Why Living Alone Can Make You Fat

Bad news bachelors, a recent found that living alone might lead to worse eating choices, and therefore an extended waistline. The research done at the Queensland University of Technology found that people who live alone just tend to eat less healthy.

It’s entirely surprising why, cooking for one can be a lot of effort and lead to having leftovers a plenty, much of which goes to waste. And when cooking is not on the table, grabbing food to go generally is which often means less healthy choices. (And sometimes way less healthy choices.) One might also argue that someone watching TV alone while they eat is a lot more likely to pig out and eat the entire pizza instead of eating like a civilized person when other people are around.

The study also found that men living alone are more likely to have a bad diet than women are, so this is something that guys should definitely be paying attention to. People who live alone seem to eat fewer fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as fish. The problem with a lot of easy access food is that it can be lower on fresh ingredients in general, or if we tend to order from the same spots we miss out on some of the diversity that’s offered when you cook a lot of different meals.

This doesn’t mean you’re doomed however, since you can always make new decisions when it comes to what to eat. If you do most of your eating from delivery services, keep in mind that the anonymity of ordering over the food can actually make people order more than if they were ordering in person. Yes it’s true, we feel that judged by people that we might end up eating 100 calories more per meal that we order over the phone. Keep this in mind when you go to order either takeout or groceries.

Try to decide what you’re going to order before you get on a website and start looking around, since you might be tempted to add more to your cart. Skip the sweets and the packaged snacks whenever possible, and try to get in as many fresh and varied ingredients as possible.

When you’re ordering takeout always get the sauce and dressing on the side since these are huge calorie bombs and full of fat. If you get it on the side you can ration out a proper serving instead of being left with whatever they dealt you. (Which is generally a lot, because they want the food to taste good.)

Always go for lean protein options, and to to pair it with lots of fiber rich options like vegetables. If you order takeout a lot that is low on veggies, try stocking up your freezer with frozen ones that you can simply cook up as needed. Frozen vegetables keep until you’re ready to use them, and a great way to avoid waste when you only need one portion at a time.