Table of contents:
- Various kinds of unhealthy eating habits
- 1. Eat blindly
- 2. Snacking at midnight
- 3. Snack throughout the day
- 4. Skip breakfast
- 5. Eat when emotional
- 6. Eat while watching TV
- 7. Eating too fast
Some of the things you do - or don't do - every day may be the reason why your efforts to have a healthy body fail. Eating a bag of potato chips while watching TV or eating platters of food during a party if done occasionally is unlikely to cause any significant harm. However, when done repeatedly, it eventually develops into a habit.
Unhealthy eating habits are one of the main risk factors for many chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other health conditions linked to obesity.
Various kinds of unhealthy eating habits
If you want to break unhealthy eating habits, you first need to find out what the habits you have. Here are some common unhealthy eating habits you should learn to avoid.
1. Eat blindly
Eating large portions at once is one unhealthy eating habit that you should avoid. Do you tend to skip lunch then eat a lot the next time to get revenge? Do you fill your stomach with junk food on the weekends after a week full on a strict diet? Do you often eat out of the box until you are very full? These are signs that you have a binge eating habit (as distinguished from a binge eating disorder).
You may want to train yourself to eat small portions throughout the day to avoid binge eating. Also, try swapping your large dinner plate for a small plate (saucer, for example), and never eat directly from the container or packaging.
2. Snacking at midnight
It is okay to snack in the middle of the night when you wake up hungry, but if you can't sleep without first snacking on a plate of chocolate cake or a bowl of ice cream, then you could be risking drastic weight gain.
This idea is supported by studies from Northwestern University , reported from Everyday Health that it's actually not only What that you eat in the middle of the night which makes the problem pile up, however, too When You eat. Researchers suspect that the longer the interval between meals allows the body to process food more efficiently. Another reason you sleep better: obey National Institutes of Health , snacking late at night makes it difficult for you to sleep because your body will be busy digesting food.
After dinner, instill in yourself the thought that the kitchen also has an open and close time at night like a restaurant. And brush your teeth - clean teeth and a mouth will reduce the urge to eat again. If cravings persist, wait 10 minutes. If you're really hungry, grab something small, like a block of cheese or a piece of fresh fruit.
3. Snack throughout the day
This is one of the many bad habits that many people have: non-stop snacking, high-calorie foods and full of empty carbohydrates. A recent study at the University of North Carolina found that it's not just a problem for adults: kids are snacking on more and more frequent junk food, including packaged potato chips, soda, and candy.
Snacking is okay, as long as you are smart about it. Don't allow yourself to see what you don't want to eat. Do yourself a favor and keep all kinds of junk food out of your sight and reach. Keep healthy foods like salad, carrot and cucumber sliced salad, popcorn (without butter and salt), yogurt, and almonds, for example, within reach. If you are going to store snacks at home, keep them in the refrigerator or locked cupboard; take out the apples and arrange them neatly on the dining table.
To cut your salt intake even more, try to enhance the taste of home cooked foods with herbs and spices instead of adding salt and mecin.
4. Skip breakfast
Breakfast is believed to be the most important meal of the day, but many people still make "fasting" breakfast a habit. If you have to rush off to work in the morning or get your kids ready for school, it's easy to skip breakfast.
Skipping breakfast will not only drain your energy for the day ahead, it may also make you more prone to snacking all day long. Skipping breakfast will also disrupt your metabolism, causing you to burn fewer calories. So, if you are trying to lose weight, skipping breakfast is not a good idea. Breakfast gives you the extra energy boost you need to get into your daily routine. Without this fuel, chances are, you'll just overeat later.
Mix a bowl of warm oatmeal garnished with colorful fruit slices or ready-to-eat cereal with fresh milk in the morning for a good start to the day. Even a slice of sandwich with peanut butter is fine.
5. Eat when emotional
Emotional eating, or eating when stressed, is another common unhealthy eating habit that you should avoid. This occurs when you are driven by a certain emotion to eat even though you are not very hungry.
You've just had a bad day at the office, and when you get home, you open the fridge and eat - not a good diet strategy. If you are like most people who eat easily when emotional, then you probably reach for junk food as a coping mechanism for your emotions. Numerous studies confirm that emotions, both positive and negative, can cause people to eat more than they should, an easy barrier to your weight loss efforts.
To overcome this, try to find other ways to channel your stress and negative emotions. Take up a hobby or spend quality time with close friends.
6. Eat while watching TV
If you eat while watching TV, eat lunch at the table while you work, or even while cooking, then you are also developing unhealthy eating habits. When you eat while doing other things it's not just a mindless eating habit (mindless eating) to worry about, but also your weight.
When you eat while you are busy with other activities, you cannot measure how much you eat, which is why you may overeat your satiety without realizing it.
Try to set a specific schedule and place to eat and make sure you can only eat at that place, and not elsewhere. For example, at home, eat only at the dining table. Also, take some time in front of the screen to take a break and take your eyes off the screen. Get up and take a walk every 15-30 minutes. When your favorite workday or TV show is over, remember to carefully monitor what you eat so you don't fill yourself up.
7. Eating too fast
Eating food in a hurry, whether it's a snack or a large meal, doesn't give your brain enough time to catch up with your stomach. Satiety signals will not begin to be sent by the brain until 15-20 minutes after the first bite. If you scoop your lunch in less than 10 minutes, you may be eating more than your body actually needs. In a study of 3,200 men and women, Japanese researchers found that eating too fast was closely linked to being overweight.
To slow down your eating rate, literally place your cutlery between mouthfuls, take smaller bites, and be sure to chew the food thoroughly. In addition, drinking water during meals will also help you slow down and feel fuller over time.