Health & Wellness

Bad Habit to Break: Eating on the Run. Eating in the car, snacking at your desk, drinking a high-calorie smoothie or latte while walking around-it's all too easy to take in excessive calories if you're eating on the go. To curb this type of distracted eating, sit down to eat.

It’s not just willpower, or a lack thereof, that makes us overeat and gain weight. Sometimes, it’s that sneaky bad habit you developed without even realizing it, like dashing out the door some mornings without breakfast, or munching chips in front of your favorite TV show. The next thing you know, one little bad habit can equal out to a lot of weight gain. The worst part is, you might not even realize what you’re doing to your diet.

Here, quick fixes for some of the most common bad eating and lifestyle habits that can cause you to pack on pounds.

The Bad Habits:

• Skipping Breakfast

• Emotional Eating

• Eating Too Quickly

• Not Getting Enough Sleep

• Vegging Out With Video Games

• Eating Junk Food

• Mindless Eating

4 types of eating habits

Eating should not be complicated.

And yet for some people, it is the most complicated part of their existence.

Breaking down the different types of eating can be helpful.

There are four types of eating:

FUEL EATING

This is the only reason we need to eat because food is fuel. We need it to survive and thrive. Fuel eating happens when the body cues us that it is hungry and in need of nutrients for energy.

When we are fuel eating, we choose to eat foods that are nourishing to the body and stop when we are satisfied. This should, ideally, happen consciously and intentionally.

JOY EATING

This is eating foods that don’t have nutritional value for our body (desserts, savoury snacks, and the like), but it provides pleasure. Joy eating can and should happen occasionally so that we are satisfying our need for pleasure that we get from food.

Ideally, joy eating should be done minimally and mindfully so that you actually experience the pleasure of that food.

FOG EATING

This is all the mindless eating that occurs during and between meals, whether it’s fuel or joy eating. It’s the grazing and snacking that you may not be aware of: it’s eating when you are not hungry.

Fog eating is overeating. And overeating is the reason we gain weight or not lose extra weight.

STORM EATING

This type of eating feels out of control, and always results in negative consequences both physically and emotionally. Storm eating can look like binge eating where nothing seems enough. It is absolutely an act out of emotional cues and not physical hunger.

To be healthy, maintain a healthy weight and have a peaceful relationship with food, we are meant to mostly practice fuel eating and occasional joy eating.

How can we do this?

• First, become aware of your eating patterns.
• Second, decide what you want to change.
• Third, be conscious of what, why and how you are eating.
• Fourth, practice and repeat.

All the while, practice patience and compassion with yourself.

It may sound simple, but it is not always easy.

But it is entirely possible.

Reference:

• kityoon.com/4-types-of-eating
• everydayhealth.com/diet-and-nutrition-pictures/bad-eating-habits-and-how-to-break-them.aspx