When it comes to eating, the biggest reason people control themselves is to avoid gaining weight due to health reasons.
However, while you are getting rounder just from looking at your favorite food, some can drown in their favorite meal while not gaining any weight. So, why can some people overeat and gain no weight?
What Are Healthy Eating Habits?
Acquiring and maintaining healthy eating habits is probably the best thing you can do about your health and appearance. Eating healthy keeps you healthy and in shape.
Sadly, many think that healthy eating habits revolve only around the quantity of food, so they reduce the amount.
The bad news is that reducing food quantity is a fruitless job, as other than feeling hungry all the time, you won’t have any other effects.
Granted, you will lose a few pounds, but in the long run, it isn’t a sustainable strategy, let alone a healthy eating habit.
Healthy eating habits consist of four things: knowledge, timing, discipline, and occasional self-indulgence.
Knowledge
When you are on the path to creating and maintaining healthy eating habits, you have to know two things-which food to eat and everyone’s different.
Healthy food is food that is rich in everything you need to enjoy the day. To feel good all day, you must consume proteins, carbs, fiber, sugar, and.
To feel good long-term, you need micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals to boost your immune system.
So, avoiding some food groups, which most commonly are fats, sugars, and carbs, and pushing other foods, often a protein, won’t do you any good. The key to a healthy diet is balance, i.e., consuming everything in sufficient quantities. However, not all carbs, sugars, and fats are good.
Therefore, you may wonder why you are gaining weight while eating “right.” That’s because you consume the wrong kinds of fats, sugars, and carbs.
For example, the fats from fish aren’t the same as those from French fries. The carbs from white bread aren’t the same as those of wholegrain bread. The sugars from candies aren’t the same as those from fruits or power bars. So, even though you consume all food groups, you still haven’t established the right balance.
That’s why it is essential to know which food to eat and which to avoid. The simplest way to explain which foods you should eat is nutrient-dense foods.
Nutrient-dense foods have a high nutritional value, meaning that they give you everything you need to function, but they don’t create fat deposits, as they are easily digestible.
The easiest way to recognize nutrient-dense foods is to read the label. The labels contain all information you need. See that you avoid foods containing too much sugar, carbs, and saturated fats.
However, not all foods have labels, so another helpful tip is to decide whether to eat that product or not, depending on its color, or in other words, eat the rainbow. The more colorful your plate, the more nutritious your meal is.
The colors of the fruits and vegetables have meanings, and each color indicates what that particular food can do for you.
Blue or purple means that the fruit or vegetable is a powerful antioxidant. It also means that this fruit or vegetable can prevent diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Blueberries and beetroot are the representatives of this category.
The red pigment found in strawberries and tomatoes means that they are potent antioxidants and a great ally to prevent stroke, improve circulation and boost the immune system.
Orange and yellow means that the fruit or vegetable benefits the eyes and the connective tissues. So buy yourself some carrots, lemons, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins.
Green means that the fruit or vegetable is a real trooper in cancer prevention. Leafy greens such as spinach are especially beneficial to eat.
The white and brown pigment means that the fruit or vegetable has strong antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties; garlic, bananas, and potatoes fall under this category. You should have at least three colors on your plate to create a nutrient-dense meal.
Meat is also nutrient-dense, but not all meat. Excellent choices to add some meatiness to your meal are raw salmon, chicken breast, tuna, and seafood. Pork, lamb, and beef could also work, but they are very rich in fats, so you need to know exactly which part to select and cook it very carefully.
Nuts, walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts are packed with omega-3 fatty acids that are very beneficial for bone health.
You should avoid dairy products as they are fatty and often contain hormones from the milk. However, mozzarella and fetta are excellent for everyday consumption, containing calcium, lacto bacteria, and protein.
Legumes are indescribably nutrient-dense, so you can go ahead and have as much as you like. Peas, beans, soybeans, lentils, chickpeas, and peanuts are highly nutritious and satiating.
Seeds such as sunflower seed, chia seed, sesame, pumpkin seed, and flaxseed are superfoods packed in tiny packages. They burst with omega-3 fatty acids, dietary fiber, vitamins C and A, iron, calcium, and potassium.
So, eating nutrient-dense foods or foods made with nutrient-dense foods, the first and most important step toward creating healthy eating habits.
You can eat large quantities of these foods and not gain weight, as the nutrients absorb into your body without creating deposits.
They are free of toxins, so your body won’t have any trouble flushing itself through perspiration and bodily functions. That’s why some people can overeat and still not gain weight; they eat nutrient-dense food rather than junk food.
Still, let’s not forget that every organism is a story of its own, so what works for some may not work for others. Some people have naturally slower or faster metabolisms, so they process food differently.
Some people feel bloated or nauseated after eating some of the foods listed above, which is when patience kicks in. It takes time to find out what exactly works for you and how to implement it.
However, knowing where to choose is crucial in selecting the proper diet.
Timing
Timing is another relevant step in creating and maintaining healthy eating habits. As the day passes, the body changes.
Morning is the time of day you need energy most. This is an excellent time to have some carbs, sugars, and fats, such as whole grains, eggs, and fruit.
You also need to hydrate, so start the day with a glass of water.
As the hours go by, you are well woken up, hydrated, energized, and nearing your best day shape. Your second meal should be your boost keeping you fresh for the rest of the day.
This is when you should have more substantial food, such as meat, pulses, rice, potatoes, mushrooms, salad, or the like. You can slide some cheese or another dairy product in this part of the day if you want to.
A few hours later, as the sun sets, your body slows down, so it is time for lighter food. A salad would be the perfect dinner option.
You can nibble on seeds or fresh fruits and vegetables during the day. While you can eat salad as much as you want and at any time of the day, you should reserve the morning for fruit.
Eating fruit in the afternoon or evening is not the best idea, as your body won’t have enough time to process the sugars.
Eating the right food at the wrong time of the day can result in weight gain even though the food is nutrient-dense. So, that’s another reason why some people overeat and don’t gain weight.
They overeat the right food at the right time of day, and the worst that can happen is dealing with stomach discomfort.
Discipline
Eating healthy and at the right time of day for a week and then returning to the old bad habits is worse than eating junk food all the time. You shock your body with the sudden changes in diet and don’t allow enough time for your organism to adjust to the change.
Even if your body is easily adaptable, the switch from salads to burgers shocks the body, and it must reprogram itself repeatedly. These fluctuations are far from healthy, so you shouldn’t do them.
Instead, discipline yourself and try to stay motivated. The beginning is where you need mental strength the most. After that, you will start noticing the results, which is the best motivation, so until then, you need to push it through and tough it out.
Occasional Self-indulgence
You are only human, so once in a blue moon, have a burger, hot dog, or chocolate cake you have been dreaming about. Self-indulgence is an essential part of the human experience, and it works best as a reward for a well-done job.
Once you have firmly established your healthy eating habits and have no doubt about yourself, treat yourself to some greasy food without feeling guilty. Even though it doesn’t seem that way, self-indulgence doesn’t work without discipline.
Undisciplined self-indulgence turns into overindulgence, which won’t do you any good and will throw you off the wagon before you know it. So trust yourself to keep the self-indulgence occasional.
This is the third reason why some people overeat and don’t gain weight. It’s because they do it occasionally, intentionally, and responsibly.
