How to Stop Bad Eating Habits

Habits are often formed at a young age and some can really stick with you. If you rush through a meal, eat while you do some other task or eat just because you’re bored, then you may want to read more to find out how to kick those bad eating habits out the door. How you consume your food and what food you consume, has a direct impact on your digestion and overall health. You may know that it’s important to watch what kind of foods you put in your meal but it’s also important to focus on how you chew those foods, too.

Eat slowly

One dangerous pitfall of eating too fast is that you don’t give your brain and digestive system enough time to communicate with each other. That often results in overeating, because you haven’t given yourself time to find out whether or not you’re still hungry. When you eat slowly, on the other hand, it gives your brain time to tell you whether or not you need more food. One rule to follow is the 80/20 rule, where you eat until you’re only just 80% full. Take a break and come back if you need more, but more than likely you’ll find out that you’re not hungry after waiting about 20 minutes.

Just eat

Research has found that those who eat while also participating in another activity (watching a movie or tv, sorting mail, surfing the internet) will eat more than if they were just focusing on the act of eating and chewing their food. The research showed that participants underestimated how much they ate by 30-50% when they were distracted with another activity.

Clean your plate?

If you formed a habit of always making sure your plate was clean, then you probably rely on that visual cue to find out if you’re full or not. People often focus on external cues beyond that as well like, if the TV show is over that they’re watching while eating. That external cue will tell them if they’re done eating or not. It’s important to focus on internal cues, not external ones. Some diet experts suggest only giving yourself small portions at a time and you can go back if you need more. If you are feeling full already, put your leftovers in a container for later rather than stuffing in those last few bites.

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