Diet Tips For Seniors

As we approach the midway point of the holiday season, it can become difficult to stay on track with healthy eating.

holiday cookiesChristmas treats and family feasts can make it easy to give into temptation and stray away from your dietary goals. As a college student facing the craziness of finals and the prospect of a busy holiday season, I especially have found it easy to become sidetracked from my goal of staying healthy.

So how can you and I stay on track?

Let’s look at some quick tips for healthy eating. While we’ll delve into diet more thoroughly in the future, we’ll take a quick look at the basics here.

Diet Tip One: Sip!

I know I talk a lot about drinking water and staying hydrated, but there’s an important reason for this – it works. Drinking water senior woman with a glass of waterhelps to boost your metabolism and prevents you from retaining water weight. That bloated feeling you sometimes get in the morning? That’s usually your body’s way of telling you that you’re a little dehydrated.

I try to drink a full glass of water first thing in the morning. Not only am I setting myself up for success with my hydration goals, but I’m also helping to curb my appetite. Oftentimes, that hungry, empty feeling in your stomach is just your body telling you that it needs more water to support your systems. So next time you are craving a holiday snack, try drinking 8 ounces of cold water. Wait 20 minutes. If you are still hungry, it’s okay to indulge in a healthy snack. More often than not, however, you’ll find that the water you just drank was enough to satisfy you.

Diet Tip Two: Start!  

senior woman eating breakfastFor years, we’ve read the research or seen the TV commercials stating breakfast as the most important meal of the day. According to the University of Florida,”Eating breakfast is vital because after 8–12 hours without food, the brain and muscles need “energy” to function. We get energy from the glucose contained in foods. We also get important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and protein.”

 Your metabolism doesn’t start in the morning until you eat something. I usually try to incorporate some form of protein (egg whites or a protein shake) into my breakfast so that I know my muscles are getting the proper fuel. Try not to start off with a sugary cereal – though we all know they taste delicious, these cereals can set you up for a dangerous blood sugar spike and throw you off track with your health goals.

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