![]() ![]() For many if not most people, overcoming challenging eating habits in the face of regular hunger is impossible to sustain, whereas changing our dietary patterns to enhance fullness can provide us with the leg up we need by reducing our physiological drive to eat.īalanced is an ill-defined term but certainly it’s important to consume a fairly wide variety of foods if the aim is to ensure your nutritional needs are met. Hunger leads millions of years of dietary evolution during times of extreme food insecurity and scarcity to make our choices for us. At the end of the day, hunger is not most of our friends. The second step is perhaps less intuitive and that would be reanalyzing your patterns, but this time with a lens trained on fullness and hunger. The first step may be in identifying them - and a food journal is a great way to do so - just be sure not to use the food journal to shame, blame, or police your choices. Strategies to overcome unhealthy eating habits It may also simply be that the combination of our physiological drive to eat with the psychological benefits of food is a recipe for easier gain. As far as weight gain goes, it may be that the foods that provide us with the most comfort have lesser impact on fullness which in turn may allow for increased energy consumption over time. It also has a basis in physiology whereby eating decreases our bodies’ stress hormone levels and in turn provides us with short term partial comfort or relief. The role of emotional eating in weight gainĮmotional eating, eating as a means to derive comfort in the face of strong emotions, is common. Spending even just a week or two tracking when you’re eating can identify triggers both as you go along, or when you review and look for patterns. It’s not difficult to identify these triggers. Triggers can be habitual eating patterns (snacking in front of the TV), to emotional, to boredom, and of course can also be driven by social engagements and patterns. The hungrier you are, the greater the impact of the trigger. No doubt there are many triggers, and every single one of them is influenced by hunger. ![]() Identifying triggers that lead to unhealthy eating habits This is a truth regardless of what dietary intervention or macronutrient distribution you undertake. While we are not walking math formula and where different foods have different impacts on hunger, cravings, and fullness, at the end of the day weight is about energy balance whereby if you consume more energy than you expend you’ll gain weight, and you’ll lose if you eat less. How your current eating habits impact your weight And while certainly some of these factors are modifiable, it’s important to understand and respect that some are not.īy the end of this article you will have a better understanding of some of the many variables that influence your pattern of eating and consequently also understand that despite what you may hear from society, the notion it’s simply a matter of willpower is false.Ĭelebrating Success and Maintaining Weight Loss And if you can’t finish what’s on your plate, take it home with you and eat it the next day, she says.Changing Your Eating Habits for Weight Loss What are eating habits?Įating habits describe more than simply what foods you enjoy because there are many factors beyond palate that influence choices and behaviours - from your genes and hormones, to how you and your friends socialize, to your job requirements, to cooking skills, to finances, to health, and more. Asian and Latin restaurants tend to serve smaller portions of meat and have more vegetable-centric dishes, Palmer says. If possible, pick a restaurant that offers more pescatarian and vegetarian options. You can also choose restaurants that serve smaller portions and where guests share meals, she says. She says you can reduce your climate impact by eating out less. For this reason, eating out is a major contributor to food waste and climate change. Many restaurants in the United States serve oversized portions, and these meals often contain large quantities of animal products, says Palmer. “If you live in an apartment, it might be a little hard, but setting up a compost bin in your yard is great,” says Foley. ![]()
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