Which of these "Eating Habits" describes you? Find out why your progress has stalled and what to do about it.
It takes much more than just knowing about healthy eating and the basics of weight loss. If you are not seeing the results you want to achieve, or at least the results you wanted to achieve, despite adhering to the regimen regularly, it may be that your "Eating Habits" are holding you back.
These habits describe how you behave and what happens to you when you consume certain foods. Ignoring them, these actions can separate an incredible body from an average one.
Here are six "Eating Habits" that people have and with which you will encounter, and how to deal with them on your fitness journey.
1. THE CASUAL INDULGER.
This personality lives by the motto "Work hard, play harder".
When starting to exercise and follow a diet during the week, the casual indulger is as straight as an arrow, their work ethic at the gym is strong and their clean eating is consistent, without any deviations.
Then the weekend or special holidays come and it's like Superman was hit with Kryptonite (a mineral that weakens him). As if they had closed the book on their Monday-Friday schedule, they also say goodbye to maintaining their eating habits. For this type of person, socializing with food and drinks is the number one priority, saying "No" is impossible because they have a fear of missing out on something special, and always say "Yes" out of guilt, obligation, or social ritual (Everyone does it and so should I).
Already at the football stadium entrance, they drink liberal amounts of beer, eat endless chicken wings, hotdogs, and burgers. They can't resist two-for-one Margaritas or happy hour specials, and yet life needs to be enjoyed, right?
Solution: Pay attention to your surroundings and ask yourself, "Am I relaxing from true hunger or overeating, overdrinking, because it's normal in society and it pressures me?"
Events you want to attend can be just as fun without getting drunk or stuffing yourself with unnecessary food. Moderation is more important than anything else for this type of person. Meet up with friends and go to all the events you want, but limit your drinking and overeating.
Just remember that the strict regimen you follow for five working days and training like a Spartan cannot compensate for stuffing yourself with anything and neglecting yourself for the other 48 hours. This sport requires consistency, and relaxation should be occasional and moderate, especially for this type of person.
2. THE INSATIABLE EATER.
This personality's motto: "I see food, I eat it."
As the name suggests, this type of person has an insatiable appetite. Unfortunately, this indicates that he or she has little self-control when it comes to portion sizes, which can be maddening. This type of person can train like a beast, but such exercising is often seen as a reason to eat more unhealthy food.
Solution: The insatiable eater needs to learn from the Okinawans and practice the "hara hachi bu" philosophy, which roughly translates to, "Eat until 80 percent full."
Practice by writing down everything you eat in a notebook or by filling everything out in a phone app (of which there are many nowadays), this will help you analyze what and how much you eat.
Practice eating slowly and pausing between each bite to truly enjoy the food, its taste. Patience while eating is very significant, as our brains do not immediately understand and "register" that the stomach is already full, and this can very easily lead to overeating.
3. THE PROFESSIONAL GRAZER.
Instead of eating balanced and normal portions and risking eating a bit more than you need in one sitting, this type of person simply eats small portions, but all day long: a handful of nuts here, one or a few candies there, and who can resist mom's homemade cookies?
This type of person eats out of boredom, curiosity, nervousness, or because food is easily accessible. This type of person does not aim for a perfect body, as they constantly fail and fail because they do not understand that all calories add up, no matter what the portions or quantities are. Usually, they eat much more than they should and don't even realize it.
They are disappointed when they don't see results, because after all, their portion size is so small! And they don't even notice that they snack 12 times a day.
Solution: The number one priority for this type of person is to understand that all calories add up, regardless of portions or quantities, everything counts.
To get rid of such behavior, track your food intake for at least a couple of days, so you can understand the problems you are experiencing and that you need to change.
A few more tips we would recommend practicing: Eat fewer snacks, choose larger and more filling portions, double-check your fiber intake, this food slows down digestion and promotes satiety! Fiber-rich foods include whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Ask yourself "Why am I snacking? Is it because I'm nervous, anxious, or just bored?" And finally, consider your hydration status. If you don't drink enough water, it greatly affects how hungry you feel, when in reality you're just dehydrated.
4. THE EMOTIONAL EATER.
Had a bad day at work? Was school tragic? Are other significant things stressing you out? Or are upcoming tasks or events making you anxious?
No matter the case, it's time to eat. Well, at least for this type of person.
Stressful disturbances for this type of person are usually quelled with food, usually food high in trans fats (fast food) or full of sugar.
While this type of person exercises consistently, their results do not reflect or align with how hard they train. This type of person is driven by emotion, they brag to everyone about achieving minimal results, then abandon everything due to a problem and later suffer from social pressure, and then they deeply regret and blame themselves for it.
Solution: The biggest weapon for this type of person is awareness. Just because life seems out of control in one area doesn't mean you have to let it affect other aspects.
Before you start devouring everything, ask yourself "Why" three times before deciding to do so. Most often you will realize that you are not hungry – it's boredom and you need to get out of your comfort zone, out of stressful situations, because you will only feel short-term pleasure and that will solve nothing, it will only disappoint you even more, because you will have another problem.
Change your mindset about food and stress. It is very important for you to seek healthier alternatives to food for stress relief. These alternatives could be not just food, but going for a walk, deep breathing, going to a workout, reading, or simply talking to a friend.
Another measure is to ensure that you don't have snacks at hand, so that you don't have the problem you faced before. Out of sight, out of mind!
5. 24/7 LUNCH.
Seven days a week, this person has lunch at different restaurants. This person lacks culinary skills. Usually, this type of person is not interested in learning them at all.
They usually use the excuse "too busy" to cook and prepare food. So they rely on takeout and restaurant-prepared food.
Hey, we'd all love to enjoy restaurant food whenever we want, but constantly eating such food is dangerous. This type cannot control the portions prepared by the restaurant. They simply cannot know what and how much oil is used, what ingredients are used in their food and where they come from.
Of course, it looks like a plate of chicken breast and rice, but the chicken was probably cooked with a considerable amount of oil and the rice prepared with butter and other ingredients not used when cooking at home. So, when it was expected to consume about 500-600 calories, it could eventually turn out to be 1000 or even more.
Solution: You don't have to be the best chef or cook world-class food, but you should be able to prepare a few simple, quick meals that will help you throughout the workday. Look for frozen vegetables that you only need to throw into boiling water and season your porridges, because food should be tasty! Cook everything at once, this will save you time.
When eating at home, you will know exactly how much and what you consume and avoid the macro element guessing game.
For busy individuals, we suggest practicing eating the same meals – eating 2-3 of the same dishes per week – to simplify the food planning and preparation process. This is why most healthy eating experts suggest cooking food once or twice a week, to avoid guessing what, how, and how much to cook each day.
An example of a consistent meal is simple: Your diet should consist of meat, grains, and vegetables. If you are losing weight – eat more vegetables (You can consume a lot of them, and they have few calories, plus they help digest food better as they are rich in fiber), if you are gaining weight – eat more grains.
6. THE "MULTITASKER"
While working, writing, driving, or watching a series, these people mindlessly munch, as their attention is directed elsewhere. Popcorn, sweets, and a good movie, anyone?
Multitaskers are hardworking at the gym but don't see results because they tend to overlook what they eat. They simply lack a balanced diet.
Solution: Stop multitasking. Seriously. Multitasking is great in some areas, but not in this activity. Besides, only about 2% of people can truly multitask, so you're probably not one of them.
Invest in a calendar that will help you organize your schedule. Arrange it so that you can calmly eat your food relaxed, instead of eating in a hurry, completely unsure of what, say, while talking on the phone or while working at your job or browsing the internet. In reality, just sit down separately from everything at a table and concentrate only on the one thing you are doing.
Doing one activity at a time prevents you from getting distracted and munching on "hidden calories" (which you don't count at all). Moreover, you can become more productive and efficient by giving your full attention to one task you are performing.
So now that you've learned about all six eating types, tell us: Which of these six types is causing the most harm and biggest problems on your fitness journey? And what do you plan to do about it? Write to us and we guarantee we will help you find a solution and give you a concrete answer on what to do!
