Here 9 signs that indicate you are not engaging in healthy eating habits:

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1.     You Finish Your Meal Before Anyone Else

If you are the first one done eating at the dinner table, you are probably eating mindlessly and are not savoring your meal in healthy ways. Chowing down your meal within a few minutes can lead to indigestion and seconds, which can lead to your becoming overweight.

Instead, eat more slowly, taking part in whatever conversation is going on around the table. Your hormonal signal to turn off eating takes about 20 minutes so if you finish much sooner than that, you will feel hungry even when you have taken in enough calories, which typically results in eating more food than you really need.

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2.     You Eat Food That Has Been Created In a Factory

Instead of cooking with fresh ingredients, you might be choosing to eat pre-processed foods, which are high in preservatives and are usually high in salt and/or calories. Take the time to cook a meal with fresh ingredients. Find a nice selection of home-prepared meals you can put into your own personal cookbook.When you cook for yourself, you know exactly what has gone into making any particular meal and you have the peace of mind that comes with knowing what you put into your body.   

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3.     You Eat Right Out Of the Box or Carton

If you find yourself eating potato chips right out of the bag or ice cream out of the carton, you are probably not eating the right portions of food and will have a tendency to eat more food than you had originally intended to eat. This is a sure fire way to obesity. Instead, portion out your foods onto a plate or bowl so that you stop when that portion is gone and save the rest for another meal.  

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4.     You Eat From the Drive-Thru Regularly

Unless you are ordering a salad every time, which most of us don’t, eating from a drive-thru regularly is not conducive to good nutrition. Most drive-thru restaurants offer fast food, which is greasy, fat-filled and lacks any real nutrients. Consider whole food, which is food typically made up one ingredient and unprocessed. Fresh fish, chicken, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are whole foods and they are not offered at the drive-thru.  

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5.     You Eat In Front Of the TV

When you find yourself drawn toward eating in front of the television, it means you are probably eating mindlessly and not directing your attention to how much you are eating or to the signals your body gives off when you are full. This leads to overeating and obesity. Instead listen to soothing music or to nothing at all. That way you can focus on your meal and not on something else.

6.     You Eat A Narrow Variety Of Food

If you just eat the same limited amount of food each day, you stand a good chance of missing some key nutrients in your diet. Fill your menu with different foods so that you can be sure to get the nutrients you need. Colorful plates are healthy, filled with many colors of vegetables and fruit for dessert.

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7.     You Eat To Appease Emotions

Emotional eating or overeating is always unhealthy. Mainly this takes place when people are bored, lonely, tired, upset, stressed, or angry. It always occurs when one is not truly hungry, but is trying to use food to cover up emotions and the food or foods of choice is always junk food. As cocaine, or other illicit drugs, junk food stimulates pleasure centers in the brain because it is loaded with sugar, fat or factory created flavoring that holds no nutritional value.

Emotional overeating can be a serious problem that can lead to obesity, depression, guilt, and anxiety over the eating itself. This is one of the most serious unhealthy eating habits and plenty of help is available to address the problem.

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8.     You Eat More Calories Daily Than You Burn

The simple formula for weight management and weight loss is to eat less calories than you burn so to create a deficit. This is true for men and women, and becomes even more detrimental as we age and our metabolism slows naturally. Online calorie calculators can determine how many calories you need to either lose or maintain weight based on your age, weight, and activity level.

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9.     You Eat In Secret

If you are hiding food, or eating meals in secret so that your spouse, friends or family do not see you, please seek help. It could be that you have a negative association with your eating habits that you want to keep secret or you have some guilt or shame attached to eating. In this case, it is important to identify and deal with the issue, a therapist can help.

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Eating healthy is not really so hard if you follow the tips noted above. Healthy eating means eating mindfully and choosing foods that are best for your body.

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