As the years pass, fitness is becoming more and more important in our society. One of the main reasons for this stark interest increase in exercising and weightlifting was the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 caused restaurants, warehouses, parks, schools, and most importantly, gyms to shut down completely. As a result, Americans were left no choice but to occupy themselves with any form of entertainment. For some, this was sitting back on the couch and eating snacks while binge-watching their favorite show. Unfortunately, while some see no harm in this, it had a negative output on overall health and obesity rates.
So much so that a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association found that during the pandemic, 42% of the participants reported they had unexpectedly gained weight with an average of 30 pounds. With this weight, confidence began to plummet while stress and depression increased. While there have been plenty of post-pandemic body transformations, like Will Smith and Anthony Harris, the focus should be on how individuals can maintain a healthy physique while not putting on unhealthy and unwarranted weight. For some, the solution is constant exercising; however, what a person consumes on a daily basis will always be the factor that will determine their progress and overall health level.
Today we will look at where bad eating habits stem from, and what eating habits are appropriate and healthy for long-lasting health and fitness.
What we should be consuming vs. what we are given
Most are familiar with the eating chart from ChooseMyPlate.gov. ¼ of your plate should be protein, ½ should be vegetables, and ¼ should contain some sort of grain. This of course paired with a cup of fruit and either a glass of milk or water. Now, if this is the recommended diet straight from the government, why is it not being enforced in school lunches or advertised on tv? As an elementary and high school students, we were told that the food we were given was healthy. When in reality, it was always a 30:70 ratio on whether or not the breakfast and lunch served in the cafeteria were enjoyable or even edible. Most of the time, we were given questionable pre-made sandwiches, hotdogs, or pizza. All of which have little to no nutritional value. These unhealthy and unappealing food options led us to search for gratification and sustenance in chips and soda. This habit then carries into our adult lives which affects us later on. We have a negative stigma towards what is considered “healthy” and rather search for food in packages with fancy designs. This leads to obesity, high cholesterol, and heart issues; however, all of these issues can be solved with a proper diet.
Now, a proper diet does not look like eating lettuce and carrot salads all day. This will leave you bored with your meal and lead you to relapse back into unhealthy eating habits. The proper diet varies with what your goal is for your life. If you plan on staying at a healthy weight exercise occasionally. Kate Watts with Cone Health nutrition recommends that we eat foods like: salmon since it reduces late-night cravings, beans since they are high in fiber and produce appetite suppressant hormones, eggs since they are high in protein and you can still consume just the egg whites if cholesterol is a problem. These are a few of the foods that we can consume that will leave us better off in the future than the ones that only give us instant gratification.
The struggle of getting healthy and staying healthy is not easy in the beginning but will ultimately benefit the body and the brain in the end. Additionally, America needs to change the food provided to children so that they have a solid foundation on what to eat and ultimately develop excellent eating habits.