Bad Eating Habits
How Do They Start?

Bad eating habits are more than bad food or junk food habits.

Bad eating habits are habits of unhealthy eating behaviors we do without even thinking about it.

We 'wake up' to find ourselves driving out of the drive-thru with a bag of fast food in our lap.

Or even if we stop long enough to think about it, we still do it. We see the fast food restaurant up ahead and, ignoring that inner voice telling us to stay away, deliberately drive in to order.

Whether done unconsciously or deliberately, a bad eating habit stops us from the ultimate in health that God desires for us.

Why You Develop Bad Eating Habits

Understanding the reason why you acquired the bad habit and why you continue it is essential to breaking the habit.

As is the case with most unhealthy habits, there are a variety of factors that lead to bad eating habits:

Learned Behavior

Many times eating habits are a result of what we learn from our parents and culture. For example, Friday night fish-fry is popular here in Wisconsin. Families frequently go out together to area taverns and restaurants on Friday nights to enjoy a deep-fried fish meal.

Other examples of bad eating habits that we may learn from our parents or family are eating too fast, heavy snacking, and the 'need' for daily sweets. My dad had to have a daily dessert, preferably chocolate!, and I continued that habit into my adulthood.

Some of us may have been raised by a mother who did not like to cook, or who couldn't cook, so we grew up eating processed food. We wouldn't recognize anything that isn't processed!

Lack of Knowledge

Many people, especially today's kids and teens, can truthfully claim that they did not know their eating habits were bad. This is especially true of those who manage to stay slender despite bad eating habits!

Lack of Discipline

Our lack of discipline can lead to many bad eating habits: eating too much, binge eating, choosing unhealthy food over healthy choices, not being able to pass a vending machine without buying a candy bar.

And, lack of discipline is one reason why we keep on doing what we know we shouldn't!

Stress

This is probably the major reason Americans have such poor dietary habits. Mind-numbing eating has become a popular and legal way to escape from the worries and stress in our life.

Stress is a huge factor in the ever-increasing problem of emotional eating.

Convenience

Let's face it, some unhealthy eating habits are just so convenient. Lack of time, lack of energy, lack of desire leads us to grab the fast food, eat while driving, or take the kids out to the pizza buffet because you just want to sit back and relax after a hard day's work instead of cooking.

Ungratefulness

Lack of gratitude for the blessings we have in our life is powerful reason we may have for our poor dietary habits.

If you ever found yourself grumbling about having to cook a healthy meal instead of heating up a couple of frozen pizzas, you are guilty of ungratefulness.

Remember the Israelites in the desert? God gave them sweet manna from heaven, yet they grumbled and complained, wanting meat instead.

God shows His love to us by providing delicious fresh food, manna, yet we turn away in disgust, wanting junk food instead.

Are we any different from the Israelites?

Food Addiction

Food addiction, like addictions to drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, is a reality today. Processed food contains many chemical additives, which can lead to addiction.

People who are addicted to food tend to display many of the characteristics of drug addicts and alcoholics. Food addicts develop a physical, mental, emotional craving and chemical addiction to food.

Food addiction can lead to a strong desire to continued bad habits with eating.

Mindless Eating

Mindless eating is having no idea as to why we eat the foods we do. Mindless eating is having no idea as to how much food we eat.

Eating mindlessly is a strong drive behind the staying power of bad food habits, especially the bad habit of overeating.

Hunger doesn't cause most of us to overeat.

According to the Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More than We Think, we overeat because of

"family and friends, packages and plates, names and numbers, labels and lights, colors and candles, shapes and smells, distractions and distances, cupboards and containers."

Mindless eating is what food manufacturers capitalize on when they manufacture, package and market food.

Common Bad Eating Habits

• Overeating beyond feeling comfortably full
• Binging
• Starving or skipping meals
• Routinely eating junk or processed food
• Eating too fast
• Mindless eating
• Not eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables
• Drinking too little water
• Lack of food variety due to strong food likes\\dislikes
• Unbalanced diets due to lack of nutritional knowledge
• Going too long between meals
• Snacking too often
• Routinely taking seconds
• High-sugar desserts after each meal
• Poor portion control
• Multi-tasking while eating
• Eating before bed
• Always cleaning your plate
• 'Hating' anything healthy

Changing Bad Eating Habits

The first step to changing any bad habit is recognizing that you have a bad habit.

Read over the list above. Do you have any of these unhealthy eating behaviors?

Do you have other or different bad eating behaviors that are preventing you from claiming the health our loving God promises?

What healthy eating behaviors do you have? What areas do you need to improve?

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