Eating Healthy
Maintaining a healthy diet or eating habits seems difficult, but it is not impossible to do. The individual has to first develop a plan and set goals toward achieving and maintaining that plan. There several benefits of healthy eating that prolong health and longevity because healthy foods have more nutrition. Eating the right foods in the right amount can reduce diseases and other health issues. Some issues with unhealthy eating are that people not paying attention to what they eat and how much of, it they are eating. Poor food choices and portion control can have negative effects on the body that ultimately results in weight gain or other health issues. Making better food choices helps control compulsive eating habits, and helps with weight loss. A decision to eat healthy starts with motivation. When it comes to motivation their two factors that influence a person’s behaviors and how he or she will maintain a healthy lifestyle. The motivation, to engage in healthy eating habits, starts in the brain and must be constant. There are two different types of motivation, which helps an individual engage in behaviors that will promote healthy eating habits. Extrinsic and intrinsic motivations at some point or another will both have an effect on healthy eating habits. The two motivators can be useful in motivating individuals to eat healthy when used in the right manner and for the right reasons. Environment and hereditary factors also play a strong role in maintaining healthy eating habits. This paper will discuss the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and the role the environment and heredity play in unhealthy eating.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors
Many people may find too difficult to find the motivation to engage healthy eating habits. When feeling pressured to eat healthy or lose weight. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors are important when it comes to understanding behaviors and can have a strong influence on behaviors, such as maintaining a healthy eating habits (Decker’s, 2010). Both of these factors are behaviors and the motivation behind them can engage the individual into actions that are needed to eat healthy.
The Influence of Extrinsic Factors
Extrinsic motivation is from external sources outside of the body. These sources consist of rewards, incentives or they can be the people that are around whether it is family, friends or coworkers. When the doctor informs a patient that he or she needs to start eating healthier to reduce the risk of certain diseases or other health issues, their motivation to change becomes extrinsic. Another example of extrinsic motivation would be when someone wants to lose weight to get into a smaller size or to attend their 20-year school reunion. Extrinsic factors can have an effect on intrinsic factors in our bodies. For example, choosing the right foods to eat increases risk of diseases and other health issues, when at the same time increasing healthy eating habits can decrease health issues and other health risks.
Extrinsic motivation gets an individual started on a goal and helps them to achieve the goal with rewards or incentives. Rewards or incentives can be set to assist the individual with achieving his or her goal. With extrinsic motivation the reward or incentive often pulls the person in, and they begin to behave in a certain manor. Sometimes setting the reward can give the person that drive to work harder at completing that specific goal and also set more goals for the future.
An example of a reward for reaching a healthy eating goal or milestone can be a massage, a makeover, a new pair of shoes or a special treat. Often times when people engage in healthy eating they will use food as an external reward for fulfilling a goal, and treat themselves to a food they have been deprived of they were on the healthy eating journey.

Intrinsic factors
According to Morgan intrinsic motivation engages the individual in an activity because the persons perceives the activity as interesting or enjoyable and they are not induced by an incentive or reward. Intrinsic motivations are made of feelings of competence, integrity, pride or other factors, such as suspense and positive feedback. These types of behaviors are driven when a person does something just because he or she wants to and his or her behaviors are not driven by rewards or incentives. This type of motivation is ideal for person trying to maintain a healthy eating regimen because it inspires that person to engage in healthy eating behaviors that are not based on rewards or incentives but the way the behavior makes him or her feel. An example of this would be a person sticking to their diet because it makes them feel good about their personal accomplishments and can increase their self esteem. Intrinsic motivation is usually long term because the behaviors are from with the individual. The limbic system plays a role in maintaining healthy eating because it has a strong affect on forming memories and regulating emotions that are used to maintain the attitudes formed about healthy eating (Wickens, 2005).
Intrinsic and extrinsic factors play their role in the type of motivation an individual displays. However, there are other factors that contribute to way people eat they way they do. There have been several studies that explain how the environment and heredity have an effect on why people may engage in specific eating habits.
Heredity and the Environment
Hereditary can have a major influence on a person who is trying to maintain healthy eating habits. Although genetic factors have its role in unhealthy eating, genes alone cannot dictate why a person engages in this behavior. Intrinsic motivators, such as one’s self-esteem, how a person thinks about his or her body or genetics may lead that person to make healthier food choices. Unhealthy eating habits can be a learned behavior if an individual grew up in a house or environment where he or she were not accustomed to healthy foods and making good food choices. If parents engage in unhealthy eating habits, it is more than likely their children will grow up and maintain the same habits. Our environment is based on how we live, it consists of nutrition, exercise, sleep, rest, the air we breathe, what we drink, stress levels, and our attitude. Environment plays a significant role in shaping habits, perceptions, and eating habits. Extrinsic motivators like an environment or social surroundings will have an effect on how an individual makes decision to find foods and the types of food her or she will consume. In today’s society, culture, physical layout of the home, and social life are all factors that can have an impact in eating habits. People are daily surrounded by environmental influences that demote the importance of healthy eating. Social expectation and perceptions is also a major factor in an individual's desire to maintain a diet that includes healthy food choices (Decker’s, 2010).Because Social acceptance is a common psychological need people tend to value the opinions of the people in their social circle and this can hinder the motivation of maintaining healthy eating habits. Simply put, changes in environment and lifestyle can have a significant effect on eating habits.
Conclusion
In conclusion, eating healthy is about making certain lifestyles changes to ensure that success is achieved an individual must realize the role of healthy eating and the positive effects it can have on his or her life. In order to set, achieve, and maintain healthy eating habits the individual has to develop a certain mindset. In order for the behaviors to change the person has to understand the reason for the behavior, and change his or her thinking. Healthy eating is and can be difficult to maintain when a certain level of motivation is absent from the individual. The Motivation to choose eating healthy can be either intrinsic or extrinsic, depending on the person’s motives for engaging in the behavior. Once the motivation is present the individual can use methods of motivation whether intrinsic or extrinsic to help him or her engage in coping strategies and behaviors that will help manage eating habits and make changes.

References
Deckers, L. (2010). Motivation: Biological, Psychological, and Environmental (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Morgan, Carolyn, and Carol Sansone. "Intrinsic Motivation." Encyclopedia of Counseling. Ed. . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2008. 661-67. SAGE Reference Online. Web. 17 Mar. 2012.

Wickens, A.P. (2005). Foundations of Biopsychology (2nd ed.). New York: Pearson/Prentice Hall