Food, Diet, and Eating Habits
What you eat affects your physical health, and while exercising does help maintain a healthy body weight, eating proper food is important for your health as well.
The three important things to remember and be aware of in order to have a healthy diet and eating habit are:
1. What you eat
2. How much (amount) you eat
3. How often you eat
Snacking: Thinking + Making Choices
What Are You Eating?
First of all, thinking about what you're eating is important. You should always think about what you're eating and whether it is healthy or not, and how healthy it is. The next step is actually making the healthier choice. This is the hard part. We all have cravings and it's hard to resist foods and snacks that look, smell, and taste so good, but it's important to be able to control those cravings and make a better choice for yourself. Another thing to think about is how your food choices can affect you in other aspects, such as fitness. If you play sports, the food that you eat affects your body and your performance, so you should make good food choices if you want to be able to play to your fullest potential.
A tip to help yourself make healthy food choices is to keep healthy food such as yogurt, vegetables, fruits, and whole grain bread at home and available rather than unhealthy, processed junk food, such as candy, chips, ice cream, and popcorn.
It's important to your health to be able to balance your diet and moderate your intake of these junk foods, but it's alright to eat tasty snacks like these (ice cream, junk food, etc) once in a while. If you think of these snacks/foods as just bad and off limits, it could cause you stress and affect your mental health and could cause you to eat all the unhealthy foods at once, which is even worse. Try eating healthy on the week days and then treating yourself on the weekends.
The three important things to remember and be aware of in order to have a healthy diet and eating habit are:
1. What you eat
2. How much (amount) you eat
3. How often you eat
Snacking: Thinking + Making Choices
What Are You Eating?
First of all, thinking about what you're eating is important. You should always think about what you're eating and whether it is healthy or not, and how healthy it is. The next step is actually making the healthier choice. This is the hard part. We all have cravings and it's hard to resist foods and snacks that look, smell, and taste so good, but it's important to be able to control those cravings and make a better choice for yourself. Another thing to think about is how your food choices can affect you in other aspects, such as fitness. If you play sports, the food that you eat affects your body and your performance, so you should make good food choices if you want to be able to play to your fullest potential.
A tip to help yourself make healthy food choices is to keep healthy food such as yogurt, vegetables, fruits, and whole grain bread at home and available rather than unhealthy, processed junk food, such as candy, chips, ice cream, and popcorn.
It's important to your health to be able to balance your diet and moderate your intake of these junk foods, but it's alright to eat tasty snacks like these (ice cream, junk food, etc) once in a while. If you think of these snacks/foods as just bad and off limits, it could cause you stress and affect your mental health and could cause you to eat all the unhealthy foods at once, which is even worse. Try eating healthy on the week days and then treating yourself on the weekends.
How Much Are You Eating?
Another thing to think about is not only what you're eating, but how much you're consuming. Think about the taste of the food you are eating, the texture, temperature, etc. Think about these things so that while you are eating, you're chewing your food fully and eating less. People tend to realize that they're full earlier, when they actually take the time to chew and enjoy the food.
Another thing to think about is not only what you're eating, but how much you're consuming. Think about the taste of the food you are eating, the texture, temperature, etc. Think about these things so that while you are eating, you're chewing your food fully and eating less. People tend to realize that they're full earlier, when they actually take the time to chew and enjoy the food.
When you are snacking, don't just eat out of the box/container that it comes in. Pour a fair amount into a smaller bowl so you don't continue eating until the box is empty. This will help control the amount of food you're consuming, and also help you maintain/lose weight.
Another good way to help control the amount of snacks you eat is to eat a good breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day. It takes about 4-6 hours for a full meal to digest and turn into energy. So throughout the day, most of your energy comes from what you eat in the morning at breakfast. So if you eat a good meal in the morning, you are less likely to get hungry in the afternoon.
Another good way to help control the amount of snacks you eat is to eat a good breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day. It takes about 4-6 hours for a full meal to digest and turn into energy. So throughout the day, most of your energy comes from what you eat in the morning at breakfast. So if you eat a good meal in the morning, you are less likely to get hungry in the afternoon.
Why Are You Eating?
This is also another important part. Before you even start snacking, you need to ask yourself what the reason for eating is. Are you really hungry? Or are you eating for emotional reasons? A lot of teenagers eat when they are bored, stressed, angry, or even sad. You should be aware of this and think of alternative ways to satisfy your emotions instead of eating all the time. Exercising can be another way to relieve stress or boredom, and there are plenty of other things you can do to "heal" your emotions such as listening to music, doing homework, reading a book, or playing outside, instead of unnecessary eating.
Be Consistent
The best way to control eating too much is to eat regular meals and set regular times to eat snacks.
Skipping meals does not help you lose weight. You end up eating more to fill your hunger and can even make you gain more weight. Eating regular meals at regular times helps you stay full and energized in appropriate, healthy ways and gives you the necessary energy you need at necessary times.
Don't multitask and eat while you're watching tv or doing your homework. Multitasking while eating causes you to lose focus and makes you overeat.
This is also another important part. Before you even start snacking, you need to ask yourself what the reason for eating is. Are you really hungry? Or are you eating for emotional reasons? A lot of teenagers eat when they are bored, stressed, angry, or even sad. You should be aware of this and think of alternative ways to satisfy your emotions instead of eating all the time. Exercising can be another way to relieve stress or boredom, and there are plenty of other things you can do to "heal" your emotions such as listening to music, doing homework, reading a book, or playing outside, instead of unnecessary eating.
Be Consistent
The best way to control eating too much is to eat regular meals and set regular times to eat snacks.
Skipping meals does not help you lose weight. You end up eating more to fill your hunger and can even make you gain more weight. Eating regular meals at regular times helps you stay full and energized in appropriate, healthy ways and gives you the necessary energy you need at necessary times.
Don't multitask and eat while you're watching tv or doing your homework. Multitasking while eating causes you to lose focus and makes you overeat.
How Much Should I Eat?
These days, food portions have increased, and people have started to eat way more than necessary, consuming way more calories than the body need/can burn in one day. The problem is that people have become used to these extreme portion sizes and don't realized that they are eating much more than they need/their body can take.
To control the amount of food that you eat, the most simple step would be to check the serving sizes and look at recommended amounts to measure and control your eating.
Another way to see and control your consumption is by using appropriate sized serving dishes to place your food. You don't want to place a piece of toast on a huge plate. That will just make your toast look tiny and make you "hungrier", even though you're not. Try using smaller plates, but filling them up all the way to make it seem like you have a lot of food.
- Eat/drink foods and drinks that come in single serving sizes. For example, instead of drinking Coke from a 2 liter bottle, drink one can, to limit and control yourself.
- Don't rush through meals, take time to chew slowly and allow yourself to feel full. Often times, we eat too fast and don't realize we're full and keep eating which leads to weight gain and health problems. If you are still feeling a bit hungry after finishing your meal slowly, go for some more vegetables, or fruit as dessert.
- Eat three meals a day, well balanced with vegetables, fruit, proteins, and stuff like rice and wheat, and maybe one or two snacks (of course, healthy snacks, such as veggies, fruits, yogurt, etc). Don't skip meals or wait too long to have your next meal. This can cause hunger, which can cause you to overeat at the next meal or snack too much.
- Eat more salads (vegetables) and fruit. These are healthy foods, and eating them at the beginning of a meal will help to control your hunger and allow you to feel full so you won't overeat.
- Know that the serving sizes in restaurants are usually larger portions than usual, so be aware. Maybe share dishes with family or friends. Also, don't go for the bigger meal because it's cheap, think about what you're actually going to be able to eat and what is actually going to be more beneficial to your health
When filling your plate:
Also, you should take into account of how much exercise or physical activity you are getting every day. If you are exercising a lot and burning calories, you should be eating more than someone who is not exercising as much. This helps maintain a healthy weight, and also helps you keep energized and full.
- Choose a variety of different foods. The most healthy meals are balanced well and have foods from different food groups of different colors.
- Half of your plate should be fruits and vegetables, 1/4 protein, and 1/4 grain.
- Although sports drinks claim to be energizing, avoid them and sodas as they contain immense amounts of sugar. Instead, go for water or milk.
Also, you should take into account of how much exercise or physical activity you are getting every day. If you are exercising a lot and burning calories, you should be eating more than someone who is not exercising as much. This helps maintain a healthy weight, and also helps you keep energized and full.