Do you raid your refrigerator for food when stressed, angry, or depressed? Do you eat at social events even when you are not hungry? Are you always trying a new fad diet or restricting your calories?
Do you even know, or have you thought about, what type of eater you are? Most people have never thought about it. There are several eating styles:
Why Do We Eat the Way We Do?
Determining personal eating style can depend on lifestyle. With the high obesity rate we have in the United States, our relationship with food is one facet of many that is contributing to the problem of overweight and obesity among adults and especially children today.
The time when families would sit at a table for a well-balanced and nutritional meal is becoming obsolete because of our fast-paced lifestyle and dual careers of parents.
Drive-thru or restaurants are becoming our table, and our relationship with food and eating style is changing. The changing mealtime dynamics are directly contributing and giving rise to the many styles of eating patterns in society today.
Grazer Eater
Do you eat tiny meals throughout the day? If the answer is yes, you are a grazer. Grazers eat 5-6 small meals and snacks throughout the day.
Eating several small meals helps keep the metabolism elevated and blood sugar stable. This process keeps the body from going on a roller coaster ride of hunger. However, grazing can lead to weight gain and high empty calorie consumption.
Unconscious Eater
You might be an unconscious eater if you find yourself walking by a bowl of candy, using a vending machine, or eating leftovers because it’s available for your consumption.
This type of person is unaware of whether they are hungry or not hungry and will eat while working, doing chores, or boredom. This individual does not sit down and eat a balanced meal, which can eventually lead to poor nutrition and weight gain.
Social Eater
Social eaters tend to eat during social events even though they may not be hungry. This person eats during social events due to peer pressure from other guests, friends, or family.
Other reasons may include feeling uncomfortable because people observe them and wonder why they are not eating or disrespecting the host. Research has shown that social eaters consume more calories when dining with friends or family than when dining alone.
Emotional Eater
Do you raid the refrigerator after a taxing day? You are an emotional eater. This style consumes food when stressed, angry, sad, or any other unsatisfactory feelings that trigger an eating binge for instant comfort and gratification.
This emotional turmoil eater eats not for fuel but to fill a void internally. Research has shown that women and the majority of people who are overweight or obese tend to be emotional eaters.
Diet Eater
Have you tried the Grapefruit diet, cleansing diet, Atkin’s diet, Jenny Craig, and Weight Watchers, and read every book and magazine article known to humankind about weight loss? If this sounds like you, you are a professional dieter.
This eater is a perpetual dieter and will always try the latest fad diet or books.
This person tends to restrict food for the sole purpose of losing weight or to maintain a certain unrealistic weight. Usually, the professional dieter will lack the nutrients and sufficient calories necessary for the body to function efficiently. They also tend to be Yo-Yo dieters.
Intuitive Eater
You fuel your body when hungry and stop eating when your stomach is full. This style of eater makes food choices to feed the body without feeling guilty and enjoys a variety of foods to nourish their body.
You reject the diet mania, respect your body, understand the importance of food, utilize other methods to cope with stress other than food, and exercise to feel strong and healthy. An intuitive honors health and well-being.
The information I shared with you today helped determine your eating style. We can not change our upbringing, but we can change our relationship with food. Stay In the Know.
Healthy 365 Life
