Nutrition Coaching: How To Change Your Eating Patterns

Your eating schedule has a huge influence on your overall nutrition. It is shockingly easy to develop bad eating habits, such as skipping meals, bingeing in the evenings, or reaching for comfort foods when stressed. The first step toward change, however, is realising your unhealthy eating patterns and that these choices impact your overall nutrition.

Instead of skipping meals and then bingeing on food when you find the time, scheduling your meals and sticking to the times can provide you with energy throughout the day. As a rule of thumb, you want to eat every three to four hours for your stomach to digest and your blood sugars to level.

In this article, we explore how you can overcome common obstacles and change your eating patterns.

What kind of eating patterns are difficult to change?

Choosing sugary drinks

Sodas, juices, and coffees with added sweeteners are high in sugar and calories. They can spike your blood sugar and cause you to experience an energy crash.

Try to choose carbonated water beverages with no added sugar, black coffee, and tea.

Overeating at night

If you don’t eat enough during the day, your body will crave extra calories later into the night, which can cause you to binge. By eating in small, regular amounts throughout the day, you won’t feel the need to pile in a heap of calories all in one go.

Snacking on junk food

One way to eliminate junk food is to stop buying it. Instead of chips, cookies, or processed carbs, stock your kitchen with nuts, seed crackers and hummus, apples and peanut butter, and cut veggies.

Junk food doesn’t give you the energy you need to seize the day and maximise your productivity, quite the opposite. But if you find yourself still putting it in your trolley, try shopping on a full stomach and you are much less likely to succumb.

Going out to eat too often and making unhealthy choices

“I’m out for a nice meal, it’s a special occasion”. Going out to eat can often result in us eating foods that aren’t as good for us as we’d make ourselves at home. This is fine when it’s occasional, but eating out too often and continuously ordering unhealthy items off the menu can result in weight gain.

So when you go to a restaurant, keep this in mind and maybe look at ordering something with higher levels of protein and vegetables rather than empty carbs or high-calorie sauces.

Many restaurants provide calorie breakdowns on their menus – so don’t be afraid to scope out the menu ahead of time, free of peer pressure, and decide early what is the healthiest choice you can make.

Consuming alcohol and then eating unhealthily

Unfortunately, drinking alcohol can cause your blood sugar levels to spike, which makes your brain feel hungry. Plus, when you’re hungover, chances are you’re going to opt for some greasy, high-fat comfort food!

Too much alcohol combined with low-nutrition food is one of several bad eating patterns that many young Irish people exhibit.

Leaning on comfort foods as an emotional crutch

Many people eat comfort foods when they are stressed, sad, angry, or even happy. This is typically unconscious behaviour but even when you are well aware of it it’s usually so deeply embedded in your psychology that it’s incredibly difficult to break.

Try to treat or soothe yourself in ways that aren’t related to food, and try to pause and reflect for a moment before you instantly reach for the shelf due to anger, stress or guilt.

Common obstacles to building better eating patterns

It’s inconvenient

Oftentimes, quick unhealthy meals are more convenient than preparing yourself a healthy meal. To combat this, ensure you always have healthy snacks nearby and put more effort into meal-prepping.

By planning your snacks and meals in advance, you’re less likely to reach for less healthy foods when the more nutritious and healthier options are readily available.

Not realising that your eating patterns are unhealthy

It will be difficult to change if you don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. The desire to change your eating habits must come from a frank and honest moment of self-realisation, or maybe even several of them!

So keep thinking hard about your actions. Do they support the direction you want to be moving in or are they pulling you in the opposite direction?

You think it costs a lot

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive. Many of the tastiest and most nutritious fruits and vegetables often cost less money than “convenient” food does.

For example, lentils are a great source of protein and are very cheap, while brown rice and frozen vegetables are also affordable staples.

Changing eating patterns depends on willpower

When doughnuts are right in front of you, it’s hard to say “no.” Instead, try to change your environment by having healthier options around you. Your willpower can be considerable, so giving it an extra platform by removing unhealthy foods will increase the chances that it will endure.

Eating healthy can be confusing and overwhelming

There’s an overwhelming amount of information out there. But with healthy eating, you need to fill your diet with whole foods like beans, nuts, fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

It’s tough to find the time but you need to do the research on the different food groups and determine which foods provide what benefits. Doing this before you begin your diet can help you cut through the forest of information out there on nutrition.

There are too many choices

Having too many tasty items at home at once will be tempting. However, it’s much easier to stay on track when you only have healthy options available. This doesn’t mean that healthier foods can’t be delicious and present some nice variety – but don’t let a preoccupation with “choices” bring unhealthy foods back into your kitchen.

You’re wary of healthy foods

Just because you don’t like a few vegetables doesn’t mean you can’t eat healthily. With some effort, you’ll find dozens of healthy foods that you find delicious. There is an enormous variety of foods out there to be sampled and enjoyed – focus on the healthy foods you want to eat, not the ones you don’t.

Not having a practical plan

With a concrete plan, making a significant change can feel manageable. Before starting your health journey, develop a series of goals, decide how exactly they will be measured, and start achieving practical objectives by sticking to your plan.

Depriving yourself

Moderation is key. You can still enjoy your favourite foods occasionally, but try to find healthier alternatives. For example, swap your cookies for a few dark chocolate squares at night. Becoming a better eater doesn’t mean embarking on a miserable journey of self-flagellation. Eating healthier means you can still enjoy bold foods – just in moderation.

You don’t have a positive outlook

The lack of a positive outlook on your behalf is perhaps the biggest obstacle of all to changing your eating patterns.

Change comes to those with a positive mindset, not those who are worried or fearful. If you genuinely believe that you can change the way you eat – then you can.

Top tips for shaking up your eating patterns

New eating patterns require patience

New, healthy foods can be intimidating and if you don’t like them at first, give them a week or two, as they might grow on you!

Declutter your environment

Keep sugary granola bars and greasy chips out of your house and replace them with healthier snacks like fruit, veggies, and nuts.

Plan for treats

Include yummy indulgences like red wine, dark chocolate, and berries in your weekly meal plan, so you don’t feel completely deprived.

Give yourself time to change your eating patterns

Bad habits take a while to break, so be patient and stick to your new meal plan for a month. After a month, you’ll be adjusted to the changes.

Keep your meal plan simple

Use a food tracker and choose whole foods. Instead of coming up with a different recipe for every meal, it’s okay to repeat breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the sake of effort and cost – as long as they are healthy and nutritious.

Tweak your social eating habits

When you go to a restaurant with friends, choose the healthiest possible option on the menu or, as we suggested earlier, research the menu in advance and know how many calories are in your chosen dish.

Bring a pre-prepared meal if you’re going to a party that doesn’t have healthy foods. I know – “Who wants to be the person that brings their lunchbox to the party”. The people that care more about achieving their own goals than they do about anyone else’s opinions are the ones that bring their own lunchbox. Is that going to be you or not?

Prepare your food for healthier eating patterns

Whenever possible, prepare your meals in advance, so they are ready when you’re hungry. The knowledge that lunch or dinner is right there ready to be eaten whenever you need it is very effective at preventing snacking in between meals.

Change your eating patterns with the help of VY Nutrition

By implementing these positive changes, you’ll become aware of the negative patterns you’ve been stuck in. Once you prioritise healthier eating habits, you’re on your way to a healthier lifestyle. But remember one more thing – you’re not on this journey alone!

Here at VY Nutrition, we provide nutritional coaching that’s designed for busy people, with hectic lifestyles. We help our customers to create healthy lifestyles by changing how they eat, and by providing the ongoing support they need to make sure that the change is permanent.

Get in touch with us today and let us help you become a healthier, more energised and more motivated you!