If you are one of the millions of people who have been trying to lose weight and you don't know what to do anymore, you might find these tips helpful. Hala El-Shafie, a consultant nutritionist and founder of nutrition-rocks.co.uk, categorized eating habits into five types, and shares how you can shed some pounds.
According to Hala, the five types are: Stress eater, reward eaters, sleep deprived, perfectionist and those that are just influenced by others. It's only imperative to know which type of eater you are so that you can use that knowledge to make it easier for you to slim down.
"Our relationship with food is so complex that it is one of the most difficult addictions to manage, whether it's under-eating, yoyo dieting, binge eating or emotionally eating" Hala said.
Stress Eaters are the ones who are eating when they are highly stressed or anxious. This is because stress can make your body produce higher levels of cortisol - the stress hormone that increases you cravings for sweet and salty foods. To better manage stress, yoga, mindfulness and meditation will be ideal exercises.
Sleep deprived eaters are people who turn to sugar or caffeine for their nutritional as well as emotional needs. This is mostly true when you feel like you are not in the mood and in need of comfort. This is the time when you feel the urge to eat. To be able to manage this better, you only need to do one thing - improve your sleep.
Perfectionist eaters are those who follow a strict diet. This puts you in a tendency to miss out on the other food types that can provide your body the nutrition it needs. The best thing to do is to stop depriving and starving yourself because you will just feel more hungry. Give yourself the chance to enjoy your cravings, just make sure to have them in moderation.
Reward eaters are those who celebrate by indulging in food. If you use food to reward yourself, it's about time to think of something else, just any non-food treats will do.
Influenced eaters are those who are easily influenced by the people they are with because when you eat with a group, the amount of food you eat also depends on how much others eat. And when you are alone, your eating habits may also be different. The decision will now be upon you if you will allow other people to influence how you eat. Learning how and when to say no can be pretty useful for a start.
