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For many people, eating habits are tied to other daily activities – some people find it almost impossible not to eat while watching TV, for example. Many people are also conditioned to eat in response to certain emotional triggers, such as boredom, loneliness, fatigue, anger or anxiety. These habits can be extremely difficult to break, and the only way to go about it is form new habits through daily repetition.
While reisisting the pull of a familiar eating habit can be very difficult the first time around, it becomes progressively easier, and within a month or so of consistent effort it can be replaced by a healthier habit. In weight-loss circiles, this strategy has come to be known as ‘behavior modification.’ The following tips can be used to help kick unhealthy eating behaviors:
•Eat at least four meals per day, spaced about three to four hours apart, in order to keep your metabolism elevated. Avoid skipping breakfast, and make your meals either about equal in size or decreasing a bit in portion size as the day goes on – dinner should never be your largest meal of the day.
•Eat slowly, putting down your fork in between bites and not picking it up again until you have swallowed; chew each bite of food at least 10 times before swallowing.
•Settle on one place at home (or at the office) and try to eat all of your meals there as much as possible. This alone can help prevent mindless snacking in the kitchen or at your desk.
•Eat mindfully – avoid engaging in any other activities, such as watching television, working or talking on the phone at the same time.
•Avoid storing food anywhere in the house except for the kitchen. Keeping snack foods like cookies in plain view on the counters can encourage snacking – put them away in a pantry cupboard.
•When shopping, make a detailed list beforehand and stick to it. Avoid buying junk food and try to replace it with healthier alternatives without sacrificing flavor.
•When eating family meals, try to keep the serving dishes in the kitchen rather than placing them in the middle of the table.
•Use smaller plates: Studies have demonstrated that the same size portion on a smaller plate actually appears larger, and this can help you avoid overeating.
•Make a habit of not entirely cleaning your plate, even if you just leave one bite of everything behind. Most people are condiditoned to eat until their plate is clean, rather than when they feel full, and this can help correct that habit.
All of the techniques above can be helpful in ditching unhealthy eating routines and establishing new, healthier habits
It looks like you copied and pasted your information from somewhere else. Most of it is valid except this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kanesha
Eat at least four meals per day, spaced about three to four hours apart, in order to keep your metabolism elevated. Avoid skipping breakfast, and make your meals either about equal in size or decreasing a bit in portion size as the day goes on – dinner should never be your largest meal of the day.
Eat LESS, not more if you expect to lose weight. The many meals per day and eating breakfast thing is a myth that needs to be put to rest already. Eating stimulates insulin. Insulin is the fat storage hormone that signals the body to store any excess calories as fat. You don't burn it, it gets stored as fat. Only a little is stored as glycogen as the body (cells) has a limited capacity. The idea that eating more increases metabolism is fat out lie. Exercise will increase metabolism. If you eat 4 or more meals a day and sit all day long you WILL NOT increase your metabolism. If you sit all day long like a lot of people, you need to eat less.
One of the things I have started doing for myself is actually preparing my own food--I wouldn't say I've gone 'raw', or 'natural', or 'organic'....what I am trying to do is more 'buy the ingredients and make the food myself' as opposed to 'open a can/box/frozen dinner and nuke whatever it is'.
Part of where this got started is that I'm doing the Weight Watchers program, and I noticed that to eat 1 cup of almost *any* breakfast cereal, even the 'healthier' ones (which I did a lot of) is usually around 4 points. Add about an equal amount of 1% milk, and it's another 4 points. (I would also add a piece of fruit, but most of those are 0 points on the WW system.) So that's 8 points, and it's not really that much food--I was always hungry about an hour later, and I'd be craving something sugary.
One day I was up earlier than usual, and I didn't feel like a cold breakfast, so I scrambled two eggs (using milk and butter), cooked up one strip of bacon, added a cup of 1% milk to drink, plus a piece of fruit. Here's the thing--the hot breakfast was more food, more satisfying.....and the same number of points as the cold cereal and milk. And certainly much more nutritious.
So I started doing that every morning--actually *cooking* breakfast instead of throwing together cold cereal and milk. And I noticed that I wasn't doing the "OMG, I WANT CHOCOLATE!!!" bit at 8:30 in the morning. I'd get nibbly more about 9:30, and some fruit would do the trick. I was also less 'tired'--I wouldn't say I became a ball of energy, but I was definitely more likely to move around.
And I started expanding my cooking/food prep. Instead of sandwiches and chips for my lunch, I started making soups, chili, etc--stuff I could put vegetables in (vegetables are a bit more of a stumbling block for me). I also figured I could better control my sodium and sugar intake if I actually made my own food instead of buying canned and boxed stuff. This isn't to say I'm 100% perfect on this, but I have definitely cut a *lot* of those two out of my diet since I started doing more 'home cooking'. Today for lunch I had a chicken salad sandwich--I made the chicken salad myself (I did use store-bought bread, I'm not going *that* far, LOL!) The chicken salad had a few veggies and a bit of fruit in it, along with the chicken, so that's pretty satisfying and healthy at the same time, and I was sparing with the light sour cream and mayo used it it (just enough to give it taste and keep it from being too dry).
I also cut out sodas entirely, and started drinking sparkling water instead.
I haven't seen much weight loss yet (I admit to having a setback when Girl Scout cookie season hit), but there has been improvement, and I'm definitely more energetic, and probably much more mindful now of my eating habits with making myself so many 'homemade' meals. So hopefully sticking to this will have lasting effects.
The multi-meal thingy is probably and overall negative for most people. And no, it does not increase your metabolism by any significant amount, if any.
Preparing your own meals from fresh vegetables, meat, eggs and fish allows you to control the ingredients and avoid preservatives, additives, sugars and too much salt.
During the work week, I eat one meal a day. I have NEVER eaten breakfast - has always made me nauseous. So it's black coffee only and water throughout the day. I have no time for lunch at work and usually work straight through. So one dinner it is. I eat in front of the TV while surfing my laptop. Every night. It's awesome. On weekends, I may eat lunch and dinner. Or just lunch and no dinner.
My weight is 130 lbs (+/- 1-2 pounds depending on the time of the month).
Keto is the way I eat, so I do not feel any hunger pangs during the day.
The multi-meal thingy is probably and overall negative for most people. And no, it does not increase your metabolism by any significant amount, if any.
Eating multiple times per day isn't a negative for many people. Some people work better on multiple meals. The key thing for weight management is total calories eaten, how you get there is up to you. During the work week, I am at my most active and find multi meals a must. Every 2-3 hours. On weekends, it's every 3-4. Note: this doesn't account the 8 hours or more stretch when I'm not eating at all. My metabolism stopped being sluggish the moment I kicked into gear by regularly exercising.
Arguments on how many meals to eat per day aside, the post is regarding changing unhealthy habits into new healthy habits. I definitely have been suffering from bad habits since pregnancy (my daughter will be 6 months old next week). I admit I ate too much during pregnancy and I thought once I finished breast feeding, my appetite would diminish. Boy was I wrong. Finally, this week I cut out the junk food. My mind has gotten in the habbit of telling my body to crave at certain times of the day. Around 2 pm & after dinner, mostly. The most difficult time of day for me is after dinner. Baby goes to bed, time to wind down in front of the TV....we barely keep junk in the house, but that's the time of day my husband would head to quick check & get us junk. This week, we said no more. Last night (Thursday) was a LITTLE less craving, but it's been rough.
Arguments on how many meals to eat per day aside, the post is regarding changing unhealthy habits into new healthy habits. I definitely have been suffering from bad habits since pregnancy (my daughter will be 6 months old next week). I admit I ate too much during pregnancy and I thought once I finished breast feeding, my appetite would diminish. Boy was I wrong. Finally, this week I cut out the junk food. My mind has gotten in the habbit of telling my body to crave at certain times of the day. Around 2 pm & after dinner, mostly. The most difficult time of day for me is after dinner. Baby goes to bed, time to wind down in front of the TV....we barely keep junk in the house, but that's the time of day my husband would head to quick check & get us junk. This week, we said no more. Last night (Thursday) was a LITTLE less craving, but it's been rough.
I was in your same boat, packed on serious pounds after pregnancies. Gained a lot pretty quickly with my first, developed gestational diabetes then the weight stabilized (but it was still a lot of weight up to that point). After baby was born, we were in survival mode and I ate out every single day nearly... started eating garbage the moment the gestational diabetes disappeared. I lost some about five years later, but then I got pregnant again and gained all of the weight back plus an additional 20-30. In total I found myself over 60 lbs overweight. I remained overweight for five years after I had my youngest, as my eating habits didn't change and I didn't exercise. My kids were 10 and 5 and I was still carrying mommy fat! Once I got past 200 lbs, I just felt sort of helpless and no longer in control.
It was a multitude of factors that made me finally do what you're doing and make a change for the better. I had dieted a bit before and lost some, only to regain months later. But in 2016, I was recently diagnosed with HBP and OA. That woke me up big time. I started to reduce calories and I joined the local gym, fully expecting to give up at some point. After all, I recently lost only to regain. However, I never did go back to my old ways and I still work out. I eventually reached my first goal of 170 lbs (the weight I needed to be to no longer be considered "overweight" on the BMI scale). I then went on to lose another 20-23 lbs. I am in the 148-152 lb range (at 5'10). Basically I've returned to the body I had in my 20s and I'm now 42. I have not been this size in ten years. But honestly, I am FAR BETTER now than in my 20s. I have more stamina and I'm muscular.
Good for you though in trying to do something before things really get out of hand.
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