Most Common Bad Eating Habits

Bad eating habits are common. It is easy to operate on automatic when it comes to food. Living in a fast-paced society often makes it so you have to eat on the run, skip meals, eat whatever is fast and easy or use food to relieve stress.



1. Eating on the Run

If you live a busy life, there may not be enough time to prepare meals or sit down to eat. Eating in the car or going through a fast food drive-thru may be part of your eating habits. The challenge with eating on the run is that you don’t have a chance to pay close attention to what you’re eating.

Eating quickly makes it easier to eat more. When you eat quickly in the car or while on your way somewhere, your mind is on other things and not on how much you’re eating. If you’re eating fast food, you are also very likely consuming more fat and excessive calories without the necessary nutrition.

2. Eating Large Portions

As bad eating habits go, eating more food than the body needs is a common behavior. This can happen for a variety of reasons. If you’re distracted by the television, you might eat more. Some people eat more when they’re feeling lonely.

To control portion sizes, think ahead about how much food will be enough. Serve yourself on a small plate or bowl and sit down at the table to eat. Avoid eating foods right out of the box or bag. It is easier, for example, to eat many more cookies when the box is sitting right in front of you as you watch television. Decide ahead of time how many cookies you will eat and put the box away before you sit down.

3. Using Food to Relieve Stress

Many people use food to relieve stress. After a long and difficult day at work, eating many slices of pizza and drinking beer may be an attractive option. Using food in this way, however, leads to greater weight gain. When feeling stressed out, find ways to relax yourself that don’t involve food. Spending time in nature, talking with friends, meditating and exercising are a few options.

4. Skipping Meals

Many doctors and nutritionists will tell you repeatedly to avoid skipping meals. When you don’t eat regularly, your hunger increases and you may also experience drops in blood sugar level. Many people compensate for this by eating larger meals later in the day or by excessive snacking. Be sure to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.

5. Late Night Eating

Eating late at night is one of the bad eating habits that’s very common. Nighttime eating often consists of snacking and excessive calorie consumption. This may be due to boredom or being distracted by sedentary activities such as watching television or surfing the web. To avoid eating late at night, find interesting things to do that take away the boredom. Possible options may include a fun hobby, an interesting book, meditation, an exercise DVD or a conversation with a good friend.