I've got a major case of the munchies tonight. It has nothing to do with me being hungry I just feel like eating. It's to late to eat and I've already eaten my allowed calories for the day so I'm resisting but it's hard.
Chew gum. Drink water. Do something with your hands. Read a book. Jump on a treadmill (if you have one at home). Go to bed. Ask yourself if you really want to eat when you're NOT hungry or if you want to see the scale move more. Call a friend. Mess around on facebook. Post on here.
i keep gum next to all of the munchy food...whether it's my own or my roommates. If I'm not hungry, I grab a piece of gum. I also down a bottle of water.
I have kids so of course I have some junk in the house & it's in my face all the time b/c I am in the kitchen constantly. I get the munchies too especially being tired - just wanna park it & munch sometimes, but I just try to get up & go find something to do - get my mind off of it completely before I make a mistake. Gum works for me, a late shower then pile on lotion for 10 minutes, floss, fix eyebrows, push/cut cuticles lol anything to get out of the kitchen & NOT get in the junk!
Sometimes, hot tea works for me. I also like to paint my nails. There are times when I am desperate so I'll munch and crunch on celery...nobody ever got fat by eating too much celery. Sometimes, I know I can't resist, so I'll go over my calories by a bit...if I don't allow myself this, then I'm in danger of having a full on binge. I'd rather go over by 100 calories than by 4,000. Also, I workout so that way, I just tap into those calories. It's really hard sometimes though. Oh, sometimes, I look at pictures of cute clothes I wanna wear some day!
I drink a big glass of water (so that my stomach feels full, as opposed to just not hungry), and then brush my teeth. For some reason, gum only works for me for mid-afternoon munchies, not in the evening.
I made these fantastic Motivation Cards: 66 cards with pics of things that I want to do/wear, like snowboarding and knee-high boots. Just going through a few of those renews my motivation. Honestly, I'm starving to finish off the dinner I made tonight, but I'm going to make a cup of tea to put something hot in my stomach and kill the hungry feeling.
Sometimes I'll have one chip or one teaspoon of ice cream just so I can get the taste craving out of my mouth. However, normally I try and drink tons of water maybe some crystal light lemon aid if I want something sweet. Normally its just a mental thing not actually being hungry.
Tea works for me usually, and it cures the desire for something sweet because I have it with a tsp of sugar.
I try not to keep too many snacks in the house - if it's light chips in individual bags that I might take to uni or something like that, it's fine, because I would never eat more than one bag (I don't like them THAT much), but if it's chocolate I'd be in huge trouble. I live very near a convenience store, it's on the same block, so if I MUST have chocolate I have to put on my jacket and get my wallet and my keys and walk down there. I generally won't do that late at night so no more evening snacking for me
Agreed Gypsy that is a great idea about the cards!!!
Also, I have to agree with Lucky. If I'm obsessing over something... sometimes its better to give in partially than to keep obsessing over something and then eat EVERYTHING.
As far as boredom munchies go though... I think a big part of it is recognizing that you AREN'T actually hungry and occupying yourself otherwise.
You already covered my first bit of advice in your OP I was going to suggest to recognize the difference between hunger and just wanting to munch. Which you've already done, so that's good.
When I'm sitting around and have the munchies I try to do some kind of busy work. Painting my nails, like many have suggested, planning my meals for tomorrow, playing online bingo (haha), etc.
Also, there are foods that are "safe" to munch on. Gum is helpful, but it doesn't always give me the satisfying hand-to-mouth motion, lol. I always keep some celery around. Personally, I can eat it without ranch or anything. And it actually takes more calories to digest than what it provides, so it's technically a zero cal food. And it satisfies me when I just want to eat something.
How do you NOT give in to the munchies?
Sometimes, I know I can't resist, so I'll go over my calories by a bit...if I don't allow myself this, then I'm in danger of having a full on binge. I'd rather go over by 100 calories than by 4,000. Also, I workout so that way, I just tap into those calories. It's really hard sometimes though. Oh, sometimes, I look at pictures of cute clothes I wanna wear some day!
