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10 Strategies to Develop Healthy Eating Habits

10 Strategies to Develop Healthy Eating Habits

Updated 1 January 2020 04:42 PM

Tired of falling prey to emotional eating, convenient take-away foods and tasty junk foods? Discover how you can change your lifestyle to develop healthy eating habits.


  1. Re-categorise your foods. Take the emotion out of eating by changing your language from ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods to ‘everyday’ and ‘occasional’ foods. 
  2. Keep a food diary. 
  3. Before eating, rate your hunger on a scale of one to ten. Anything over seven or eight and you can eat.
  4. Eat until you’re about 80 percent full. Don’t ‘stuff’ yourself. 
  5. Downgrade your serving size. 
  6. Don’t aim for perfection all the time. Allow yourself occasional treats to satisfy your soul, not just your body. A good guideline is to stick to the 80/20 rule: 80 percent healthy, nourishing food and 20 percent treats. 
  7.  Look to nature for fulfilling and satisfying foods. Where possible, avoid processed and artificial foods. 
  8. Skip sugar treats. Sweet treats are generally high in fructose, which inhibits leptin, the hormone in your body that tells you when you are full. 
  9. Don't skip meals, this only imbalances your metabolism.
  10. Think of food as a way to fuel your body with the right kinds of energy.
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Science Notes
For most people, changing eating habits is not an overnight process. In fact, it can be quite a long-term process. Don't be disappointed if you sometimes fall short of your goals. The important thing is to see your diet and nutrition as a continuous progression toward a better outcome.

There will be periods where you revert to your old eating habits, and periods where you work to eat healthily again. Treat every day as the new day it is and try not to punish yourself for any remissions. Most important of all, don't give up!

Related Tip
Water is generally considered a natural appetite suppressant. Aim to drink 2 litres of water daily for good health and to help suppress your food cravings.>

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