Your eating habits can affect everything from your blood pressure to your teeth’s enamel, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they are a key factor to your health. By examining our eating habits, we can understand why we overeat, why we eat the wrong foods, and how we can adapt our habits to encourage optimal health.
Poor meal planning is one of the most common culprits behind poor eating habits. Leaving meal decisions to the last minute increases your risk of eating drive-thru fast foods or having dinner out. Not only do restaurants have large portions, but their food also contains more sodium and hidden calories.
5 Ways To Change Your Eating Habits For The Better
1. Keep Track Of What You Eat
To be more aware of your eating habits, start with logging everything you eat. Use an app like My Fitness Pal to make it easy. It lets you scan barcodes, add popular restaurants and save your favorite recipes.
You’ll likely realize that, between mindless snacking and misestimated portion sizes, you’ve been underestimating your food intake. Once you know exactly what you’re eating and when, you can start changing your habits.
2. Do A Kitchen Makeover
When it comes to making healthy food choices, your environment matters more than your willpower. After all, if you don’t have any cookies in your house, you won’t be able to eat one, no matter how much you want to. By removing certain foods from your pantry, fridge, or freezer, you can make it easier for yourself to eat healthier foods and avoid unhealthy options.
Throw away or donate any super-processed foods or foods you consistently overeat. For foods that you can eat in small quantities when alone, you can either reduce their available quantity or move them somewhere where they’ll be out of sight and difficult to reach. Finally, put nutritious foods in the center of your fridge or pantry, making them easier to see.
3. Set Aside Dedicated Time For Eating
If you’re distracted while eating, you won’t be able to pay attention to physical cues like whether you’re full. Set aside time that’s just dedicated to eating. This means turning off the television to prevent mindless eating and setting down your phone.
4. Plan Your Meals Ahead Of Time
When you have nothing healthy to eat and you are hungry, chances are you will more likely get take-out or grab a processed food that’s around. Not only that, if you are tired or stressed, you are more likely to mindlessly eat whatever is available. This is why planning your meals ahead of time is so important! Make sure you know what you’re going to eat later, so you aren’t tempted to eat out.
5. Being Mindful
There’s no one-size-fits-all way to improve your eating habits, so finding something that works for you may take a little trial and error. In addition to the options listed above, you can try these mindfulness techniques.
Eating slowly: This will help you be better attuned to your hunger. If you eat too fast, you may not even realize your hunger has been satisfied until you’ve completely cleared your plate. If you need a little help slowing down, take a breath or put your fork down between each bite.
Creating a list of cues: Once you’ve filled out your food diary, you can identify environmental cues or emotions that drive you to eat when you aren’t actually hungry. Common triggers include feeling bored, entering the kitchen and immediately spotting snack foods, and watching television. Once you’ve discovered your cues, you can take steps to avoid them.
If you need help with your fitness journey, contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!