Do you snack whenever hunger happens to strike, or sit down to three squares a day? Your eating times may say a lot about your health, finds a new study conducted by Information Resources, Inc., a market research company. They discovered that 21% of Americans are opportunist eaters, which means they eat sporadically throughout the day, often on the go, rather than adhering to traditional meal times.
The remaining 79% of Americans are “planners,” or those who put schedules and structure into their eating habits. Planners fall into one of three camps: they either eat three times a day with some additional snacking, eat four or five smaller “mini-meals” a day, or eat three times a day without snacking.
On the other hand, "opportunist eaters grab food and drink as the chance arises during the day, with little consideration as to whether they are consuming a snack or a meal," says Susan Viamari, an editor for Information Resources, Inc.
If that sounds familiar, here's some bad news: the opportunist lifestyle often leads to unhealthy habits. “Forty-five percent of opportunists eat what they want, when they want it, with little or no concern for nutritional value or calorie intake,” says Viamari. “They are nearly three times as likely as planners to display this behavior.”
They're also less likely to exercise regularly, she says.
You can still buck mealtimes and be healthy, though. "Nearly half of opportunistic eaters enjoy cooking, with 64% looking for solutions that are quick and easy to prepare," Viamari says.
Optimize your opportunism by arming yourself with easy healthy recipes and building some structure into your schedule, even if it’s as simple as differentiating between your meals and your snacks. (Just make sure you don’t become an opportunist couch potato, too.)