Whether you live in an assisted living community, or at home with your spouse, staying healthy over 60 is a must. Experts say that your diet plays one of the biggest roles in your overall well-being. Therefore, prioritizing your diet should be number one on your list.
One of the best ways to ensure that you’re on the right path is by learning from other people’s mistakes. By knowing what the most important ones are to look out for, you can avoid making the same errors yourself. Here are some of the biggest mistakes people make with their diets, and what you can do to avoid them.
Assuming Exercise Cancels Out Unhealthy Foods
While exercise plays a very important role in our overall health, it’s not an all-in-one solution. You can’t eat whatever you want and then just expect to walk for an hour and erase all of those processed foods and unhealthy fats. You should incorporate a healthy balance of exercise and diet into your lifestyle. Remember, exercise can only do so much. If you’re failing to eat healthy foods, full of plenty of nutrients, no amount of exercise is going to magically make that disappear.
You Use Too Much Salad Dressing
Plenty of leafy green vegetables are an important staple in anyone’s diet. However, a common mistake that many seniors make is making a salad for themselves and dousing it in fatty salad dressing full of all sorts of unhealthy additives. If you’re going to eat a salad, stick to traditional vinaigrette.
You Assume Gluten-Free Is Healthier
The gluten-free craze has gotten a bit out of control these days. People assume that just because something is listed as gluten-free that it makes it healthier. This is far from being the truth. Gluten is nothing but a type of protein found in certain grains. Just because something is gluten-free doesn’t mean that it’s automatically healthy.
Binge Eating
A lot of seniors are committed to healthy diets and follow a strict one throughout the week. However, when it comes to the weekend, they don’t just indulge—they binge eat. Unfortunately, this will do nothing but erase all of the hard work that you did throughout the week. Instead of resorting to such extremes, try to find a healthy balance of daily small indulgences. A few small pleasures throughout the day are much less damaging than going crazy on your caloric intake once a week.
Not Eating a Varied Diet
Many seniors are stuck in their ways. Whether it’s their favorite pair of slippers, an old chair, or maybe they listen to the same music they’ve been listening to since they were 18. However, one thing that you should definitely not be stuck in your ways about is your food choices. It’s important that you avoid eating the same things over and over. Eat a very diet full of all sorts of foods, and you’ll be much more likely to enjoy and benefit from your meals.