While it’s certainly true that food quality is a critical component of health, eating habits are just as important. You may choose nutritious foods, but if you race through meals, multitask while eating and practice other unhealthy eating habits, your body and health goals may suffer.
Let’s start with common, unhealthy eating habits. If you’re regularly guilty of any of these habits, your weight loss may stall, your health may suffer, your energy levels may tank and you may notice more digestive issues during and after meals.
[See: How to Stop Emotional Eating.]
— You rush through meals. Life is hectic enough, so eating shouldn’t be. Inhaling calories can quickly lead to overconsumption at mealtimes and gut discomfort, including fullness, bloating and indigestion.
— You’re a distracted eater. Your eyes are glued to your computer, smartphone or TV while eating. If you don’t get the visual stimulation of the food, your body misses out on some of the appeal of the meal. You may not even know what you’re eating. Or worse, if you have a bag of pretzels, box of crackers or sleeve of cookies, you may plow through them and still not feel full or satisfied.
— You eat out of boredom. Sometimes when we’re tired or bored, we look to food as a pleasant distraction, and eating as something to do. If you are reaching for an apple, OK. But if you’re facing a long afternoon of work and find yourself making several trips to the vending machine or raiding a coworker’s candy jar, you’ll end up consuming several hundred unwanted calories. And you’ll still have work left to do.
— You “upload” all your calories at night. If you find yourself having minimal calories during the day while eating large amounts of food at night, you may notice that you’re more fatigued during the day. That can lead to overeating at night, and you may find it harder to concentrate or get in a good workout during the day.
— Your eating habits are erratic. If you eat three meals a day on weekdays and only once a day on the weekend, or a continuous buffet on Saturday, it’s very hard to establish any consistency and regularity with calorie intake. This may sabotage your body goals.
[See: How to Break 7 Unhealthy Habits.]
To get back on track, you’ll want to practice several healthy eating habits. If you’ve not incorporated these habits into your routine, start with one, and practice it daily. It actually takes about three weeks to establish a new eating habit and three months of repeating and implementing a new habit before it becomes routine.
— Sit at a table to eat meals or snacks. This puts you in the moment so you you can focus on what you’re eating, including the taste and aroma of your foods, and pay attention to how hungry or full you are. Plus, sitting to eat will keep you from going back to the refrigerator and grazing.
— Take time to chew. Take the time to chew and really taste your food. Eating more slowly can help you feel fuller sooner and actually decrease the total amount you consume.
— Eat similarly sized meals. Try to eat a similarly sized breakfast and lunch and a slightly larger dinner instead of eating very little during the day and having a buffet at night. You may notice your energy levels improve, blood glucose and blood lipids, or cholesterol levels, may normalize, and you will be less likely to experience heartburn or bloating with more evenly sized meals.
— Stop eating when you’re full. The goal is not to eat to the point of being stuffed. Rather, on a scale of 1 to 5, in terms of fullness — where 1 means you’re still ravenous and 5 means the button is ready to pop off your pants — you should aim to be at a 3 after a meal. Stop eating when could eat a little more but you actually feel quite comfortable. Capping intake prevents you from exceeding your calorie quota, and you will feel less bloated and uncomfortable.
— Be consistent. Try for the same number of meals and snacks every day of the week — such as three meals and two snacks, or three meals and one snack — and be mindful of the quantity of food you eat. Don’t eat so little that you’re starving within an hour or have a continual feast. Rather than cutting out all goodies, establish a pattern — such as having two beers on Saturday instead of a six pack, or dessert with dinner instead of indulgences throughout the day.
[See: 10 Healthy Habits of the ‘Naturally’ Thin.]
There is no one ideal meal plan or best eating habit. But if you’re committed to treating your body right, consider a habit do-over to complement nutritious food choices and improve your health.
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Are Your Eating Habits Hindering Your Health Goals? originally appeared on usnews.com
