Regular Eating printable pdf download

Regular Eating

Establishing regular eating is the foundation upon which other positive changes in

your eating habits will be based and is fundamental to your recovery.

Regular eating usually takes the form of three meals and 2 or 3 snacks a day:

• Breakfast

• A mid-morning snack

• Lunch

• A mid-afternoon snack

• Dinner

• A evening snack

Regular Eating is important because it:

• Gives structure to your eating habits, so that eating can start to become a

regular part of your life.

• Helps you to eat enough food and the right foods. Once the routine of eating

meals and snacks is in place, you can modify the food content and portion

size.

• Helps combat missed meals, delayed or infrequent eating.

• Helps prevent binge eating. When you are eating regularly, you avoid the

extreme hunger that can lead to binge eating.

• Keeps your blood sugar levels steady and minimises

feelings of tiredness, dizziness and irritability.

• Keeps your metabolism steady. If you leave more than

4-5 hours between eating (during the day), your body

goes into “Starvation Mode”, preparing for a further

lack of food. It lowers its metabolic rate in order to

preserve energy. Therefore, when you do eat next, the

food you consume will be metabolised differently, for the purpose of storage –

this is exactly what you are trying to avoid!

Regular Eating