Eating when bored!!!!! Stop the madness!!

I need help!! I eat when I am bored. To fill the time. I love food I really love eating and enjoy it but I hate it when I eat to eat. I need help in what to do during these times. It is so hard to keep myself from eating and eating.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Stacie

I am the same way!! I always eat when I am bored...or when I am stresses and I also feel the need to stop the madness!! I think what I am going to do is start writing in a journal. I used to write in my journal all the time when I was bored, but that kind of went out the window this year when I started college and I was living in rez. Anyways...so now that school is almost out and exams are startig soon I am going to have to be extra strong and stop eating when I am bored and stressed.

Tomorrow, I am seriously restarting my diet. I want to get in shape and loss this weight by August.

I wish everyone luck, as it seems that many have this same problem!

try knitting or crocheting when you're bored. thats what i started doing while i watch tv etc to keep busy and keep myself from eating when im not hungry

It's up to you to stop that. Cravings disappear in about 15 min. Control yourself.

I'm new, but what I have done is eat popcorn.  Really, air popped popcorn with "I can't believe its not butter" spray, and a dash a white chedder flavoring, 5 cups of popcorn is only 155 calories.  I eat 5 cups between breakfast and lunch, and 5 cups between lunch and dinner.  I still want to eat, but I dont "need" to eat.

Ryan

Take a walk when you are bored

i like to go for a nice long bath or shower to get my mind of it for me its more stress related rather than boredom, you could also take a nap. ever tried chewing gum that works for me, umm and drinking water helps or so ive heard, but for me it seems to make matters worse lol donno why.

I have found it helpful to pack a few servings of my favorite veggies (crunchy ones) and fruits along with low fat cottage cheese. If I feel like snacking I grab my green beans and keep my water handy. Then in another two hours or so I'll get the fruit of my liking. If I am still feeling hungry then the cottage cheese with pineapple is always a great snack. Sometimes a hot tea with no sugar or milk is a great way to curb hunger. I've had difficulty with staying full just drinking water and I'm not sure why. I definitely get bored with this so I change things up each week. I'll buy a new veggie and different fruits and continue on that way...I hope this helps! :)

Original Post by emilywantsperfection:

Chew on gum when you're at work. Sugarless gum if you can as it has very few calories.

 No Gum!

There have been findings that chewing gum causes the stomach to secrete digestive enzimes when there is no food there to digest.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/ar chive/2003/12/03/chewing-gum.aspx

Do try water and if you must Special K makes a powder you can add to your bottled water. They call it protein water but not that much protein in it. 

DAMMIT i just killed 6 apples one right after another....ughhhhh the guilt and shame.

Many many good suggestions on this thread.  But they only work if you work 'em.  Binge eating/overeating/eating when "bored" are habits that can be broken.  It starts with changing the mindset from "I have to eat...I can't help it!" to "Cravings are uncomfortable but not an emergency." 

I know when I struggled with impulsive eating, I did not believe I could control myself, and a small part of me did not want to.  While I hated the consequences of overeating, I loved the food and was addicted to the emotional numbing.

True boredom requires mental stimulation - last time I looked there was little cognitive complexity in stuffing one's face.  One of the challenges for me was learning to tolerate the discomfort of cravings because they do pass.  This became easier as I developed the habit of eating healthy foods 5-6 times a day - genuine hunger, while also not an emergency in my life, does make it more difficult to make healthy choices.

I do two things:

1) I "visualize" being on the treadmill and remembering all the work I do to burn just 100 calories and ask myself if it is still worth it

2) I get on these and other forums and read other people's success stories and talk about how much they've lost and how they look good and before and after pictures and it is a quick reminder that I am on the same journey and that eating this thing I don't need isn't going to help me get there. Basically, I make myself jealous of them and before I know it ratehr than eating I'm heading to the gym to work out :)

find

a

hobby.

heh heh - short and sweet!

I have the same problem. I think it's a constant battle. Sometimes I have control and I'm able to replace it w/ a healthier snack, no snack, or just some activity. It's tough, try to actively talk to yourself and rationalize why you don't need it. Also, try to get rid of the temptation. If you are not near it, you can't eat it. I try not to store too much food in my house. Just fresh foods.

I don't know if this has been suggested but I have to use a mouthguard at night due to grinding my teeth.  Mine was made by the dentist, but you can find the one size fits all-type at the drugstore.  I find it helpful to pop it in while I'm watching TV in the evening to assist me with not snacking.

Thanks puurin & miss_186..i now stock low cal foods & i'm into cross stitch as well...

to stop myself doing this i drink lots of water, chew sugar free gum and keep a fat photo of me near by to remind myself of what i used to look like 

i am the same way and the only way i get past it is to plan my food out the day before.... i een plan out my snack food and break it up into small portions so i eat like every hour or so but it's all healthy low calorie stuff...it's helped me a bunch....

Stacie48, I feel your pain! My vice is to constantly have my hands at work, and usually that means I'm putting them to work lifting food to my mouth. I found an easy way to remedy it. Make your boredom food healthy food! I was bad for constantly nibbling on potato chips while working at my computer. I replaced the potato chips with baked sunflower seeds, and noticed in only a weeks time that I had dropped down a couple of pounds.

I do exactly the same thing that everyone else is talking about, and i figured out that looking at pictures of really obese people, then at pictures of people at my goal weight, I am less likely to eat and more likely to do something more productive and overall more satisfying than eating.