5 Bad Eating Habits and How to Break Them
It’s not just determination , or a lack thereof, that makes us overeat and gain weight. Sometimes, it’s that crafty 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 identical out to a lot of weight gain. The worst part is, you might not even realize what you’re doing to your diet.
1)The Bad Habit: Mindless Eating
Cornell University food psychologist Brian Wansink, PhD, discovered that the larger the plate or bowl you eat from, the more you unknowingly eat up . In one recent study, Wansink found that moviegoers given extra-large vestal of stale popcorn still ate 45 percent more than those snacking on fresh popcorn out of smaller containers holding the same amount.
The Fix: Eat from smaller dishes. Try swapping out your large dinner plate for a salad plate, and never eat straight from a container or package.
2)_The Bad Habit: Nighttime Noshing
Diet folklore suggests that eating at night is almost never a good idea if you want to lose weight. Although many experts say this old adage is pure myth, a new animal study backs up the idea that it’s not only what you eat but also when you eat that counts. Researchers at Northwestern University found that mice given high-fat foods during the day (when these nocturnal animals should have been sleeping) gained symbolic more weight than mice given the same diet at night.
The Fix: The diet take-away here? After dinner, teach yourself to think of the kitchen as being closed for the night, and brush your teeth — you’ll want to eat less with a newly cleaned mouth. If a craving hits, wait 10 minutes. If you’re still truly hungry, reach for something small like string cheese or a piece of fruit.
3)The Bad Habit: Endless Snacking
Here’s a bad habit many are guilty of: snacking round-the-clock, often on high-calorie foods that are full of vacant0 carbs. A recent study at the University of North Carolina found that it isn’t just a problem for adults: kids are snacking more and more often on unhealthy junk food including salty chips, soda, and candy.
The Fix: Keep only healthy snacks within reach, such as hummus, carrots and cucumber slices, air-popped popcorn, yogurt, and almonds, says Jessica Randall, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Don’t stock your desk or pantry with potato chips or cookies you know you can’t resist.
4)The Bad Habit: Skipping Breakfast
You know that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, but with so many other tasks competing for your attention, you may decide you don’t have time to eat. When you skip meals, your metabolism begins to slow, Crandall explains, plus, breakfast gives you that boost of energy you need to take on your day. Without this fuel, chances are, you’ll just overeat later. A new study of Chinese schoolchildren found that those who skipped breakfast gained significantly more weight over a two-year period than those who ate a morning meal.
The Fix: Have ready healthy breakfast foods you can consume on the run, Crandall says. If you’re rushed, try easy items such as whole fruit, yogurt, homemade cereal bars, and smoothies
5)The Bad Habit: Emotional Eating
You had a bad day at the office, and when you get home, you open the refrigerator and eat — not a good diet strategy. “You put food in your mouth as a coping mechanism,” Crandall says. A number of studies confirm that emotions, both positive and negative, can cause people to eat more than they should, an easy weight-loss stumbling block.
The Fix: Find a new stress-buster, Crandall says. “If you’re stressed out at work, when you get home, take a walk instead of eating or call a friend who will be empathetic,” she suggests. “You can vent and take some of the stress off your shoulders.” Choose any activity you like as long as it keeps you out of the kitchen.