I 110% understand about the idle hands. Here's a list of things that I do to keep me from snacking and/or smoking (and it helps you get a bit more exercise in):
1. Play with my kitties.
2. Rearrange furniture.
3. Go for a long walk with a particular thought in mind that I think out, and don't stop walking until I work it out.
4. Window shopping (if you aren't in a high crime area, this can be really relaxing, and it gets me all excited for those things that I'll fit in to soon enough).
5. Ice skating/swimming
6. Scrapbooking
7. Reading (make sure it's rivetting!)
8. Sometimes I put on really loud music and dance around my house like crazy, singing at the top of my lungs. Talk about a stress reliever!
9. Writing. I write poetry, letters, short stories, sometimes just how I'm feeling about the specific thing I'm avoiding (like snacking). Sometimes working it out all the way through is enough to keep me from making that trip to the fridge.
10. Super cleaning (aka: Spring cleaning, not always limited to Spring).
11. Emmerse myself in this forum! Like right now! LOL.
12. Pamper. Sometimes there just isn't anything to do, so I'll give myself a mini facial, soak in a hot tub, wax my legs, and do my nails. I feel soo good after!
Hopefully that helps.
And I hope this isn't stepping on too many toes, or offensive in any way. If I've crossed the line, feel free to tell me to shut up!
But you said you weren't always overweight. Neither was I. I used to be really active as a teenager, and didn't start gaining until I didn't have school/friends/extracurricular activities to keep me busy. When I became an adult, I had a lot of time for painful issues to surface. I found that instead of dealing with them, and quieting my mind, I would stuff myself until I could barely sit up (I'm a HUGE binge eater). Only in resolving some of these issues, and coming to grips with them. Even just accepting that it's an issue, it has really helped me overcome some of my hardest obstacles. Is there something/someone that happened in your life that may have started the downward spiral? If so, have you taken the time out to not just heal yourself physically, but also emotionally?
I'm just suggesting that if any such issue exists, in dealing with it, you may in turn resolve the food issues, and you will once again be able to live as you did before.
I also really like dollypie's idea of counting every second day, then every third day, then once a week, and so on. The combine it with the idea to maintain yourself within a 5lb radius, and if you step out of that radius, go back to cal counting.
I hope I helped!
~Mande