Cultivating healthier eating habits is a cornerstone of health, whether your goals are weight loss, muscle building, reducing your risk of chronic disease, or feeling better overall. To cultivate good and more nutritious eating habits, we start by learning about some unhealthy habits we may be practicing without realizing it.
Let’s examine the 5 most common unhealthy eating habits and learn why they can hinder our goals and harm our health.
If you’re wondering, “What is an unhealthy diet like?”
Keep reading to find out.
Calorie restriction is vital for shedding pounds. Yet, calorie restriction doesn’t have to mean skipping meals. While skipping meals might seem like a quick calorie-cutting strategy for many, it often backfires.
Before we start, it’s important to bust the myth of “the most important meal of the day,” as there is no such thing. All meals are important in providing our body with essential nutrients and maintaining stable blood sugar levels. The number of meals you have per day also depends on your needs and goals.
That said, going for too long without eating—usually due to a lack of time or thinking it will help us reduce calorie intake—usually leads to overeating later in the day and deprives the brain and muscles of necessary energy (1).
Scarfing down meals can lead to indigestion and heartburn, but more importantly, it can affect how our digestive system and brain register satiety signals.
These signals take about 20-30 minutes to reach your brain, informing you that you’re full.
Eating too quickly makes it difficult to know when you are full (2, 3).
Thus, if you usually finish your meals in under 20 minutes, your brain is “still hungry ” by the time you finish, so you may keep eating.
In this situation, by the time your brain receives the satiety signals, it‘s too late—you already overate.
Slowing your eating pace is essential for overall health, especially for those seeking to lose weight. It can help you identify your hunger and satiety cues, promoting mindful eating. For example, you can start by setting your utensils on the table between bites and chewing thoroughly before swallowing.
Unconscious nibbling throughout the day can significantly contribute to overeating, leading to weight gain. Evidence shows that eating while distracted, in this “auto-pilot” mode, increases calories, for example, while:
Mindless eating can dramatically increase our food intake (4).
Distractions while eating affect the perception of food’s sensory attributes, such as:
Reduced attention delays satiety signals, the “having enough” signals that typically indicate when we should stop eating (5).
Causes of unhealthy eating habits can include:
People may reach for food for comfort, usually choosing high-calorie, sugary, or fatty foods. These can further disrupt satiety cues and contribute to a cycle of overeating (6).
If you feel this happens to you, practicing mindful eating can help you feel and recognize your body’s signals of taste, satisfaction, and fullness.
By observing our eating experiences without judgment, we can foster deeper awareness that helps us recognize and adjust unhealthy patterns.
Eating while working, whether from home or in an office, can foster unhealthy habits that sabotage our health. The presence of “work pressure” while eating can make food a secondary activity to emails and deadlines. Focusing on work tasks can disrupt our ability to recognize our natural perception of hunger and fullness signals.
In addition, if we eat while working, we may eat quickly, another unhealthy habit that can prevent our brain from registering satiety signals on time.
To balance this, we can set up dedicated lunchtime breaks in our calendar, making them non-negotiable appointments. Finding an adequate eating area, apart from your workspace, to create a clear mental and physical distinction between work and nourishment is also a good strategy.
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Poor sleep quality can significantly impact our balance of hunger-regulating hormones, namely ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin, also known as the “hunger hormone,” signals our brain to eat; leptin, on the other hand, is the “satiety hormone,” which signals fullness.
When we don’t get enough sleep, ghrelin levels increase while leptin levels lower, potentially leading to increased cravings, especially for high-calorie, sugary foods that provide quick energy (7).
This imbalance promotes overeating and can slow metabolism, making it harder to burn calories. Furthermore, increased junk food intake can, in turn, worsen sleep quality, creating a vicious cycle (8).
Prioritize a regular sleep schedule, aiming for 7-9 hours each night.
Additionally, a relaxing bedtime routine can help you wind down before sleep; try to avoid screens right before bed and practice calming activities such as reading, meditation, or a warm bath.
Read more: Calorie Deficit Diet Plan To Lose Weight
Beyond the more obvious unhealthy habits we covered in the previous section, some “hidden” unhealthy eating habits can quickly sabotage our health goals.
1. Healthy Halo
While some foods provide more nutrients than others, this doesn’t mean we can eat them excessively. Even healthy choices like fruits and nuts, when consumed in excess, can provide more calories than we need. Conversely, you don’t need to eliminate less nutrient-dense foods—a healthy relationship with food includes and balances some things primarily for enjoyment.
So, what is the healthiest way to eat?
The key is balance. While all foods can be part of a healthy and wholesome diet, variety is essential for adequate nutrition. Avoid assuming that a “healthy halo” grants unlimited intake, and prioritize mindful portions alongside diverse food choices.
2. Liquid Calories
Many overlook the caloric contribution of drinks such as sodas, smoothies, specialty coffees, and fruit juices. These can significantly increase our overall calorie intake due to their potential sugar and fat content —depending on the type of drink—without providing much satiety.
The ingredients in liquid calories don’t mean we cannot have any drink other than water, but as mentioned before, this should be—ideally—occasional additions to your diet, making water your primary beverage choice rather than prioritizing unhealthy decisions.
3. Food As Reward/punishment
Our childhood experiences often shape our relationship with food and its associations. Sometimes, a common practice is to link good behavior to indulgence and misbehavior to restriction.
This could lead to emotional eating later in life, using food as a reward or punishment – leading to overeating or restrictive patterns accordingly – which can help sediment unhealthy eating cycles.
To break this unhealthy habit, practicing mindful eating is a great tool.
Mindful eating can help us recognize emotional triggers, separate them from hunger cues, and find non-food rewards like walks or hobbies.
Read more: How Long to Stay in the Fat-Burning Zone for Maximum Fat Loss
We should avoid going cold turkey or the all-or-nothing mentality when navigating our health journey. This extreme path can often backfire and leave you asking, “Why is it hard to eat healthy?”
How to change eating habits from unhealthy to healthy ones should be a gradual approach.
Avoid the all-or-nothing mentality, and don’t try to change everything overnight.
Navigating your health journey is a long process, so set up small, achievable steps.
Trying to change too much too soon can backfire, making you feel like you cannot change your habits. But that is far from the truth; the key is to start small, choosing one specific habit to work on at a time.
For example, you can start week one by:
One of the cornerstones of healthy eating is including a variety of wholesome, minimally processed foods.
These nutritious foods include:
These nutrient-rich options can help you feel fuller for longer.
They can be fresh, frozen, dried, or even canned. The important thing is that they have minimal additives, such as sugar, salt, and other preservatives.
The closer a food is to its natural state, the less processed it is, but preservation methods that don’t significantly affect nutritional quality are reasonable.
If they’re not usually part of your diet, as said before, start small.
You could start by adding a piece of fruit to your diet each day at breakfast, as a snack, or for dessert until you feel comfortable with this addition.
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Meal planning can be a vital tool for navigating your healthy journey.
It enables conscious choices and prevents impulsive, unhealthy decisions.
If detailed meal planning feels overwhelming, start with daily food guidelines.
For further ideas, explore this article.
Planning grocery shopping is another significant component of meal planning.
Creating a list of needed items and noting what you have at home can help you stay aligned with your goals and ease healthier habit transitions.
This proactive approach ensures mindful eating, enhances your journey, and fosters sustainable dietary improvements.
So, does healthy eating get easier? Following extreme methods is one of the major causes of unhealthy eating habits.
Going cold turkey is hardly a sustainable approach to changing our eating habits.
If we change overnight and completely restrict our favorite foods, we’re more likely to experience cravings and binge eating.
Allowing ourselves occasional indulgence in moderation is also part of a balanced and healthy diet. We must remember that food is more than just nutrients; it’s also about sharing, feeling good, and pleasure.
Savoring a small portion of our favorite treat in moderation and occasionally is also part of healthy living. This moderation can help satisfy cravings without derailing our healthy eating plan, cultivating a sustainable and enjoyable relationship with food.
Changing rooted unhealthy eating habits takes:
Slip-ups are okay; they are a normal part of the process. Simply acknowledge the lapse, learn from it, and gently guide yourself back on track.
Remember, small steps are still progress, and consistency over time truly matters.
Celebrating our victories, no matter how small, and treating ourselves with the same kindness we would offer a friend is an excellent mindset to cultivate.
While some indulgences can be part of a balanced diet, eating unhealthy as a rule may lead to various health issues, such as unwanted weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, micronutrient deficiencies, low energy, and a higher risk of developing certain cancers. Eating late could affect sleep quality and potentially cause indigestion. A light, healthy snack could work if you’re genuinely hungry before bed, but it is best to avoid a full meal. If you choose a snack, prioritize protein and little to no added sugar. For some people, reading while eating could distract them from focusing on their food. This habit could lead to mindless eating and affect satiety cues. Most experts consider an unhealthy diet to involve highly processed foods with excessive added sugars, unhealthy fats, and sodium. This pattern can contribute to weight gain and an array of chronic diseases.Frequently Asked Questions
What is bad about eating unhealthy?
Is it bad to eat before bed?
Is reading while eating bad?
What is the most unhealthy habit?
Recognize and address unhealthy habits like:
Then, shifting your focus to:
Remember, consistency and self-compassion are key. Small, gradual changes, rather than drastic, will lead to sustainable habits.
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