, it’s a good idea to reassess some “healthy” behaviors that may be doing more harm than good. Here’s a few to be aware of!

    Packaged Vitamin Water

    With some claiming they don’t like the “taste” of water (it has no taste, people), a little extra flavour to your water seem like a good idea to encourage hydration, but flavored water, such as store-bought Vitamin Water, can often be filled with sugar. Alternative idea: put some real fruit in your water and get that same flavoured, fruity taste, naturally!

    Packaged Vitamin Water.

    Packaged Vitamin Water.

    Muesli, granola or protein bars

    Granola and muesli bars are made from whole grains, so they can’t be that bad, right? Not so fast. Granola and seemingly-healthy muesli bars are both quite calorie packed and often contain a lot of sugar. You could compare some of them to candy. Some protein bars might not be much better, many are so sugar-laden that you’d be better off choosing a healthier high-protein snack instead. Remember to read those labels!

    Muesli, granola or protein bars.

    Muesli, granola or protein bars.

    Low-fat foods and “diet” anything

    According to one of our regular contributors, Chloe Moir Nutrition, fat is an important nutrient that a healthy body thrives on. It plays a vital role in brain health, cell function, hormones and is needed for the action of fat soluble vitamins. Food products that are labelled as low in fat usually have a lot ofadded sugar so beware! Reach for the full-fat natural yoghurt over the low-fat version next time!

    And on that note, diet soda drinks aren’t doing you any favours either in the long run. Studies suggest too much of these zero-cal beverages could do as much damage as the sugary stuff, potentially leading to weight gain and an uncontrollable sweet tooth. Our suggestion? Skip the soda completely and choose a healthier drink instead.

    Muesli, granola or protein bars.

    Muesli, granola or protein bars.

    Not Giving Into Your Cravings (once in a while…)

    Our motto is, #YOLO is better than yoyo (dieting, that is). Really craving that triple-choc brownie? Then have it. Healthy food is no more a punishment than junk food is a reward; if you feel like treating yourself to something indulgent then, once in a while, it’s OK to do so, knowing that life is all about balance and it might even be healthier for you in the long run. Better to have a treat once in a while than overindulge later as a result of depriving ourselves. Just know that this tactic is for theoccasional treat, not the everyday occurrence — and it may help you be more successful in controlling your weight over the long term.

    Relying on Your Daily Workout to Offset Sitting All Day

    You work out for an hour at the gym, then shower, eat, and head to work where you spend most of the day sitting down. Well, author Doug Dupont summarized a 2013 study in his article Sitting at Your Desk Is Eating Your Muscles, which found that sedentary workers who exercised were at just as high risk for health issues as those who didn’t exercise regularly. So what’s a worker chained to his or her desk to do? Luckily, short bouts of standing, stretching and generally moving at regular intervals in between conference calls (and Facebook and YouTube) can help improve fitness levels and health in the long term. How about doing 10 squats every time you head to the bathroom? Or standing every time you make a phone call? Set that phone alarm and Yalla, get your office aerobics ON!

    Get your office aerobics ON!

    Get your office aerobics ON!

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