How to Break Unhealthy Eating Habits and Adopt a Healthier Diet

We all know what it feels like to have energy slumps during the day or to feel fatigued at various times of the year. Work, life changes, daily demands, and unexpected life events all play a part in how our energy is impacted and how our mind and our body can work with, or against, each other at times.  

A quick fix is often brewing that second coffee, or reaching for a sugary treat or snack to lift our energy or boost our mood. These quick fixes take their toll in the long run, and the instant energy hit we get does not last and can lead to that mid-afternoon slump. More importantly, many of us do not realise that what we feel we are craving may not be physical, and the tension may be more emotional or psychological, meaning these strategies do not really work or satisfy these urges.  

In this article, we explain what can be going on and how to tell the difference between physical and psychological energy satisfaction, and knowing when to opt for more fulfilling options instead. 

Our daily calorie intake depends on several factors such as: 

• Age 
• Unique metabolism  
• Daily physical activity
• Lifestyle considerations
• Height and weight
• Hormonal effects

As a general guideline, women typically require around 2,000 calories per day, while men need around 2,500. Calories are a measure of how much energy a food or drink measure contains (Kcal or Kilocalories). 

Put more simply, it is the amount of energy put into our body through consumption, in comparison to the amount of energy we burn each day. If we are consuming more calories (energy) into our body than we are burning up (daily activity), the additional energy intake has a negative effect on our body over time.

Some foods are high in calories and are healthy foods to consume on a regular basis as part of a balanced diet. These include: 

• Avocados 
• Salmon and other oily fish 
  
• Nuts and seeds 
  
• Full-fat dairy products such as yogurt, milk, and cheese 

Some foods are low in calories, but high in protein. These include:  

• Beans, peas and lentils (which are also good sources of fibre) 
  
• Fish 
  
• Lean meat and poultry 
  
• Low-fat or fat-free dairy products, such as milk, yogurt and cheese 
• Egg whites 

Processed foods are high in calories and over time can have an adverse effect on our health. These include:  

• Chocolate and sweets 
  
• Crisps
• Biscuits
• Cake 
• Cake 
• Fried chicken  
• Fries 
• Pastries 
• Bacon 
• Salami
• Burgers 
• Pizza  
• Fried foods 

Long-term consumption of highly processed and highly calorific foods can lead to obesity, issues with sleep, a variety of cancers, and in particular weight gain.  

A recent study has found that consuming ultra-processed foods such as soda and carbonated drinks, sweet and savoury packaged snacks (e.g. crisps and cookies), breakfast cereals, instant noodles, microwave-ready meals, energy or granola bars, candies and most fast foods, have a serious impact on health and wellbeing.

“We found consistent evidence linking higher intakes of ultra-processed foods with over 70% of the 45 different health outcomes we assessed” according to Wolfgang Marx, a senior research fellow at the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University in Geelong, Australia. 

The consumption of these types of foods contributes to cardiometabolic health outcomes, weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. However, research is now showing that ultra-processed foods of any type creates a 29% higher risk of developing colorectal cancer and a high versus low intake of ultra-processed foods can increase the risk of anxiety by up to 53%, and the risk of an early death from any cause by up to 20%, according to the study published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal). 

“Strong evidence shows that a higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with approximately 50% higher risk of cardiovascular disease-related death and common mental disorders” according to lead author Dr. Melissa Lane, a postdoctoral research fellow at Deakin. 

Over time, consumption of these foods will lead to cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks, stroke, clogged arteries, and peripheral artery disease, as well as a higher risk of Alzheimer’s. Recognising the long-term consequences of these dietary choices is crucial in fostering healthier habits. 

It is important to be aware of the long-term effect of snacking and substituting healthy food for quick fix treats. However, this knowledge alone may not stop some people from reaching for treats due to the negative habits that have formed over time. 

We are creatures of habit, and many of our habits form early on when we have little understanding of the long-term effects. A lot of the time our habits come from our unconscious desire to bring our mind, our body, and our emotions into balance. This is our natural drive towards ‘homeostasis’.   

When we feel an urge, we are often looking for a quick and simple way to resolve this urge. However, there are a variety of things that impact us each day, and the net effect of this is that our full system becomes agitated. This agitation, or if you imagine it as energy in our system (body), often comes from our mind (thoughts) and our emotions (feelings) shifting and changing to deal with what is happening in any given moment. Added to this is our physiology and the natural ebb and flow of our biological need to eat and drink each day. 

However, over time we can mistake these different parts of ourselves for the same thing, and look to ease the agitation of our mind and our emotions through eating and drinking. Gradually we can over do this strategy and become stuck in a negative loop of trying repeatedly to sooth ourselves in this way. In reality though, we are not attending to the correct agitation, and the satisfaction we get from eating and drinking is only temporary. Without knowing it, we then try and satisfy these agitations again using this same strategy and a negative long-term unsatisfying loop sets in. 

Think about when you are working long or demanding hours and the stress in your body is because of the psychological and emotional strain, not the physical one (like doing exercise or playing sports). Have you ever found your snacking habits increasing, or that you look to fast food rather than cook a healthy meal? Or you find yourself half way through a box of sugary cereal before realising you weren’t even hungry. 

It is the quick endorphin hit that we crave, as the stress chemicals in our body are causing us tension and the treat temporarily shifts these stress chemicals into the feel-good endorphins. Short-term gain for long-term pain. 

The key to breaking the habit is to slow down on a regular basis (daily if possible), and check in on your mind and your emotions. Over time you can do this by simply asking yourself: 

• What’s on my mind that is causing me tension? 
• How do I really feel about this? 
• What can I put in place that will help with this stress?

In the short term, it is in the moment awareness that will help most, so if you are having a craving for crisps, chocolate or biscuits, use this psychological model to help divert your urge:

A – Action: Act differently by choosing to not buy or eat the treat you crave and instead put your attention elsewhere. Ask yourself, why am I really craving this treat? Is it masking something else, such as stress, an emotional issue, or some negative thoughts about something?  

C – Commit: Commit to doing something else instead, that will more realistically resolve the emotional or psychological tension such as exercise, talking, problem solving, resting, listening to music, or journaling, to create greater awareness and understanding. 

T – Transform: Over time, transform your habit of snacking through repeated in the moment behaviour change by stopping yourself, reflecting more deeply, and choosing to put energy into resolving the other areas of yourself that are really causing tension. 

When it comes to avoiding ultra-processed foods in your diet, here are some strategies suggested by experts to help you: 

•  Read and compare product labels and try to choose less processed alternatives such as swapping flavoured yogurt for plain yogurt with added fruit or gut enhancing drinks that are bacteria boosting. 
•  Think about what you might be excluding in your diet such as fruit and vegetables, which are much healthier to eat to fulfil a real physical hunger, and add fresh, frozen or tinned fruits plus vegetables, beans and unprocessed nuts. 
• Think about what you are drinking and simply substitute sweetened beverages for more water. 
• When eating out, avoid fast-food chains. 

By understanding the psychological factors driving our dietary choices and adopting mindful strategies to address them, you can avoid negative eating habits and make healthier decisions for your long-term well-being.