Eating healthy is good. However, the first thing that we think about habits is usually a bad rap. Particularly from stress to changing our routines to something we really do not want to do. Truth is, no one eats perfectly all the time. This is normal. In fact, it is human too. However, when your eating habits are bad, they can cause a lot of trouble for you.
Furthermore, it is not just about restraint or the lack of it, that causes bad habits. Sometimes, it’s that habit that you cultivate without even knowing it. Consequently, the worst part is you might not realize what it does to your health. Even if it’s eating the wrong food or skipping the right one, pay attention to building better habits.
Table of Contents
Benefits of Eating Healthy
Generally, we all talk about how “health is wealth”. However, it seems like we have forgotten about how important this saying actually is with the number of wrong health choices we make. Thankfully, healthy eating habits can reduce and prevent a lot of problems. In short, with just focusing on the right things, you can do a lot. Some of the most common benefits of healthy eating include;
- Helps in weight loss.
- Reduces the risk of cancer.
- Delays ageing and improves long living.
- Boosts brain and heart health.
- Reduces stress.
- Enhances productivity.
7 Bad Eating Habits Preventing You From Eating Healthy
There are so many options to choose from when you are looking at our bad eating habits. However, we will be discussing 7 most common bad eating habits and how to stop them. Hence, helping you with eating healthy – these bad eating habits include;
Always Eating Fast Foods
Do you find yourself always going out to get some snacks or eating at your favourite restaurant? Fast food restaurants have so much to give but help in very little ways. A recent study shows that these meals are extremely high in fat, sugar, and cholesterol levels, increasing your mortality rate. Dishes found in these outlets sometimes contain unhealthy ingredients that will take a huge toll on your health. Starting with a super-sized portion, you go home with nothing but more calories and sodium.
To stop this, our advice for you is to count the cost. There’s a lot to save when you eat at home. Also, try to prepare meals at home for most nights and if you find yourself at a restaurant, follow healthy tips and eat your food mindfully.
Skipping Meals
It’s completely normal to be piled up with so many tasks to finish but when you’re too busy to eat, it becomes dangerous. You’ll just end up over-hungry and that will make you overeat or make unhealthy food choices. Skipping meals causes your body to lower the energy it needs to function and burn more of the energy stored up. At the end of the day, you’re left with little energy because you’ve run out of fuel you get from food.
The best way to stop this is to plan your meals better. Try to carry healthy food with you for when you really need it. Always pre-bag snacks so you have the right portion size.
Eating Too Many Processed Foods
Junk and unhealthy foods are everywhere we turn. They contain increased and toxic levels of sugar added just to make them taste better. You might find them in the most unexpected places like cereals, salad dressings, and even bread. Consciously selecting healthier options gives you a better edge on your calories.
To start eating healthy, you have to identify what you want and take your favourite foods in moderation, and not as everyday foods. Trying to avoid them will only make you crave them more. Know how to read labels to help you make smart choices when you come across them.
Emotional Eating
Many of us eat when we’re bored, tired, stressed, happy, or sad. Eating outbursts as a coping mechanism is barely the best choice. Your body will pay for it eventually with issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, and fatigue. And the feel-good foods you reach out for can actually make you feel worse.
Find something else that helps you with your stress like a walk. When you remove emotional eating, you have solved half of your eating problems. Choose any activity you like as long as it keeps you out of the kitchen to help you with eating healthy.
Super-Sized Portions
Have you ever really measured out your morning cereal or oil for cooking? By eyeballing your portions, you can end up overdoing them. The World Health Organization stated that you stand a higher risk of obesity when you take portions that are larger than the recommended servings over time. Even with healthy foods, not measuring them can cause an overload of calories.
When eating healthy is your goal, use smaller plates to eat. Start your meal with water so you eat less and slowly too. Don’t eat straight from a container or package. Try to get better at portion control.
Not Drinking Enough Water
Forgetting to drink water happens more times than we care to admit. Apart from an overall fluid loss in your body, it decreases the volume of your blood that puts excess pressure on your heart which helps in delivering oxygen and nutrients to your entire system. Consuming water helps in keeping your energy levels up throughout your day. When you don’t drink water, you get really tired, have a headache, or are just overall moody.
A solution here is to keep a closed water bottle close by at all times. Find creative ways of taking water. There is a percentage of water content in different foods so you can take it from there. These foods include; fruit juice and yoghurt (72%-75%), fruits like apples and oranges (80%-89%), bananas and baked potatoes (70%-75%), and avocados (69%).
Eating Late And Quickly
Cravings hit really big at night and they can tend to make you grab anything you see. It seems easier and more efficient to eat a meal when you feel like but that’s no way to eat food. Rushing your food doesn’t give your brain enough time to catch up with your stomach. If you do this, you could end up eating more than you need and becoming overweight.
You have to teach yourself to think of the kitchen as being closed after dinner, brush your teeth and if you’re really hungry at night, reach for something small and healthy like a piece of fruit. To slow down your eating, take smaller bites and drink water in between each one.
How to Stop Wanting What’s Bad for You and Focus on Eating Healthy
To begin with, do you know why people hardly ever go through their diets? It’s because they believe they need the willpower to deprive themselves of what they want.
Subsequently, desire is a really strong emotion. Because it makes us tick and encourages us to seek what we wish for. Therefore, that’s why when we have to stop eating cookies, we find it hard to. Thus, we feel deprived and the desire for the cookie never really leaves.
Nevertheless, if you’re on a new diet, you have to want it or else it never really works out. For this purpose, the solution is to reduce your desire for bad habits and increase your desire for good ones. It would be easier to not eat a cookie if you don’t want it anymore. This is very possible.
To summarize, there is a big difference between resisting and allowing an urge. Allowing is gentler. It permits one to experience that urge without exactly reacting to it. Consequently, if you do this for a given period of time, it will grow on you. As a result, you will find yourself wanting to do better.
A Flexible Framework to Create a Plan Towards Eating Healthy
You need to be mindful of creating good eating habits. It shouldn’t be a do-or-die affair. Hence, it has to work for you and serve you.
Therefore to help you, this is a framework you can use to evaluate the eating habits you want to develop. Since eating healthy is your goal, you need habits that SERVE you. They should be;
- Small
- Easy
- Realistic
- Valuable
- Enjoyable
There are times when life gets in the way of an amazing plan. Thus, this framework will ensure that the habits go on despite little effort on your part.
SMALL
Huge tasks are never done. You don’t want to rely on motivation. They should be small steps. Therefore, they should be the bare minimum to be done without thinking twice. Ask yourself–what is the smallest step I can take?
EASY
In addition, there should be very low barriers to your future action. In fact, if you know something will stop you from doing that easy task, remove that barrier. Generally, you can always do more but the smallest step is still a successful one. Ask yourself–what’s the easiest way to go about this?
REALISTIC
Above all, there has to be something you can see yourself doing regularly every day. There has to be a level of minimum consistency. For this purpose, ask yourself–how can I do this my way?
VALUABLE
The habits should be particularly valuable to you. In brief, they should help you in achieving your goal. Ask yourself–will this help me move forward?
ENJOYABLE
Finally, you have to ensure there are tasks and diets that you enjoy. Ask yourself–do you enjoy doing this?
Conclusion on Bad Eating Habits and Eating Healthy
We know you wish there were 25 hours in a day or more so you can get more of your tasks done on time. Balancing work and home life can be really hard and as a result, we end up with bad eating habits.
Consequently, these bad eating habits are shaving years off your life. In fact, if any of these scenarios sound familiar, your habits need a tune-up. Above all, try to listen to your body and don’t let desire get in the way of your healthy living. In addition, here is our article on 10 Fitness Mistakes People Make When Starting Their Journey.
Leave a Reply