If we all knew why we eat, and how we eat then all of us would eat less and probably eat healthier. But that is never the case as we mindlessly eat, and because we are not aware it’s happening, that is why it’s very very dangerous.
No one would go to bed skinny and wake up fat, and vice versa is also correct. The weight we gain or lose comes in gradually and the same thing that would make you lose weight can make you gain weight.
It is for this reason that we need to know the different types of diet danger zones because when you know where you fall, you can adjust for the best. In most cases we eat mindlessly, we eat the volume we want, not the calories we need, unfortunately, our stomachs are very bad at doing math, they can’t count calories.
Often we want to;
- Eat even when not hungry.
- We wolf down food without caring.
- We don’t study our internal cues, we don’t know when to
stop! - Eat everything on the table.
And so on, and so forth. This is what we call mindless eating behaviour. And mindless eating behaviour is so common than you think.
So, the 5 diet danger zones are going to be discussed below;
1. The snack grazers
Eating way too many snacks at random intervals makes you a snack grazer. It is a bad habit especially if you are looking to lose a few
pounds, snack grazing makes you eat lots of wrong foods for the wrong reasons. And so the question is why are you snacking? If you can answer this question, then you get an answer to your problem.
What to do: As a snack grazer, you can solve that problem easily by:
- Avoid snack traps.
- Out of sight out of mind, keep unhealthy snacks out of
sight. - Think of healthier substitutes for the snacks.
- Avoid eating directly from the package.
2. The Meal stuffers.
A meal staffer will usually eat lots of food at a sitting, the portion size is never an issue and this could be a very serious eating
disorder. Multitasking is the most common culprit for meal stuffers.
What to do.
When you are a meal staffer, you are at risk of becoming overweight and obese, and in this case, we are talking about the increased risk
of cardiovascular diseases like Type 2 diabetes. This is what you should do:
- Avoid putting too much food on the table when eating.
- Leave something small on the plate after eating.
- Adopt the half-plate rule, let half of your plate be vegetables.
- Slow down, chew your food and take your time when eating, because usually the faster you eat, the more you eat.
- Eat without distraction, TV is a huge threat, anything that keeps your focus off food can make you overeat.
3. The party Bingers.
The party Bingers are the buffet warriors, they eat everything on the buffet table, more like no stone is left unturned. It is a
A happy mood and food are important aspects of the celebration, but you are binging, and that can never be good for you.
What to do.
When you are a party binger, you are mindlessly eating more than your body needs. In the mood for partying, you lose focus on how much you eat, and how you manage this is by:
- Choose your two favourite items on the buffet /party.
- Don’t stay too long at the dining table, the longer you stay
there, the more you eat.
4. The restaurant Indulgers.
You know the way once in a while you eat dinner or lunch out, at your favourite restaurant spot, for restaurant Indulgers, most of their
meals are taken out. They make any and every excuse to have almost all of their meals away from home. While at home, you can cook for yourself, and therefore you are in a position to make healthier food options, however, while eating out, you tend to get exposed to so much junk, and that’s what you end up eating, mindless and very dangerous.
What to do.
- Develop rules for yourself, and reduce restaurant visits.
- Take a glass of water, instead of wine or carbonated drinks with your meals.
- Choose to have either the appetizer or the dessert.
5. The desktop diners.
We all become more guilty of this more often than we think, for the desktop diners, most of their meals are in the car, or at work desks,
mindlessly working as they eat. Remember, anything that keeps your focus off food will make you eat more food. So this is just as dangerous as meal stuffers.
What to do.
- Turn off your TV or computer, and have your meal without distraction.
- Do trade-offs, and swap for healthy options.
- Replace your soda with water.
In a nutshell, we all fall victim to one of the 5 diet danger zones. Behaviour change is a process, if you are looking to lose weight,
make the small changes early, and work on them gradually.
The way to a man’s heart seems to be through the kitchen and
not through pre Packaged snacks.
