Unhelpful Eating Habits checklist
It’s the way that we eat day-in, day-out that determines what we weigh, and whether we are gaining, losing or staying at the same weight. Taken together, our overall eating habits contribute to us weighing what we weigh.
To change our weight we need to change our eating habits. And if we want to be able to stay at our new weight, we need to change our eating habits permanently. Habit change can be hard work, but it’s made easier if you change just one habit at a time.
Here’s a list of the most common unhelpful eating habits. You can print off the table and tick those that apply to you. Then look at which of the ones you’ve ticked you want to work on first. You’ll find tips on how to make these changes in my self-help book How to Retrain Your Appetite and in the blog articles on the website.
Type of unhelpful habit | Unhelpful Eating Habit | Applies to me? |
---|---|---|
Eating routine | My eating routine is erratic or non-existent | |
Eating routine | I skip meals quite often to save calories | |
Eating too much | My portion sizes are too big | |
Eating too much | I eat dessert even if I'm already full | |
Eating too much | I binge on unhealthy foods and can't stop | |
Eating when not hungry | I eat out of habit (e.g. biscuits with tea/coffee) | |
Eating when not hungry | I eat now in case I'm hungry later | |
Eating when not hungry | I eat something just because it's there | |
Eating when not hungry | I eat when bored/ stressed/ agitated/ anxious although I'm not hungry | |
Eating when not hungry | I get cravings for particular foods and give in to them whether hungry or not | |
Problems with what you're eating | Food I expect to enjoy isn't satisfying so I keep trying other foods | |
Problems with what you're eating | I eat too much unhealthy food and/or drink too much alcohol |