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TYPES OF EATING
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Our body needs energy to get through the day and this energy comes from food. It is important
to eat regular meals to ensure your body gets the energy it needs to perform.

Healthy eating includes consuming high-quality proteins, carbohydrates, heart-healthy fats,

vitamins, minerals and water in the foods you take in while minimizing processed foods,
saturated fats and alcohol. Eating in this manner helps you maintain your body’s everyday
functions, promotes optimal body weight and can assist in disease prevention.

Along with what foods a person eats, it is important to examine how and why they eat.

Fuel for Performance

Athletes recognize the importance of training for their sport. What some fail to recognize is
that their nutrition is just as important as their physical training. An athlete's body needs the
proper fuel, both food and fluids, to perform.

The foods an athlete consumes should come from a variety of sources. Carbohydrate, protein,
and fat are all keys to a fueling diet.

Carbohydrate is the body's main fuel during physical activity. Fruits, vegetables, milk, yogurt,
and whole grains all contain healthy amounts of carbohydrate. These can be part of pre- and
post-competition meals and/or snacks. The time after exercise is crucial for replenishing the
stores of energy used during exercise.

Protein plays an important role in an athlete's diet as it helps repair and strengthen muscle
tissue. High protein diets are popular among athletes — especially those seeking a leaner, more
defined physique. Protein should be part of each meal; good sources include fish, lean meats
(loin or round cuts), poultry, eggs, dairy, nuts, soy, and peanut butter.

Fat is an important component of a healthy diet as well. Fats provide long lasting energy used
in aerobic activities. The best ones are unsaturated, such as canola oil, olive oil, avocado, nuts,
and seeds.
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Foods, not supplements, are the best sources of fuel. Supplements are generally expensive, have
a poor taste, and still don't measure up to the nutrient quality of foods. Supplements such as
energy bars can be used if an athlete is struggling to maintain weight during intense training or
when balancing school and practice. However, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can provide
just as much energy as a bar. Energy drinks generally contain large amounts of sugar and
caffeine. The sugar gives an athlete quick energy but usually causes them to "crash" at the end
of practice or competition. The caffeine can have side effects as well, such as feeling anxious or
jittery.

Fluids are also a key to peak performance. To stay fully hydrated it's best to stick to a schedule
that includes two cups fluid at least two hours before practice or competition, one cup 15
minutes before, 1/2 to one cup every 15 minutes during practice or competition, and post
exercise two to three cups for each pound lost during exercise. In general, active teens will need
nine to as much as 15 cups of fluid each day. All fluids are hydrating so a glass of juice with
breakfast and milk with other meals is part of the total recommendation.

Sports drinks can also be used as part of fluid intake. Their advantage is taste. Many athletes
prefer the flavor of a sports drink to plain water and will therefore drink more and stay
hydrated. Sports drinks are necessary when activities last 60 minutes or longer and also work
well during activities that have multiple events in one day. When choosing a sports drink, look
for one that contains 14 grams of carbohydrate, 100 mg sodium, and no carbonation for eight
ounces of total content.

Emotional Eating

People don’t always eat just to satisfy hunger. Many also turn to food to relieve stress or cope
with unpleasant emotions such as sadness, loneliness, or boredom.

What is emotional eating?

Emotional eating (or stress eating) is using food to make oneself feel better—eating to satisfy
emotional needs, rather than to satisfy physical hunger.

Occasionally using food as a pick-me-up, a reward, or to celebrate isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But when eating is a primary emotional coping mechanism, it is easy to get stuck in an
unhealthy cycle where the real feeling or problem is never addressed.
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Emotional hunger can’t be filled with food. Eating may feel good in the moment, but the
feelings that triggered the eating are still there. Emotional eaters often feel worse than before
because of the unnecessary calories they’ve consumed.

The difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger

Emotional hunger can be powerful, so it’s easy to mistake it for physical hunger. But there are
clues to help tell physical and emotional hunger apart:

● Comes on suddenly. It hits in an instant and feels overwhelming and urgent. Physical
hunger, on the other hand, comes on more gradually. The urge to eat doesn’t feel as dire
or demand instant satisfaction (unless you haven’t eaten for a very long time).
● Craves specific comfort foods. When physically hungry, almost anything sounds
good—including healthy stuff like vegetables. But emotional hunger craves junk food or
sugary snacks that provide an instant rush.
● Leads to mindless eating. Consuming a large amount of food without really paying
attention or fully enjoying it. When you’re eating in response to physical hunger, you’re
typically more aware of what you’re doing.
● Isn’t satisfied once full. The urge to eat continues until uncomfortably stuffed.
Physical hunger, on the other hand, doesn't need to be stuffed. You feel satisfied when
your stomach is full.
● Isn’t located in the stomach. Rather than a growling belly or a pang in the stomach,
hunger is felt as a craving. You’re focused on specific textures, tastes, and smells.
● Often leads to regret, guilt, or shame. When eating to satisfy physical hunger, you’re
unlikely to feel guilty or ashamed because you’re simply giving your body what it needs.
If you feel guilty after you eat, it's likely because you know deep down that you’re not
eating for nutritional reasons.

Social Eating

People use eating as a way to socialize — going out to dinner with friends, snacking while
watching a movie, eating junk food during “girls’ night” or a sporting event. However, social
eating can have serious effects on the way we view food and nutrition, leading to overeating,
obesity, malnutrition and other health problems.
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In the past few decades, eating out has been on the rise. People are eating more than ever in a
social context. This context of our friends, colleagues, co workers etc. strongly shape what, and
how much, we eat in these situations.

Even when a person attempts to change his or her eating habits for the better, the social aspect
of eating can cause that person to feel unable to participate in many group activities, like eating
with friends at a restaurant while trying to diet. This may make maintaining those healthy
habits difficult.

How social situations shapes diet decisions

People are strongly influenced by friends, colleagues, and other people they’re close to. This
especially translates to food.

● If the people around you have unhealthy eating habits, it’s very likely you will pick up
those habits up and make poor diet choices in a social eating context.
● People are often influenced by the presence of other people when it comes to food
shopping or ordering. They will tend to order food that is acceptable to the people
around them.
● When in a new social situation, most people will try to emulate and adapt to the
unwritten rules of the group, this translates to food as well. If people only eat salads in a
particular social situation, it’s very likely we will only eat salads in that situation as well.
● People also tend to emulate portion sizes in new social situations to a certain extent,
the amount we eat will be like that of the first person we saw eat in this new group.
● If a person has low self esteem about their appearance, they will probably make more
health-conscious choices if in the presence of obese people when ordering or buying
food.
● People are very likely to try and avoid the typical behavior of a group which they dislike.
If someone actively dislikes vegetarians, he will try to order more meat based foods in
order to distance himself from that group of people.

(from “Social Influence on Food Choices: Is Social Eating Bad?”, healthyeatingharbor.com)

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