Biting the Habit: What's your eating style?

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Saver, skipper, and compensator

Not eating for long periods of time makes people hungry and hungry people do not make wise food choices.

This eating style is characterised by erratic eating patterns. Savers, skippers, and compensators seesaw between eating too much and too little. They often skip meals because they are too busy to take the time to eat, or in order to save calories for a big occasion. When they do eat too much – which is usually a result of missing meals – skippers try to compensate by missing more meals or fasting. They often say things like: "I usually don’t eat breakfast or lunch," or "I am going to a party tonight, so I won't eat all day," or "I can't eat breakfast or lunch because I ate too much last night."

The negative aspect of this style is that it promotes overeating. Not eating for long periods of time makes people hungry and hungry people do not make wise food choices. Saving calories by skipping meals can be compared to putting money in the bank, receiving $10.00 in interest, but paying $12.00 in service charges. It just doesn't make sense.

Erratic eating habits also disrupt normal metabolic functions. When you don't eat for a long period (this can be hours, not days) your body thinks it is starving and begins to slow down to storage mode, conserving calories for future use. It's taken by surprise when you suddenly overload it and so can't metabolise efficiently. This is exactly the opposite of what happens to people who eat small meals and snacks. Their bodies are accustomed to working with the right amount of food most of the time and are constantly metabolising; when excess food is encountered, metabolising continues as usual. Savers, skippers, and compensators impede the efficiency of their natural processes. The end result is that they become fat-storing machines. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you need to be a fat-burning machine.

The skipper's fix-it plan

• To become a fat-burning machine and to keep your metabolism revved up, get into the habit of eating regular meals – no matter what. Eat smaller meals if you like, but eat something every three or four hours.
  
  
• Don't let yourself get hungry. If you wait until you are ravenous, you will make poor food choices and will probably eat so fast that you won't give your brain enough time to get the "I am full” signal.
  
  
• Instead of not eating to compensate for the possibility of eating lots of high calorie foods, have a snack one hour before going to a party or out to dinner. This little tactic could save you hundreds of calories. Low-fat, high fibre fruits or vegetables are good snack choices. Keep your snack under 200 calories and make sure it's not so high in sugar that it sets you up for cravings.
  
  
• The day after a big party or any time you think you have overeaten, just get back to your regular eating. You can cut back a little on fats, carbs or calories, but don't fast or skip whole meals. For example, if you are on a 1500 calorie plan, you can drop down to about 1200 for the next few days. Eat smaller meals, but eat something.