What is eating habits?
The term eating habits or food habits refers to why and how people eat,with whom they eat,which foods they eat.In other words,the way a person eats, consider in terms of what type of food are eaten ,in what quantities and when they are eaten. Our eating habits are also influenced by our social,economical,environmental,cultural and religious factors. "With the wrong diet, no medicine can help.With the right diet no medicine is necessary."
Unhealthy eating habits
Thoughtlessly or carelessly eating makes our eating habits unhealthy.We eat when we are getting bored,we eat when we are busy in another activity,we eat straight out of the packet and did not think how much we eat,we eat when we are emotional
that makes our eating habits unhealthy.Here are some points given which included in unhealthy eating habits:
- Starving yourself
- Eating while doing something else
- Eating too fast
- Not drinking enough water
- Not eating fruits and vegetables
- Eating before bed
- Skipping breakfast
- Eating straight out of the packet
- Emotional eating
- Food binging
- Mindless eating
- Eating too fast
- Eating junk food
- Endless snacking
How to make your eating habits healthy
We discussed about unhealthy eating habits .Now the question arises how can we make our eating habits healthy.Some people say that they follow strict dietary plans but after some time they are back to their old eating habits.But the reality is there is no need to cut the whole food groups or deny yourself the pleasure of eating.Steps to fix bad eating habits
- Take Baby steps:Making small changes in your diet and lifestyle can improve your health and reduce your weight also such as start your day with a nutritious breakfast,get a 8 hours sleep,drink plenty of water,meditation,limit alcohol and smoking,and change to healthy cooking methods etc.
- Think before what you eat:You should pay attention for what you eat.Read the labels,check the ingredients.Once you become more aware what you are eating you will You will start to realize how to make your diet plan more healthier.
- Make a specific action plan:Take a piece of paper and write down your action plan .Know exactly what you are going to do,how much or often and when.An action plan helps you to eat healthier food.It can also helps you to prepare for things that might come in your way.
- Keep the journal:Write down everything what you eat, how much and what times of day you are eating and mark it when you were really hungry or not.Also write down what else you were doing such as sitting idle,or doing some physical work etc. How were you feeling such as being hungry,bore,stressed.At the end of the week, review your journal and look at your eating patterns and decide what you want to change in your eating habits.
- Achieve a small goal each week:Try to achieve a small goal every week like you'll go to the gym thrice a week or add extra fruit in your diet.When you achieve this small goal every week your morale will boost up and this will make a big difference in your life.
- Be realistic:Don't expect too much in one day.It takes time to change your old habits to new one.
- Prepare meal yourself:It will help you to know what's in your food.Cooking at home is healthier than the packaged food.
- Reduce sugar:Slowly reduce the sugar in your diet.It gives a little time to your taste buds.Include fresh fruit juices in your diet instead of soft drinks.
- Eat plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables:"You eat with your eyes first". Try to add plenty of colors in your plate will help you to eat more vegetables and fruits in your diet.These colors will help you to be stick on your diet plan.
- Eat healthy carbs ,fibers,whole grains,protein and calcium:Healthy carbohydrates and fibers like whole grains will gives you energy for long time.It stays in your stomach longer than other foods,so you feel full for longer time and you eat less.Calcium makes your bones and teeth healthier.Protein gives you energy to get up and go or keep going .But too much of protein is harmful for your body .Protein intake is also depends upon your age .
- Take your meal timely:Maintaining a particular time to eat helps the body clock to set the time for release of enzymes and digestion process.
- Eat less but often:It will lighten the load on your digestive system ,so your digestive system works more efficiently on lighter load.If you take only 3 big meals that will overload your digestive system and it slows down your digestive system.It may result indigestion,which in turn might lead to other health problems.You feel lethargic when the interval between meals are too long.
- Replace your old habits with healthy one:Controlling the circumstances that cause unhealthy eating like eating while doing something else ,eat when you feel bore or stressed out.Instead of eating high calories food ,eat some fruit ,veggies and nuts.Drink fresh fruit juice in-spite of high calories drinks or packaged fruit juice.Drink plenty of water.
