How Bad Is It To…
BY BETHANY HEITMAN
Sure, you’d love to make the healthiest possible choices all of the time. Unfortunately, life gets busy and sometimes those choices may not be ideal.But how do you know what shortcuts you can make—and which you need to worry about. It can be tricky, really—especially if you rely on Dr. Google to answer your biggest questions. There is just so much conflicting information out there.
We’re here to help! Below, some common health questions that JW gets asked all of the time, and how bad they actually are (which is to say, sometimes they’re not too bad at all).
Photo by Matt Walsh
I have a tendency to work late. This means that most nights, I’m shoveling a quick dinner into my mouth before going to sleep. Do I really need to be careful about eating right before bed?
We’ll cut to the chase: You’re not doing yourself any favors when you eat something right before you hit the sack. By noshing late at night, you are going against your body’s natural circadian rhythms.
In the morning, your body is more sensitive to insulin. This is a good thing—it helps you use the food you eat for fuel and energy to get you through the day. At night, that insulin sensitivity wanes. So, if you consume food late at night, those calories get stored as fat, rather than being burned throughout the day—of course what you eat factors in, too (more on that in a moment!).
But that’s not all. Going to bed on a full tummy can lead to poor sleep. This is because your body is forced to process the food you just ate, rather than rest.
Finally, if you wait until late at night to eat, you’re likely to be famished—and may make poor food choices.
The best thing to do is to take a break in the early evening for a meal. Can’t do that? If you really have to eat before bed, make it a small snack made up of protein and healthy fat to satiate you—that way you’re not eating a ton of empty calories and will feel full with less. Some ideas: An apple and some nut butter, greek yogurt or veggies with some hummus.
By the time I finish my workout, I just want to shower and get on with my day—can I skip stretching?
After a good workout, your body feels loose—which may make you think you don’t need to stretch. Wrong. Whether you just ran a few miles, completed a HIIT workout or spent some time on the stair climber, it’s important to stretch.
When you stretch, you’re lengthening and mobilizing the connective tissue around your muscles, which reduces your risk of injury and helps with blood flow. Stretching also helps your body dispose of lactic acid (which causes your body to become sore). It also gives you a nice cool down period. During a workout, your heart rate goes up, your body temperature rises and your blood vessels dilate. Those things take a bit of time to go back down to normal. If you stop your workout suddenly and go about your day, you may get dizzy. Slowly winding down your workout can help your body reacclimate.
Need a few quick and easy stretching ideas? JW highly recommends leaning on the expertise of the folks over at The Ready State. (HERE) They have pioneered new methods to help everyday movers like us, all the way to high level athletes with their movement, mobility, and recovery by offering mobility training program. At The Ready State’s core, their focus is on helping you be more ready for life and JW doesn’t go a day without it.
I know diet soda isn’t the best. But it has no calories. Is it that terrible to drink a few cans each day?
Step away from that can of diet soda—seriously. Even though this beverage has zero calories, it has been linked to weight gain. One study looked at people who switched their regular soda for the diet kind shockingly found that those people actually wound up gaining more weight. See, even though diet soda is free of real sugar and calories, it contains a lot of additives and chemicals that actually make your body crave high-calorie, sugary food.
These artificial sweeteners can also spike blood sugar. Research has shown that regularly drinking diet soda may increase your risk of type-2 diabetes.
As if all of this wasn’t enough, there’s proof that drinking diet soda can throw off your gut microbiome—which can lead to issues like bloating, gas and digestive problems.
Your go-to beverage really should be water. Then, if you’re really craving something fizzy, reach for a flavored seltzer.
– By Bethany Heitman, Contributor
P.S. Remember that no matter what you're going through right now, you don't have to do it alone! There are others like you in our community, where we interact on a daily basis, fight our demons, share our victories, and watch over each other as friends and accountability partners.
Together we are FÖRENA - a health & fitness community for women like you where we focus not only on our physical health but also mind, soul, relationships, and overall well-being. Become one of us now with FREE 1-month membership, and let us witness your growth! 🌱
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