5 Bad Eating Habits You Should Stop This Year For Gut Ease
Many of us don't learn much about eating besides washing our hands, chewing food properly, and using a spoon, fork, and knife, but here are 5 bad eating habits you want to stop this year.
It sounds like it’s not a big deal, but how you eat could be the reason you get so tired every day at work after your lunch break.
In addition, many health problems worldwide are directly caused by what or how people eat.
Knowing these 5 bad eating habits will help you identify the things you’re missing out on and learn how to get the most out of what you eat.
Here is the list, then we’ll tell you what you can do about it.
5 Bad Eating Habits You Should Stop This Year
Only focusing on what to eat instead of how to eat it
Eating too much in one sitting
Overeating one type of food
Eating when you’re not hungry
Not eating REAL FOODS
1. Only Focusing On What To Eat Instead of How To Eat It
We know you’ve been there like we have:
You find a post online that tells you, for example, “7 Top Fish To Eat For Better Brain Health.”
You read the list and start eating the fish.
The mistake is here.
Instead of finding the proper way to eat and cook the fish, we keep eating and wondering why nothing is happening.
Knowing things like “you have to drink water when you eat fiber to help it pass through your system” and “overcooking your fish would make you lose all the brain benefits” is just as important as knowing what to eat.
Easy tip:
When you read about unique foods that are good for your body, find out the right way to eat them so you get the most out of them.
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2. Eating Too Much In One Sitting
We all need a different amount of food to keep going, so there isn’t a set amount you have to eat, but the issue is how much we eat in one sitting.
Your body uses a lot of energy to digest food. When you eat a lot of food in one go, you’ll usually feel tired because suddenly, your body needs all the power it has to digest the food.
This becomes a problem when you have things to do or if you’re at work.
You go out on your lunch break, fill it up (your stomach), and then you get back to work, and all of a sudden, you can’t focus as much because your stomach is using all your energy to break down that lunch.
You need to ensure you eat just enough to give you the energy you need (it’s different for everyone, but this means you eat just enough to prevent you from passing out from starvation).
When you do this, your body will use some of your energy to digest what you ate, but at the same time, you’ll have enough power to be at your best.
Easy tip:
If you usually eat big meals during the day, start slow, and day by day, lessen how much you usually eat until you start to eat about half of what you typically do.
You’ll know when you hit that sweet spot of eating just enough not to be hungry but to have enough energy to go about your day.
3. Overeating One Type of Food
If you're anything like one of us, when you discover a fantastic food, you keep eating it until you're sick of it.
If until you're sick of it takes months, this isn't good.
If you’ve read the post on “5 Key Reasons You Should Know The Importance Of Food For Kids”, you know that one of the reasons there are so many different types of food on earth is for us to be able to get all the vitamins and minerals we need without having to think about it.
When you eat only one type of food daily, you can overload your system with too much of one vitamin or mineral, which can cause problems.
Remember that too much of anything is good for nothing.
Easy tip:
If you like a specific type of food, don’t stress; make sure you’re switching it up every week.
Poll
4. Eating When You're Not Hungry
Just like we shouldn't drink much water throughout the day without being thirsty (unless a doctor tells us to do so specifically for our health condition), we shouldn't eat when we're not hungry.
Remember when we talked about how your body burns energy to digest the food you eat?
When you eat and are not hungry, you're putting your stomach to work for no reason and making your body tired when you probably need the energy for something else.
Remember that our bodies make us feel hungry to tell us we need food.
Easy tip:
Since many of us eat when we think we're hungry when, in reality, we're just thirsty, as we discussed in the post "How To Deal With Late Night Food Cravings In 3 Easy Steps," the best thing we can all do is pay more attention when we're dealing with food (cooking, eating, buying food).
When you do this, you'll naturally pay more attention to your stomach. After a while, you will recognize when you're hungry so you can eat. You'll also be able to tell when you're full so you don't overeat.
5. Not Eating REAL FOODS
This habit causes serious health issues that can either come on suddenly or surprise you later in your life.
REAL FOODS is all regular foods that would not disappear or change if electricity stopped tomorrow.
This doesn’t mean calories, eating vegetables most of the time, or avoiding fat, grains, or sugar; it’s just about making sure everything you eat is made with real ingredients and not the ingredients you wouldn’t know are food if your life depended on it.
Ex: If you want a donut, you can eat it as long as it’s made with real food (flour, salt, sugar) and not Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate.
Easy tip:
The only thing you have to remember is that unless your doctor tells you not to eat something specific, like salt, because you have a condition, eat real food, even if it’s sugar, fat, grains, etc.… because that’s what our bodies know and what keeps us at our best.
RELATED POST: 10 Common Food Myths Anyone Who Eats Should Know
Bonus
Another bad eating habit is going to bed with a full stomach.
When you’re sleeping, your body repairs damaged parts, which takes energy.
If you go to bed with a full stomach, all that energy goes into digesting the food you ate instead of repairing any damage.
In addition, the way your body digests the food won’t be great.
Not only can you get heartburn and acid reflux, but you won’t sleep well either.
Try to leave a 2-3 hour gap between eating and going to bed.
FAQ
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Think of everything you do to your body as part of its history, which builds up over time. You only see the results as you age (either gracefully or potentially with pain). The goal is not to be perfect but to make sure things run as smoothly as possible. Life is too problematic to add voluntary extracurricular problems.
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Not paying attention to how your body feels and your food habits. Continuously doing this makes you unaware of what's happening with your body until a significant change occurs (e.g., chronic illness, etc). Be careful not to fall into the line of overly paying attention, which can turn into an illness (e.g., food-related OCD, etc.). Find the right balance that works for you.
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Conclusion
Sometimes, we forget that knowing how to eat is just as important or even more important than knowing what to eat. That’s why when we have habits like overeating in one sitting, we end up feeling tired after lunch at school or work and wonder why we can’t stay awake.
Take the Next Step: For you, the problem might involve bad eating habits and health habits you believe are helping you. That’s why you should check out 10 Common Food Myths Anyone Who Eats Should Know next.
Chime In: Which of these habits were you doing without realizing the problems it was causing you?
Stay Connected: To know more about how changing your food can change your life, sign up for the M2oo Newsletter, which delivers Real Food and Real Health information straight to your inbox.
GET THE FOOD BOOK!
Want to choose fresh ingredients, store them correctly, and use top cooking tips as a beginner but like a pro? The Food Book is perfect for anyone looking to simplify their home cooking.
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