#均衡饮食
#系列课程
饮食行为
许多行为都会降低您实现健康饮食的能力。本文将讨论其中一些行为，但其他一些行为可能因您个人而异。本节旨在帮助您识别并纠正那些可能妨碍您实现健康均衡饮食的行为。以下是对这些行为的解释，以及一些可以帮助您避免这些不健康饮食行为的技巧。
- 不吃饭
不吃饭是一个常见的错误，它会导致您在不合适的时间（例如，当您无法获得健康食品时）感到饥饿。这可能会导致您在匆忙时抓起“方便食品”。
方便食品通常含有不良的营养成分，例如高糖、精制淀粉、饱和脂肪和盐。为了避免这种情况，请计划您的正餐和零食，定时进食，准备健康食品，并避免不吃饭。
- 无意识进食
另一个常见的错误是无意识进食或“不假思索”地进食。这意味着你可能会不经意地吃一些唾手可得的食物，比如办公室里的一块生日蛋糕、会议中的一块饼干、看电影时吃的爆米花、孩子晚餐或午餐盒里的剩菜，或者晚饭后吃点甜食。这通常会导致你无意识地吃东西。要注意你吃东西的时间和种类。食物的选择应该经过深思熟虑，并符合你的健康目标。
- 眼不见，心不烦
为了减少不健康的饮食和随意进食，请将诱人的不健康食物放在看不见的地方（从而也不要放在心上）。将食物存放在橱柜、冰箱或冰柜中。不要将食物放在台面或敞开的地方。将诱人的不健康食物放在看不见的地方。
- 早点准备好晚餐
许多下班回家后感到饥饿的人都在与晚餐前的零食作斗争。许多人在准备或等待晚餐时会吃一些方便但不健康的零食。解决方法很简单：不要等到准备或吃晚餐才开始。
确保晚餐在你需要的时候准备好，并且在你感到太饿之前。这有助于减少总体食物摄入量，并有助于保持整体健康饮食。
- 避免食物联想
食物联想是指无意识地将某项活动与进食联系起来的行为。例如，在电视机前、读书时或开车时进食。风险在于，每次你进行诸如看电视、阅读或开车等行为时，都可能会感到想吃东西，因为你将进食与这些行为联系起来。因此，重要的是在用餐时坐在餐桌旁，不要进行其他活动。
- 在自助餐厅、快餐店、其他餐厅以及自动售货机外就餐
在如今这个便利的时代，外出就餐、从自助餐厅、自动售货机、快餐店或其他餐厅点餐已成为一种生活方式。外出就餐的主要问题是，这些餐厅的食物通常含有更高的卡路里、饱和脂肪、精制淀粉、糖和钠（盐）。另一个问题是，这些餐厅提供的食物份量通常比在家吃的要大，导致卡路里摄入量高于必要水平。当然，每个人都会时不时地外出就餐。但是，外出就餐时，请选择能够提供更优质食物的餐厅，例如沙拉、水果、鸡肉、鱼肉、瘦肉或全麦面包三明治。记住要控制份量；你不需要吃完所有食物。吃到满意为止，不要过饱。
点击此处获取一些技巧，帮助您远离不健康的场所。
- 情绪化饮食
另一个常见的错误是情绪化饮食。情绪化饮食是指为了寻求安慰而吃东西，通常会导致食物质量不佳。经常被用作安慰食物的食物包括：糖果、巧克力、冰淇淋、薯片、饼干、蛋糕和派。这些食物通常富含糖、饱和脂肪、卡路里，有时还会含盐。
在压力大的时候，用食物来安慰自己永远不是一个好主意。吃东西并不能解决眼前的问题，如果问题持续存在，你可能会发现自己长期食用劣质食物。此外，情绪化饮食可能会成为习惯。应对情绪化饮食的最佳方法是解决导致情绪化饮食的根本问题。训练自己进行其他一些舒缓和安慰的行为也是值得的，但不要与食物有关。点击此处查看一些示例。
训练自己避免情绪化进食非常重要，因为情绪波动很大。如果在情绪健康发生变化时进食，你可能会暴饮暴食，并让自己暴露于不良的饮食风险因素中。如需这方面的更多帮助，请咨询你的医生或执业医师。
- 无聊时进食
如果你发现自己在不饿的时候也吃东西或零食，一定要问问自己为什么要吃东西。很多人在无事可做的时候会利用食物来打发时间。这会导致人们摄入过多的卡路里和不太理想的食物。确保你不要因为错误的原因进食。寻找其他活动来打发时间，例如锻炼、剪贴簿制作、编织、园艺、阅读、打桥牌、打高尔夫球、去练习场或加入社交俱乐部（例如读书俱乐部）。
- 社交饮食
在感恩节、圣诞节、光明节、复活节和生日等节庆和节日期间，我们也容易暴饮暴食，做出错误的饮食选择。甜食和高脂肪食物通常是这些特殊场合的一部分，但你应该注意不要过量食用这些食物。社交场合饮食的一个好规则是注意份量，只适量食用不太健康的食物。如果适量、控制量、少量食用这些食物，它们就不会对你的健康构成真正的威胁。
以上只是一些例子，说明情绪、环境或计划不周导致的饮食行为会如何影响你实现健康均衡饮食的目标。重要的是，你要了解你所处的环境和你自己的饮食习惯。调整你的行为和选择，以保护你的健康，并提升幸福感。
本周重点信息
能够识别并纠正那些有损于你实现健康均衡饮食目标的行为至关重要。这些因素可能包括您的情绪健康、社交性饮食、计划不周、食物联想、外出就餐以及其他可能仅针对您个人的因素。
以下建议或许能帮助您避免不健康的饮食习惯：
- 不要跳过三餐
- 避免盲目进食
- 将不健康的食物放在视线之外
- 提前准备好晚餐，以减少晚餐前的零食摄入
- 避免食物联想
- 外出就餐时注意饮食选择
- 避免情绪化进食
- 避免因无聊而进食
- 在社交场合注意饮食选择
Eating behaviours
Many behaviours can reduce your ability to achieve a healthy diet. Some of these are discussed here, but there may be other behaviours that are unique to you as an individual. The goal of this section is to help you identify and correct the behaviours that can detract from your efforts to achieve a healthy balanced diet. Below is an explanation of these behaviours and some tips you can use to help you avoid these unhealthy eating behaviours.
- Skipping meals
Skipping meals is a common mistake that can result in you feeling hungry at inopportune times, i.e., when you do not have access to healthy foods. This may lead you to grab “convenience foods” when you are on the run.
Convenience foods typically contain undesirable nutritional characteristics, such as high sugar content, refined starch, saturated fat and salt. To prevent this, plan your meals and snacks, eat at regular times, have healthy foods available and avoid skipping meals.
- Mindless eating
Another common mistake is to engage in mindless or “non-thinking” eating. This means that you may snack carelessly on readily available foods, such as a slice of birthday cake at the office, a cookie in a meeting, popcorn during a movie, the leftovers from your child’s dinner or lunch box, or something sweet after dinner. This often results in food being consumed unintentionally. Be aware of when and what you are eating. Food choices should be deliberate and consistent with your goals for health and wellness.
- Out of sight, out of mind
To reduce unhealthy eating and grazing, keep tempting unhealthy foods out of sight (and thus, out of mind). Store food in cupboards, the refrigerator or freezer. Don’t leave food out on counter tops or in open spaces. Keep tempting unhealthy foods out of sight.
- Have dinner ready early
Many people who are hungry upon their return home from work battle with pre-dinner snacking. Many snack on convenient and unhealthy foods either while preparing or waiting to eat dinner. The solution is simple: Don’t wait to prepare or eat dinner.
Make sure that dinner is ready when you need it and before you get too hungry. This can help to reduce the amount of food eaten overall and can contribute to maintaining an overall healthy diet.
- Avoid food associations
A food association is an unintentional behaviour in which a certain activity becomes associated with eating. Examples include eating in front of the television, while reading a book or while driving a car. The risk is that every time you engage in behaviours like watching television, reading or driving, you may feel the urge to eat, as you associate the activity of eating with these behaviours. For this reason, it is important to sit at the table when eating and not to engage in other activities.
- Eating outside of your home in cafeterias, fast-food and other restaurants and from vending machines
In our age of modern conveniences, it has become a way of life to eat out and select foods from a cafeteria, a vending machine, fast-food or other restaurant. The primary problem with engaging in away-from-home eating practices is that foods selected from these establishments are usually higher in calories, saturated fat, refined starch, sugar and sodium (salt). The other problem with selecting foods from these outlets is that the portions of food served are often larger than you would select at home, contributing to a higher calorie intake than necessary. Of course, everyone eats out from time-to-time. However, when eating out, choose restaurants which will be able to provide you with better quality choices such as salads, fruit, chicken, fish, lean meat or sandwiches on whole-grain bread. Remember to keep portion sizes under control; you do not need to eat everything that is served. Eat until you are satisfied and not overfull.
Click here for some tips to help you steer away of unhealthy establishments.
- Emotional eating
Another common mistake is emotional eating. Emotional eating refers to eating foods for comfort and often results in poor quality food choices. Foods often used as comfort foods include: sweets, chocolates, ice cream, potato chips, cookies, cakes and pies. These foods are usually high in sugar, saturated fat, calories, and sometimes salt.
It is never a good idea to use food to comfort yourself in times of stress. Eating does not solve the problem at hand and if the problem perpetuates, you may find yourself eating poor quality foods for an extended period of time. Furthermore, emotional eating can become habitual. The best approach to emotional eating is to deal with the underlying problem that is causing the emotional eating. It is also worthwhile to train yourself to engage in other behaviours that are soothing and comforting, but do not involve food. Click here for some examples.
It is important to train yourself not to engage in emotional eating, as emotions can fluctuate considerably. If you eat when there is a change to your emotional well-being, you run the risk of overeating and exposing yourself to undesirable dietary risk factors. For additional help in this area, speak to your doctor or medical practitioner.
- Eating when you are bored
If you find yourself eating or snacking when you do not feel hungry, it is important that you ask yourself why you are eating. Many people use food as something to occupy their time when they have nothing to do. This can result in one consuming too many calories and less desirable foods. Make sure that you do not eat for the wrong reasons. Find other activities to occupy your time, such as exercising, scrap booking, knitting, gardening, reading, playing bridge, golf, going to the driving range, or joining social clubs (such as book clubs).
- Social eating
We are also exposed to overeating and making the wrong food choices during festivities and holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter and birthdays. Sweet and high-fat foods are often a part of these special occasions, but you should be careful to not eat these foods in excess. A good rule for eating at social occasions is to watch your portion sizes and to only consume less-healthy foods in moderation. When these foods are eaten in moderation, in controlled amounts and infrequently, they pose no real threat to your health.
These are just a few examples of how eating behaviours from emotions, circumstances or poor planning can affect your goal of achieving a healthy balanced diet. It is important that you become aware of your environment and your own eating habits. Modify your behaviours and choices in order to protect your health and promote a greater sense of well-being.
Key messages for this week
It is important to be able to identify and correct behaviours that detract from your goal of achieving a healthy balanced diet. These can include your emotional well-being, social eating, poor planning, food associations, eating meals away from home and other factors that may be unique to you.
The following tips may help you avoid unhealthy eating behaviours
- Do not skip meals
- Avoid mindless eating
- Keep unhealthy foods out of sight
- Have dinner ready early to minimize snacking prior to dinner
- Avoid food associations
- Be aware of your food choices when eating away from home
- Avoid emotional eating
- Avoid eating because you are bored
- Be aware of your food choices in social eating situations
