If you are trying to lose weight, indigestion can put a major damper on your exercise and diet plans. However, by speaking with your doctor, starting exercise slowly, and avoiding eating overly spicy foods or late at night, you can achieve your weight loss goals and help alleviate your symptoms of indigestion at the same time.
1. Talk with Your Doctor
One of the most important ways to prevent indigestion during exercise or dieting is to talk to your doctor when you being experiencing the symptoms. Your doctor will be able to prescribe a treatment plan that can help to alleviate the symptoms. Even if your doctor does not believe that your symptoms are serious enough to elicit medical care, he or she will still be able to give you guidelines about when, what and how much food to eat in order to prevent further exacerbation of the condition.
2. Start Exercising Slowly
Everyone knows that exercise is essential to weight loss. However, when exercising with indigestion, be sure to start your exercise routine and slowly work your way up in order to have the best results possible. Research has found that individuals who suffer from chronic indigestion and warm up before exercise experience fewer and less severe symptoms than those who jump into the exercise. If you typically engage in cardiovascular exercise, start by performing a slower version of it in order to get your heart rate going. If you participate in strength training activities, stretches that mimic the exercise can be beneficial.
3. Avoid Excessively Spicy Foods
Be sure to avoid foods that are highly spicy in order to prevent incidents of indigestion. This can be difficult for some dieters, as research suggests that highly spicy foods may result in an increase in metabolic rate, thereby improving your ability to achieve weight loss. However, if your indigestion is severe and chronic, you will likely be willing to try anything to avoid experiencing the symptoms. Start by slowing cutting back on the amount of spice that you put into your foods. By cutting out a small amount each week, you will be able to eventually cut it out entirely.
4. Avoid Eating Late at Night
One of the best ways to avoid indigestion is to avoid eating foods late at night. This can be beneficial for a number of reasons. Studies have shown that individuals who eat late at night are more likely to experience symptoms of indigestion than those who ate their meals at an earlier time. In addition, if you are dieting, cutting back on the amount of eating that you do late at night can helpful in removing excessive or highly caloric foods from your diet. This way, you’ll kill two birds with one stone.
