12 reasons to develop eating routine

  • Published
  • By Melissa Albalos
  • 60th Medical Group
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  In honor of National Nutrition Month, the nutritional medicine flight and the high blood pressure, obesity, lipidemia, diabetes, stress and smoking programs at the David Grant USAF Medical Center are providing Travis members with 12 reasons why developing a regular eating routine is important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle: 

1. Food is everywhere. From the gas station to the mall, from the vending machine to the potato chips at home. Without a regular eating routine, it can be hard to resist temptation. 

2. Grazing can lead to overeating. Without an eating routine, it becomes easy to graze on whatever food you find. Many people pick at food without ever feeling satisfied. 

3. Skipping meals can lead to overeating. Trying to eat less by skipping breakfast and lunch usually backfires. Most people tend to make up for lost calories in snacks and dinner. 

4. Getting over-hungry can lead to overeating. When you are really hungry, it’s really hard to make wise healthy choices. At the same time, it’s also hard to eat slow and be able to stop when you are satisfied. 

5. Mindless eating can lead to overeating. It’s hard to make healthy choices and stop eating when you are being distracted by other things such as driving, reading and watching TV. 

6. Television can lead to overeating. TV commercials and shows are filled with food cues that make you want to eat whether you are hungry or not. 

7. Routines help maintain a healthy weight. Developing a basic routine with regular times and places to eat helps prevent overeating and helps you balance your eating with your activity level. 

8. Routines help build healthy habits. Develop a routine for cutting up fresh fruit after dinner for a naturally sweet dessert. 

9. Routines help with planning and shopping. When you are eating regular meals and snacks, it becomes easier to plan healthy choices and a lot easier to make shopping lists. 

10. Routines help save money. Buying food on impulse is usually more expensive. It becomes a lot cheaper to plan ahead and have healthy choices around when you want to eat. 

11. Children do better with a regular eating routine. Regular meals and snacks help children maintain the ability to eat when hungry and be able to stop when satisfied. 

12. Different routines work better for different people. Choose the best routine for you. Some people feel better with three meals a day and others do well with five small meals a day. 

For more information about National Nutrition Month, visit www.eatright.org or contact DGMC’s nutritional medicine flight at 423-3696 or the HOLDSS program at 423-7867.