Poor eating habits developed at an early age leads to a lifetime of real health consequences.
Richard J. Codey
Food is what gives us the energy to function. The term eating habits as many people are aware of is the way one eats and the kind of food which is being consumed. In actual sense, eating habits entail a whole lot of things such as:
1.Why and how you eat2. The people you eat with
3. Which food you eat
4.How the food is obtained
5. How the food is stored, used and discarded
Every time you eat or drink, you are either fighting diseases or feeding it.
Heather Morgan
The way of life (culture) can influence the eating of an individual. Most bad eating habits stem from children having a set of taste and preferences. Children are supposed to be introduced to different foods and their benefits. Teaching kids about the various foods’ health advantages helps them value them more as adults, which promotes healthy eating habits and eliminates the majority of the health problems that people currently experience.
Changing your eating habit is not easy and as such it requires patience, time, consistency and discipline. One way you can do that is to keep a food journal. The journal will serve as a guide and keep track of your eating habit. Keep the food journal for a week and during that period, write down the foods you eat, what times you eat them and the quantity you eat. Also, include the state you were in.
Example : You were bored at work so you got a snack from the vending machine or you were sleepy so you took a cup of coffee.
At the end of the week, review the journal and check your eating patterns to see what needs to be changed or maintained.
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
The 4 types of eating habits known are:
1. Fuel eating
2. Fun eating
3. Fog eating
4. Storm eating
FUEL EATING
This should be the only reason we eat because food as clearly stated earlier is fuel to the body. During fuel eating, the only consumable foods should be the ones that are nourishing to the body and ones you stop eating when satisfied. This should happen consciously and intentionally. Fuel eating should be done 80% of the time because the body needs the real, clean, natural and minerally processed food to provide the body with energy
FUN EATING
This type of eating habit is when you eat food that does not contain any nutritional benefit to your body but you enjoy them because they taste good. They may include desserts, savory snacks and the likes. Fun eating should not be consistent or an everyday thing, rather, It should occur infrequently to satiate our desire for the pleasure food provides.
FOG EATING
During fog eating, you are not aware of what you are eating; you mindlessly do it even when you are not hungry. You munch on chips without tasting them. You ask colleagues for their snacks even though you are not hungry. It is possible to eat a bar of candy even without realizing how much you have eaten and what it even tasted like. Fog eating ends up in overeating and this leads to unnecessary weight gain.
STORM EATING
This is binge eating or eating out of control. It is mostly done out of emotions and not
necessarily out of hunger. Often times, storm eating is followed by regret and shame.
When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is right, medicine is of no need.
Richard Codey
It is possible to experience some of these types at the same time or one may lead to the other. In order to be healthy and also maintain a healthy weight, practicing fuel eating is the best way to go about a healthy eating habit.
How can you do this?
- First, become aware of your eating patterns.
- Second, decide what you want to change.
- Third, be conscious of what, why and how you are eating.
- Fourth, practice and repeat.
Note that, in order for this to be a success, consistency and patience is the key.
©Micky Amankwah 2022