Some eating habits are good for us – while others, not so much. If you’ve noticed that you’re eating habits aren’t serving you or helping you meet your health goals, change food habits you may want to change them. It’s possible to break 8 bad habits bad eating habits, but it does take some work.
Many people want to break their bad eating habits or set up 8 bad habits eating goals to lose or gain weight. But not all eating goals have to do with weight. You may want to eat more of the foods you know are good for you to improve your overall health.
Step 1: Identify Your Bad Habits
You may be completely aware of your bad eating habits, or you may not be.
Keep a journal to get an idea of what you eat during the day, and when. You may notice that you reach for salty foods later in the day, or that you load up 8 bad habits on caffeine early in the morning. Maybe you have a healthy eating day and begin to self-sabotage your success after hours, or you rely on the drive-thru during your day. Whatever the case is, being able to see the existing habits front and center can help you acknowledge them (and then come up with a plan of action to break them)
Identifying Bad Habits
1. Inform yourself about healthy habits. Exchanging bad habits for healthy ones may seem simple, but it requires willpower, as well as knowledge about what to eliminate and how to replace it. Informing yourself about eating habits can help you more effectively change your bad eating habits.
- Read about nutrition and eating habits either in magazines or online. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and United States Department of Agriculture provide extensive information on health, nutrition and effecting change in your eating habits.
2.Keep a food diary. You can’t change bad habits without identifying your current eating patterns. Keeping a detailed food diary can help you figure out your bad and good habits and put you on the path to making changes.
- Write down everything you eat for two weeks to a month to help give you an overview and make it easier to identify bad habits and patterns.
- Include snacks or foods you eat without normally realizing it or in passing.
- Note the source of your food. For example, write if you are eating canned fruit versus fresh fruit.
- Consider writing down how you feel before and after meals, which may help you identify bad habits and triggers for them.
- Make sure to also note good habits in your food diary. For example, “I eat breakfast every morning, even when I’m busy,” or “No matter what, I always have a side salad with dinner.”
3. Identify bad eating habits. After a few weeks, you should be able to identify specific habits and patterns of eating. Knowing your bad habits can help you formulate a plan to begin making changes. Some bad habits you might want to note are:
- Eating meals too quickly
- Eating everything on your plate
- Taking multiple helpings of meals
- Eating or snacking when you’re not hungry.
- Eating while standing up, which can make you eat mindlessly or too quickly.
- Always having appetizers and/or desserts
- Skipping meals, especially breakfast
4. Highlight good eating habits. In addition to bad eating habits, you should notice some good habits as well. It’s important to know those good habits because they help you see where you’re being successful so that you can support 8 bad habits and expand those habits. Some examples of good eating habits include the following:
- Eating healthy choices such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins
- Having a healthy breakfast every day
- Limiting high calorie snacks
- Keeping sugary snacks to a minimum
5. Develop a plan to gradually change bad habits. When you’ve figured out what your bad habits are, start making a plan to gradually replace them and continue your healthy habits. Include things in your plan like replacing bad foods for healthy alternatives, exercise, and rest.
- Make sure your plan is gradual so that it is easier to replace bad habits and reinforce good ones. For example, don’t get rid of all snacks in favor of eating nothing. Limit yourself to a couple of healthy snacks a day. Good snacking options include air-popped popcorn, fruit, and string cheese.
- Incorporate your good eating habits into your plan.
- Create your plan around three healthy and nutritious meals and two wholesome snacks a day.
- Aim to have meals that include foods that meet nutritional needs. For example, eat lean protein, vitamins, and fiber with foods such as lean meats or nuts. Eat fruits and vegetables instead of things like burgers and fries.
- Be aware of situations that encourage bad habits like mindless snacking and write into your plan how you can avoid them. For example, 8 bad habits keep apples or sliced carrots at your desk.
- Build in one “cheat day” or “cheat meal.” Allowing yourself a little conscious cheating may help you avoid bad habits on other days.
6. Seek medical advice. If you are unsure of what your bad habits are or have difficulty figuring out good ones, talk to your doctor or a dietitian about your plan to change your diet. They may be able to identify other problem areas and suggest tricks to change and make alternatives to your diet.
- Find a registered dietitian through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics online search tool.
- Tell your doctor or dietitian about your plans and ask any questions that you may have.
- Consider seeing a mental health professional to how have eating habits changed 8 bad habits help you understand your daily habits and to assist you in making behavioral changes.
Step 2: Get Familiar with Your Cues
Once you know the habit you want to change, you can try to pick up on the cues that cause you to fall into the bad habit. You may be able to avoid some cues, but you may have to work harder to build a plan of action around others.
For example, if you want to stop snacking after dinner, try to see what you reach for at night – and why. Maybe you associate watching TV with crunchy snacks. In that case, you could change where you watch TV, stop watching it after dinner completely, or opt for healthier snacks that are still crunchy.
Your cue may depend on the environment – 8 bad habits you may reach for those less-healthy crunchy foods if they’re visible on the kitchen counter, where you always see (and want) them. In that case, you can remove them.
1. Avoid “cues” for bad habits. Many people have triggers or cues for bad eating habits, such as sitting in front of the TV or getting a breadbasket at a restaurant. Avoiding these “cues” or triggers can help you gradually forget and replace your bad habits.
- Figure out ways to avoid cues and triggers. For example, how have eating habits changed drive home a different route to avoid stopping for coffee or fast food.
- Find an alternative if you can’t avoid triggers. For example, keep healthy snacks in your car or chew gum when you drive past fast-food restaurants.
2. Replace bad habits with healthy ones. Your food diary will help you be more aware of your bad eating habits so that you can replace them 8 bad habits with healthier options. How have eating habits changed Part of your plan for change will include replacing these habits with the new strategies you’ve incorporated into your plan.
- Come up with sensible alternatives to bad habits. For example, if you feel the need to clean your plate, take smaller amounts of food so that you can finish without feeling guilty or overstuffed.
- Try eating structured meals at a table, which can keep you from mindlessly eating bad foods.
- Eat only when you’re hungry.
- If you’ve started seeing a dietitian or mental health professional, include their recommendations in your plan.
3. Make changes gradually. You’re probably excited to get rid of your bad habits and improve your health, but it’s important to make gradual changes This will help you incorporate many different good habits and stick to them for life. Pushing yourself to change too quickly could result in you getting overwhelmed and giving up. Changing any habit takes time.
- Try to include at least one healthy habit with each meal. For example, if you typically watch TV while eating, eat at the table instead. If you skip breakfast, try having having a piece of fruit with peanut butter.
- Follow the same principle when replacing unhealthy foods with healthier choices. Consider having steamed broccoli with garlic salt instead of broccoli covered how have eating habits changed in cheese sauce.
- Remember that small changes make a big difference over time.
4. Plan your meals. Planning your meals in advance can minimize the risk of returning to bad habits. Planning also reinforces your good eating habits. It may also ensure that you’re getting enough nutrients.
- Try and prepare as many of your own meals as possible to avoid cues and triggers.
- Plan a healthy breakfast to start your day with healthy habits. Pack a lunch or scope out the menu at restaurants so that you don’t feel tempted to have something that isn’t on your plan.
- There is some evidence that giving yourself a chance to cheat occasionally can help you stay with healthy habits.
- Focus on the positive, like that you ate healthy most of the day or haven’t how have eating habits changed reverted to unhealthy habits in a while.
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Step 3: Think Up New Habits
Now that you know the habit you want to break, and the cues that may cause you to keep doing it, it’s time to think of some alternatives. You may be able to replace change food habits an old habit with a new one – or at least part of the old pattern.
In the case of not wanting to eat after dinner, you may change food habits choose to save TV for weekends and spend your nights exercising, reading, or catching up with friends.
If your bad habit involves skipping out on veggies at dinner, make it a habit to cook one every night. Make it easy by leaning on canned or frozen varieties if getting fresh produce is an obstacle.
1. Learn about Healthy Eating. Learn about the basics of good eating and nutrition. This may make it easier to gradually switch out your bad habits and food choices for good ones.
- Choose foods from the five food groups at each meal and make sure to vary choices from meal to meal so that you get plenty of nutrients. The five food groups are: fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy.
- Eat 1-1.5 cups of fruit daily. Fruits like raspberries, blueberries, how have eating habits changed or cherries are good choices.
- Eat 2.5-3 cups of vegetables daily. Broccoli, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes are good choices.
- Eat 5-8 ounces of grains daily. Half of this amount should be whole grains from foods like brown rice, quinoa, or whole wheat bread.
- Eat 5-6.5 ounces of protein daily. Lean meats like pork or chicken, cooked beans, eggs, or nuts are good choices.
- Get 2-3 cups of dairy daily. Cheese, yogurt, and milk are good choices.
- Remove foods that are cues or triggers for you, such as chips, candy, or processed meals.
- Donate unused food to a local food bank.
3. Stock your pantry with healthy choices. Buy a selection of healthy change food habits choices to restock your pantry. Having mostly or only healthy options can reinforce good habits and help you avoid cues and triggers.
- Avoid going overboard with buying food, which can cause some people to revert to overeating. This might require that you shop more often but may also keep you on track with healthy habits.
- Get options like whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, or brown rice so that you can avoid bad eating habits when you’re in a pinch.
- Keep herbs and spices to jazz up meals and give flavor to foods how have eating habits changed you normally find to be bland.
4. Enjoy Restaurants. Eating out can cue bad habits for many people. How have eating habits changed Learning to make conscious choices can help you enjoy restaurants and visiting with friends or family without going back to bad habits.
- Keep your cues and triggers in mind. For example, how to change bad change food habits eating habits if fried appetizers are your downfall, simply skip that part of the menu.
- Stay away from buffets, which may encourage you to revert to many different bad eating habits like overeating and making unhealthy choices.
Step 4: Use a Diet Primer
Keep your goal front-and-center so you stick to it. A diet primer is a visual reminder of your goal that you can put somewhere when you know you’re how have eating habits changed 8 bad habits about to encounter a cue. Some research suggests that diet priming can change the way you react to temptations that are linked to unhealthy eating habits.
Step 5: Practice
When you replace an old habit with a new one, you’ll need to practice it because it may not come naturally at first. If you aren’t in the mood for carrots and opt for bowl of chips one night while watching TV, learn from the mistake and remember change food habits to keep practicing the new habit. That is, the next night, reach for your healthy crunchy snacks.
Step 6: Take It Easy on Yourself
You’re human, so you may slip back into an old habit after you start a new one. If you do, try not to blame yourself. That can derail you from continuing to practice the new habit. Try to focus on the small steps you’re taking to do better instead change food habits of trying to rely on willpower and giving up if you don’t meet 8 bad habits your own expectations.
