Has anyone found that they tend to have more problems with their eating issues/binging/bulimia during times when they have a lot of free time?

I noticed that I tend to eat a lot more while being bored. When I don't have a full schedule of things to do, I eat wayy more then I should and sometimes binge.

I do overeat when I am upset but I tend to BINGE when i have a vacation, or day off. Am I the only one here?

Anyway what can I do to keep myself busy and my mind off food. Keep in mind that I usually exercise 2 hours on days when I have nothing to do so exercising more would be a bit of an overdrive.

I'm going to try reading but more ideas would be useful. IF anyone has a similar situation, that'd be good too.

You're not the only one with this problem. It's so easy to eat during weekends or days off. It's almost like going to work keeps me on a stricter eating schedule, but since I'm at home on weekends I don't have that schedule to adhere to.

Also I have a desk job so it's really easy to just start eating when I want. This is especially easy when things are just really slow in the office. But then there are other days when it's so busy I don't have time to eat. During those down times at work I make it a point to walk around the office and say hi to people or ask about what projects they are working on and how I can help.

When I'm at home and have dull moments I try to go for walks or watch a really interesting show I've been saving from the week. Another thing I try to do is cook up lots of things for the coming week but then I end up munching and trying all the food I make. =/ Sorry I'm really no help since I have the same problems you do. Hopefully somebody else can come up with better ideas!

This is my problem too. I've tried a couple of things, with inconsistent success. (Actually they work, the inconsistency is whether I stick to them.)

The most successful is to keep my hands busy with something that I don't want to mix with food...knitting, needlepoint, even a jigsaw puzzle. I have a hard time just sitting and watching tv, (which makes it easy to watch and eat) but keeping my hands busy and "clean" really helps.

The second strategy is to only eat at the kitchen table, not to allow myself to snack other places. I got this one from a study on behavioral patterns. The theory is that more you can limit the association with "eating" to specific places, the fewer places will say food. If you often eat in front of the tv then sitting in front of the tv becomes a trigger that makes you think of eating.

The third strategy is to make myself wait 10 minutes before I give into impulse eating. I say to myself that I can have the chocolate/potato chips/sandwich in 10 minutes if I still want it. About half the time I am much less interested ten minutes later.

Good luck...I'm interested in other folks ideas!

Pandora

Hey there,
I feel ya on the bored thing! I've started doing the wait 10-15 minutes before allowing the binge, it works most of the time. The other thing that seems to work REALLY well is adding to my daily calories before I eat whatever junk I'm gettting ready to inhale. Something about seeing the amount really hits home and makes me think um no it's so not worth it. Also I've been seeing a therapist (finally made the connection that binging is almost always the result of an emotional issue - duh) and she's having me analyze my feelings before I eat. Is it really hunger? If so yes then eat by all means. Is it boredom? If so then remind yourself you're not a boring person and find something to do. Is it because you're feeling lonely/down/depressed/whatever? Then figure out what's causing those feelings, ackowledge them and move on to something else just not food. We all know we feel like crap after binging so remind yourself of that also. I also find it helpful to log on and read forums or do some research to remind myself of why I'm thinking about binging.
Okay I know it sounds all touchy feely blah blah and I didn't buy it for a long time but so far it's working for me. It's been about 3 weeks since my last binge and since I binged 2-3 times a week this is a pretty big step :-0

Good luck!

I find that I want to eat more in the evenings and days off when I am bored. Pandora's suggestions have all worked for me in the past too. The other thing is to find healthier things to eat. Most salad vegetables have very little calories in them, so I eat carrots or something to see if the hunger goes away. If not, I then try to find something else to occupy my mind - doesn't always work though