Your eating behavior matters. Most people will know this, but some will underestimate the extent of its importance. You must take your eating habits seriously. Why? You eat 365 days a year. On each of those days, you will make many small and significant eating decisions. Your patterns will be a part of those choices. If your choices are mostly healthy, it is going to have a positive effect, and vice versa. Each day matters, especially as you age.
If you are overweight or have high blood sugar, you likely would not be wrong to blame your eating behavior immediately. Most of the time it is a handful of poor habits that may be jeopardizing your health and well-being.
So the question is, how to change your eating behavior? First, you must identify where you are at fault, and address every issue without fail. Read on, and determine whether you are guilty of the following…
Always eating when you feel hungry. It is normal to feel hungry now and then, especially when you are not eating between meals (the best way to make weight loss progress). However, it is counterproductive to eat every time you feel the urge to snack on something. Discipline yourself to wait until your next meal, and don’t snack in between. If you have to eat something, fruit or a small non-flavored yogurt is fine, but a pastry or bowl of cereal is not.
Drinking calories. Calories are not always an issue. If you can control your intake, you can learn to lose weight while still enjoying some of your favorite foods.
However, you must be careful with the calories you drink. They quickly add up and do not contribute to satiety in any way. Often, they elevate your blood sugar needlessly, which means people with Type 2 diabetes especially should avoid caloric drinks.
This isn’t to say you cannot ever have a juice with your meals or enjoy a glass of wine. Just do these things on occasion, and not as a habit.
Not cooking your main meals. Cooking at home is crucial. It is more conducive to eating healthier meals, and you are more likely to enjoy your meal after the work you put in. It also allows you to choose the ingredients you consume. Avoid fast foods and processed meals as much as possible. Again, you can still have them in your diet; make sure they are not staples.
Not having two traditional meals per day. It is unfortunate many people still believe three, four, or more meals a day are the best way to eat. For the vast majority of people, this is wrong. It is unnecessary, leaves you prone to overeating, and keeps your blood sugar elevated throughout the whole day.
Two traditional meals a day are the way to go, at least until you are in great health. At that point, you can make tweaks, but do not be surprised if you find yourself sticking to two main meals.
The list above is far from conclusive but should be enough to get you started.