Where do you usually eat?

If you eat in places such as your room or in front of the TV, you may want to change that habit. Eating while doing other things makes it easy to lose track of how much you have already eaten.

By eating meals and snacks at a table, you can pay more attention to what you’re eating so that you don’t overeat.

(If you want to snack while watching TV, take a small amount of food with you-such as a handful of pretzels or a couple of cookies-not the whole bag.)

Why do you eat?

To see if you need to change your eating habits, let’s look at why you eat. For most people, reasons to eat are:

Time of day

Hunger

Food looks tempting everyone else is eating

Boredom, frustration, nervousness, or sadness

The best reason to eat is because your body tells you that you are hungry. If you are eating when you are not hungry, try doing something else to get food off of your mind. Call a friend, exercise, read, or work on a craft. These activities can help you to cut back on eating when you are feeling bored, upset, or stressed.

To improve your eating habits, try to eat the suggested number of servings from each food group in the Food Guide pyramid.

The Food Guide Pyramid

Bread, cereal, rice, & pasta group (6-11 servings)

Vegetable group (3-5 servings)

Fruit group (2-4 servings)

Milk, yogurt, & cheese group (2-3 servings)

Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, & nuts group (2-3 servings)

Fats, oils, & sweets (use sparingly)

Note: A range of servings is given for each group The smaller number is for people who consume about 1,600 calories a day, such as inactive women. The larger number is for those who eat about 2,800 calories a day, such as teenage boys, active men, and very active women.