Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

Do you eat so quickly that you have consumed more calories than you need by the end of  a meal?

Do you feel like you have to clean your plate even if you’re full?

Do you eat well during the day but then gorge on snack foods in front of the TV at night?

If you said yes to any of these questions, you may suffer from BAD EATING HABITS.

We all have bad habits – chewed fingernails, picked noses, cracked knuckles – but most of us also have bad nutritional habits we can tackle.

The easiest way to tackle bad eating habits is to keep a food diary, recording what you eat when. Over time, you will be able to see a trend. When do you mindlessly add 300 calories? When do you sneak Oreos? What sets off your moments of weakness?

Once you start identifying what triggers your bad eating habits, then you can begin to make changes. No one else ever has to see your food diary, so you can be completely honest. You will easily be able to see whether you eat when you are upset or bored, stressed or anxious.

When you know what triggers your bad eating habits, then you can do two things to fix the problem:

1. Replace bad comfort foods with healthy comfort foods

2. Replace eating altogether with other, better coping mechanisms (exercising, talking, journaling)

Empowering yourself with the knowledge of why you have bad eating habits will give you the strength to break the habits. Go for a walk with a friend, keep carrot and celery sticks in the house for late-night munchies, call a friend instead of grab a candy bar when you are stressed out. Knowledge of yourself will put you in control of making the changes you want to make.