Healthy Vs Unhealthy Eating and Exercise Behaviours

Below is a detailed list of healthy and unhealthy eating and exercise behaviours which may support in the identification of disordered eating or exercise.

Eating Behaviours

It is healthy to:

• Eat a variety of foods across all food groups (cereals, dairy, meat product, fruit and vegetables)

• Eat a variety of foods across all macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat)

• Have a fluctuating appetite

• Enjoy all food

• Enjoy and eat food in social situations

• Identify signals of fullness and hunger

• Enjoy 1-2 standard drinks of alcohol

• Eat mindfully

• Eat adequate amounts for biological existence

• Be relaxed about eating

• Be flexible about eating

• Eat to support physical, mental, social and emotional well-being and development

• Eat regularly i.e. every 3 4 hours

• Eat regular snacks

• Cope with various emotional states without attachment to excessive dieting and exercise

• Eat culturally appropriate foods for particular occasions

• Drink water appropriately not too much and not too little

It is unhealthy to:

x Cut out food groups or particular foods without medical diagnosis

x Follow someone else’s diet to suit you

x Constant dieting or switching from one diet to another

x Have a fear of certain foods

x Be anxious about eating

x Fear attending social events because of eating

x Avoid eating socially

x Use supplements instead of eating whole foods

x Measuring, counting or weighing food and counting calories or counting macronutrients

x Follow rigid eating rules

x Label yourself as ‘bad’ or a ‘failure’ if you break diet rules

x Label food with an emotional attachment or judgment

x Have an over reliance on quick-fix strategies

x Use compensatory behaviours such as vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, extreme fasting

x Use food as a reward

x Feed others but not eat yourself

x Excessively deny yourself of desired foods

x Engage in excessive restricted eating

x Restrict fluids or excessive drinking

x Use water to suppress appetite

x Use distracting behaviours to ignore hunger cues e.g. smoking/exercise

x Use illegal or banned substances to control body composition

x Not eat food prepared by others

x Eat in secret

x Fear feeling full

x Use competitive sport as an excuse for extreme diet behaviours

Exercise Behaviours

It is healthy to:

• Rest

• Move in a variety of ways

• Exercise at a variety of intensities

• Exercise to supportmental, emotional, physical and social well-being

• Exercise within recommended physical activity guidelines

• Exercise for performance

• Exercise for enjoyment

• Exercise with supported nutrition to promote adequate recovery

• Take exercise free days

• Take breaks from a set exercise regimen such as whilst on holiday or if injured or sick

It is unhealthy to:

x Exercise while sick or injured

x Exercise as a means of punishment or control

x Exercise purely for burning calories instead of for fun and enjoyment

x Not allow time to recover sufficiently causing poor performance, frequent illness, disturbed sleep and alterations in mood.

x Engage in guilt-driven exercise without enjoyment

x Exercise through pain

x Label yourself as a failure if you break an exercise regime

x Use exercise as a reason to eat

x Engage in extended bouts of exercise of any kind (> 60 mins) multiple times a day

x Have an addiction or compulsion to exercise, including in private or at unconventional times during the day (e.g. very early in the morning or very late at night)

x Experience anxiety related to inability to exercise

x Feel the compulsion to exercise more

x Have menstrual dysfunction or low testosterone levels due to excessive exercise and diet habits

x Have a compulsion to perform one particular exercise only

x Engage in deliberate behaviour to maximise energy expenditure

x Believe that exercise takes precedent over other life activities

x Use competitive sport as an excuse for extreme exercise regimes