Emotional eater

[ppeck14]

I am an emotional eater. I eat to feed my emotions and not my stomach. When I'm bored I eat a lot of junk food. I get bored easily because I have nothing to do. I currently am out of a job. I need to find a healthy hobby to help from feeling bored all the time. Any suggestions?

[EagleRiverDee]

It's hard to give suggestions without knowing what things interest you, but some of my hobbies are:
walking or hiking
riding ATV's (Snowmobiles in winter)
riding my bike
reading
playing PC games
photography (goes well with hiking, too!)
P90X (I wouldn't have called it a hobby, except it does take up a lot of time)
Participating in internet forums
Playing cards (pinochle every Friday night)
Going to the gym

Other things I don't do but are classic hobbies:
Knitting/Sewing/Macrame/Crochet
Painting
Pottery

Other things that aren't so much hobbies but lifestyle:
Involvement in church activities (Bible study/Sunday school, etc)
Book clubs
Home business (Party lite, Avon, etc)

The key thing is to select something you enjoy, so that you will do it and will enjoy incorporating it into your lifestyle.

[Michi702]

Something that keeps your hands busy so you can't eat. Sewing, needlework, crocheting, etc or even stuff like logic puzzles, crosswords, and sudoku. Depending on if you like movies or TV shows, then you could also try watching new films/series. Hulu is a good resource and if you get NetFlix then you can cheaply borrow films as well as watch stuff instantly online.

[2CuteToBeFat]

I don't really have any advice as I am the same way.. interested in what others have to say. If I have a bad day at work I instantly want something fattening and totally bad for me to make me feel better. I just started realizing this within the last month or so. Now I am able to see what I am doing and most of the time I don't. It is hard to do though..

[LeslieB]

Coming from the exact same place I understand about emotional eating. Two years ago I lost 135 lbs. then gained 100 of it back due to bingeing and emotional eating. The fact that you recognize it is excellent but now comes the tough part. We recognize we're doing it and know it's not healthy for us but we continue to do it. When I feel the head hunger I find something to do outside of the kitchen and living rooms as those are the places I eat most of the time. Getting completely out of the house is a good idea... go to the library or bookstore to read, go for a walk... Eagle had some great ideas. If you go to the library you can read a book about emotional eating... that might help even more. My favorite book on the subject right now is Shrink Yourself... I keep wondering how the author got into my head. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[phonymahoney]

I'm the same way - it's either feast or famine for me - literally. I'm either bored and eat everything, or I'm occupied and am hardly even peckish. Either way, if I eat a lot due to boredom, or if I get takeout when I'm home at night, I INSTANTLY feel guilty after I'm done eating - or sometimes before! The key for me is just discipline, to be honest. I just have to tell myself that doing that is how I got this way and that I always regret it, you know?