What Type of Eater are You?

Whether you're happy, sad, or angry - there's a reason to eat. A big win at work deserves a dinner out, a bad day calls for ice cream, and the adrenaline from a bad fight can be suppressed by eating something crunchy. While biological history says this is all how some of us are normally wired, it can be overcome. Well, some of the time anyway! Knowing that it's what's driving you may make it easier to reach for a celery stick instead of a granola bar or potato chips when you want to chew away the anger, or a pillow when you think you want ice cream.

You've got a double whammy to deal with. On the one hand, you eat as routine. You have the same meals over and over at the same time - whether you're hungry or not. This puts you in danger of not having enough variety and, therefore, not enough nutrients. In the other hand, if that routine gets disrupted because you've overscheduled or run out of time or are late for meal time, you make bad eating choices because 'it's just this once.' If it's a particularly bad week, you could end up gaining weight because that 'once' turns in to five go rounds in the drive-thru!

You should be wearing blinders. Why? Your eating is triggered by foods you see or smell. If you see a commercial for something tasty just an hour after you've eaten, you're in danger of wanting to eat again! A bag of chips on the counter is your nemesis. Knowing that you're an external eater may help you to ignore those signals in the future or, at least, give you a strategy for navigating the grocery store!

You're obsessive about getting it right, but when you have a slip up you declare defeat and eat 'bad' foods. You're aces at following a strict diet or eating program for a while, but on those 'bad' days you have a devil may care attitude and give up your strict habits and go whole hog. Stop the cycle - realize that if you have a moment of weakness, it's just a moment. One piece of cake does not ten pounds make. If you have one, get back to healthy eating at the next meal and give yourself a little room for indulgence now and then.

For you, it's all about the experience. The taste, feel, and smell of the delectable foods you love. You savor every bite. Because the enjoyment of food outweighs the nutrition of food for you, you might not be getting enough healthy options. Be mindful of balance in your diet and try to think about how you're making decisions in what you choose to eat.

You use food for fuel. Now, while that might sound like something a physical trainer or doctor would tell you to do, it's not always a good thing. An energy eater that uses food for fuel will often wait too long to eat and then in that moment of hunger, they'll eat too much of a good thing. This causes blood sugar spikes that can put you on a cycle that ends up in insulin resistance and, in turn, weight gain. Remember to not skip meals and to take care of hunger before it gets out of control.