Weight Loss Tips: Avoid These 5 Mistakes After Eating Main Meals To Prevent Indigestion And Weight Gain

Diet tips for weight loss: If you are trying to lose weight, or even get on the path towards fitness and good health, then you must pay attention to your eating patterns (along with your diet and fitness routine). Some habits like overeating, eating too quickly, not chewing your food properly and going to the bed immediately after eating can bad for your health, weight and digestive system. So if you are eating right and still experiencing trouble with digestion, feeling acidic, constipated and bloated, then it has something to do with your eating pattern.

Talking about five mistakes you need to avoid making after eating meals is nutritionist Nmami Agarwal on Instagram.

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Weight loss tips: 5 mistakes you need to avoid after eating meals

1. Going to bed immediately after eating

Sleeping or taking a nap right after eating can cause discomfort and make you feel gassy. It can also cause difficulty in sleeping and disrupt your sleep cycle. It is important to keep a gap of at least two hours between your dinner and bed time.

To sleep well without any disturbance, keep a gap of at least 2 hours between your dinner and bed time
Photo Credit: iStock

Also read: These Common Diet Mistakes Can Slow Down Your Metabolism And Prevent Weight Loss

2. Avoid smoking cigarettes

Smoking is something that you should give up on entirely. But, smoking immediately your meals is even more harmful. "Studies have shown that the damage caused by smoking just one cigarette after a meal is equal to smoking 10 cigarettes at once," says Nmami in her IGTV. So, not only must you try to not smoke after eating your meals, you must also make an effort towards quitting it entirely.

3. Do not consume fruits right after a main meal

According to Nmami, it is healthy to consume fruits in between meals, in a gap of at least one hour. A fruit that is eaten right after a meal will not be digested properly. This means that the nutrients in fruits will not be absorbed or assimilated in the body. Thus, eating fruit after a meal will not be beneficial for your health. Nutritionist Pooja Malhotra feels that the best time to eat fruits is first thing in the morning.

Also read: 5 Reasons Why Citrus Fruits Should Be A Part Of Your Diet

4. Avoid drinking tea and coffee

Tea and coffee contains tannins and caffeine. Drinking tea and coffee right after your meals can prevent your body from absorbing nutrients from food. This is especially true for iron absorption. Drinking tea and coffee right after your meals may be the reason why you have nutritional deficiencies, says Nmami in the video.

Avoid drinking tea or coffee after your main meal
Photo Credit: iStock

5. Do not exercise right after eating a heavy meal

There are many downsides to exercising right after having a heavy meal. It can affect the quality of your workout and may make you feel nauseous. The body requires time to digest food. Exercising right after your meal, or exercising after an hour or less after a heavy meal can lead to vomiting and puffiness in stomach, Nmami explains.

Other mistakes you need to avoid

• Make sure you chew your food properly. Not chewing your food properly will result in lack of sufficient digestive enzymes needed for proper digestion of food. This in turn will cause acidity, constipation, gassiness and bloating.
• Do not overeat. Know when to stop. Overeating is the top cause of weight gain, fatigue and lethargy.
• Nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar recommends that you should eat your food without any distractions. Do not have mobile phone, TV, laptop, newspaper or a book with you when eating. While having a meal, your complete focus should be on the meal. This will help you be in sync with your satiety signals and prevent overeating.

Also read: Do You Think Eating Breakfast Promotes Weight Loss? Read This

In order to know how much you should eat, you can use Diwekar's mental meal map. It involves the following steps:

• STEP 1: Visualise how much you would like to eat
• STEP 2: Serve half the portion of the amount that you have visualised to eat in STEP 1.
• STEP 3: Take double the time to eat the meal you served in STEP 2.
• STEP 4: In case still hungry, start again from STEP 1.

(Nmami Agarwal is nutritionist at Nmami Life)

(Rujuta Diwekar is a nutritionist based in Mumbai)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.