5 Good Eating Habits that Will Serve You Well
It goes without saying, good eating habits are important for our physical and mental wellbeing. It’s not that we don’t know this, but our good intentions tend to get muddled. We too often get distracted by life goings-on which ultimately sets us up for temptations and eating routines that are not in our best interests. And you know what they say: When you do something long enough, it becomes a habit.
Recognizing Your Eating Behaviors
We all have certain habits when it comes to eating. However, these eating behaviors didn’t appear overnight. Instead, they took years to formulate and become a habit. Most likely, we don’t even give much thought as to whether they are good eating habits that we need to hang onto or something we need to change.
A typical eating behavior that is commonly shared is turning to our favorite comfort foods when we are feeling a need for contentment. That’s not to say that there is anything wrong with enjoying our favorite foods now and then. However, it is important to recognize the reasoning behind such cravings. In many cases, there are alternative ways to bring comfort that we simply have not identified.
For that reason, it is important to take some time to reflect on your current eating habits.
How Do You Identify Eating Habits?
A good way to establish good and bad eating habits is to observe what you are eating. For instance, write down everything you eat and drink throughout the day. At the same time, take note of the time of day and jot that down too. Perhaps you are skipping a meal or indulging in too much snacking without realizing it.
Once you have determined your food intake, take notice of how you eat. Do you sit down to eat? Do you eat on the run? Possibly, you are a slow eater. Perhaps you gulp your food down in a hurry. These types of behaviors are easy to identify because they are familiar habits to you.
Lastly, you want to pinpoint your feelings when eating certain foods. Do you feel stressed out or down in the dumps. Are you happy? Perhaps you aren’t even hungry.
Ideally, identifying these eating behaviors will help bring awareness to the triggers that cause you to engage in poor eating practices. Ultimately this will help you to create good eating habits.
5 Good Eating Habits that Will Make You Feel Great
Being conscious of what, when, and how you eat will help you improve your eating habits. Below are some healthy and beneficial eating behaviors that will make you feel great.
1. Drink Plenty of Water
Staying hydrated is good for your body and mind. Physically, drinking water helps your body to function as it should. For one thing, it keeps your body at the right temperature. Also, it helps to rid your body of toxins.
Mentally, if the brain isn’t getting the hydration it needs, your cognitive function suffers. It becomes harder to concentrate and remember things.
2. Eat Nutrition-Rich Foods
A healthy balanced diet consists of 45% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 35% healthy fat. Equally important, fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber and will give you essential nutrients that your body needs.
To back this up, a study conducted by the Library of Medicine links fruit and vegetable consumption to higher mortality rates. In fact, their recommended intake of eating 400 grams a day equates to what we’ve been told for years. Eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
Equally, whole grains are an important part of a nutritious diet. They contribute essential vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber that your body needs for healthy maintenance.
3. Limit Unhealthy Foods
Notice we say limit rather than to eliminate unhealthy foods. It’s better to move slowly than to get sabotaged from being denied too much. It stands to reason when you are accustomed to eating certain foods for a long period of time, there will be cravings.
With that said, according to the Heart Association, here are the unhealthy food categories that should be limited from your diet.
- highly processed foods (snack foods, fast foods)
- unhealthy fats (trans-fats, hydrogenated, saturated)
- sugar (high fructose corn syrup)
- foods high in sodium
- sodas and other sugary drinks
- deep fat fried foods
4. Plan Your Meals
It surprises me the number of people who don’t even know what they’re having for dinner until that time of day rolls around. True, meal planning takes some effort but once you get into the habit of planning your meals, you’ll find it becomes much easier. So how do you map out what you’re going to be eating for the day?
First off, prepare a list before going to the store. Most of the time we eat unhealthy foods because we get hungry. Specifically, blood sugar levels drop. So, we reach for the fastest and most convenient foods we can get our hands on. When you have a balanced meal planned out, you can eliminate this issue.
Perhaps you are in the habit of snacking and really don’t want to give that up. On the positive side, you can make snacking a part of a healthy diet. Simply incorporate in your meal planning foods that include protein, fiber and good fat. At the same time limit sugar and salt. This will keep you energized in the hours between meals. Plus, it gives you the opportunity to add essential nutritional foods to your daily diet.
Of course, eating a healthy nutritious diet is key to establishing good nutrition habits. But there are many other benefits derived from being mindful of the foods we eat.
For one, being aware of our eating behaviors and maintaining good diet habits can play a big role in managing our weight. For example, you won’t be inclined to eat when you’re not truly hungry. Plus, focusing your attention on what you eat will give you the opportunity to relish each bite. Therefore, it will take the power away from compulsive overeating.
Importantly, just the very motion of eating and chewing slowly can promote better digestion. At the same time, taking time to savor the foods you eat will bring you more enjoyment and help you feel more satisfied after eating.
Ideally, when you have a mind-body connection with food, you become more aware of hunger cues and emotional eating patterns before they can catch you off guard.
There’s no denying healthy eating and a balanced diet are good eating habits that will keep you sustained throughout the entire day.