I'm definetly going to put some of these into practice. Especially for when I get home at night from work. My first stop is the fridge and most of the time I'm not even hungry, just bored. I like the idea of plopping on the couch with a sandwich I guess.. :/
Anything to keep me busy. I like to find tasks that kind of absorb me for the night, like crocheting. I also find that video games are helpful - hard to eat when you are using a controller. I tend to eat the most at night so I've learned to go to bed early and wake up earlier - I tend to not want to eat as much in the morning.
Love all these ideas!! I am personally addicted to pinterest.com. There's always so many new DIY crafts/projects that can be done for cheap and relatively quickly. It's also a great place to find new recipes....although you may not want to research that while hungy and bored lol
Believe it or not, cleaning house tends to be effective for me. In part I think I am "clearer" with a clean house so that helps me feel energized rather than down and wallowing.
Oh my gosh, I am SO with you on this! IT's so strange. Every time I am in a great mood and I am inspired and motivated to be on track and the apartment happens to be a mess (a bit), I just want to clean. Today, I cleaned the whole apartment for 3 hours (even though it wasn't my turn to clean) and I actually enjoyed it. I just enjoy being productive and not lazy, sitting there. I find that whenever I'm bored and I just sit there, and watch tv, or play games on my ipad or phone, I end up eating anyway because It's not productive or engaging enough.
I also created a list a few weeks ago for myself to look at when I'm bored:
LSUgal- I'm just learning about pinterest. A friend of mine just recently told me about it.
sensualappeal- I make signs and posters like that all the time! I have my exercise one and my weighloss one, and I also have and inspirational one that I collaged.
I love this list; I just bookmarked it for future reference. I would estimate that 80-90% of the times I eat unreasonably is when I'm bored.
My first go-to when I'm bored and want to eat is to get a glass of water, because having something to do with my mouth helps me focus. Once I have that glass of water, though, I'm excited to try something from this list.
Another thing to add to the list: I'm not sure if there are others out there with as much excess artwork as me, but re-arranging/hanging new decorations is always enjoyable (and a time suck).
Great thread! I totally agree with the glass of water thing. Or if I'm craving something sweet, a diet soda usually takes the edge off my cravings.
And I LOVE crocheting...I need to find the afghan I started last year and finish it.
Play with the dogs
go on 3FC!!!
take a walk
walk the dogs
play xbox (or internet games.)
Wash my hands (sounds silly, but it clears your mind a little.)
Slather some good smelling lotion on my arms, legs, ect.
Give myself a pedicure
Stretch
draw
paint
Drink a hot cup of tea or coffee on the porch
flip through a magazine and try and replicate a hair/makeup style on yourself.
I try to concentrate on studies and work. I also try to not have any sort of "snacky" food at all in the house.
In addition, I think it is super important to locate when you are normally plagued with the need to endulge in boredom eating.
Often times, I am actually very tired and maybe a bit bored with what I'm doing - that leads me to checking out the fridge for no reason. For some reason I want to stay awake, so I turn to eating. I've been working on simply closing my eyes for 15-30min.
I used to have a lot of problem with boredom eating between lunch and dinner. I changed up my eating routine, eating a bigger, more protein filled lunch, and now it doesn't strike me as hard.
Discussing issues with others on this website also helps!
Ooohhh I've been doing a little binge eating of my own. Two days this week. It's making me so mad cause I haven't done this in a really long time. Problem is I'm bored to tears. I'm laid off from work, my computer died and my car needs a really expensive repair so I can't go anywhere without calling someone to take me there. Plus, I'm broke so it doesn't really matter that I can't go anywhere. I start the day off really well but the evening bordem is driving me crazy. If I weren't getting in really good exercise most days of the week, i'd really be in trouble.
Thing is I realized a couple of weeks ago that I was really starting to get bored and started wondering what I cfould do to get out of this slump. I need some outside interests but that's out because I'm not mobile.
I thought knitting would do the trick but nope I'm not intersted in the project I chose.
Maybe I'll try reading a book. Got one I haven't finished so maybe I'll pick that up again.
I've been thinking of picking up new hobbies as well to counter my eating-when-bored habit. Here is my list:
* Photography: Go out for a walk and take pictures of wildlife or abstract/landscape. Explore your area and keep record of how it is now - you never know, 40 years down the line and the photos may be a priceless remembrance.
* Writing: Creative writing can take a lot of effort and time, especially if you're caught up in the moment. Plus you can join writing circles.
* Learning a new instrument: I swear, if I was living alone I'd pick up the trumpet. Learning a new instrument is a wonderful thing! Don't have place for a guitar? Go for a ukulele or harmonica or flute instead. Its time consuming and you can't have grubby fingers while playing!
* Jewelry making: I've been interested in this for a while, though it can get a bit more difficult if you don't have access to kilns. Still, I figure if I ever get good enough I may end up being able to make a few bucks on places like etsy.com.
* Take a bubble bath: Okay its not a hobby but hey, it occupies your time, relaxes you and you end up smelling oh so good!
Last edited by DesertTabby; 01-05-2012 at 10:24 AM.
This is so fantastc - thanks fellow chicks for the ideas! I am seriously struggling with boredom eating. I am not losing/not gaining over the past few weeks, which is frustrating because I know I am working out/eating healthy 90% of the time, but it just takes that 10% to cancel all that dedication out. I wrote all of the ideas down and will keep it nearby so I can pick something out when I have those urges - usually weekend evenings.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This may be what helps make the difference! Yay!
I realized that I eat while watching TV/movies because my hands are bored. The second I replaced food with cross-stitching, I didn't even want food during TV anymore. It was really all about keeping my hands busy.
I love puzzles too. By the time I look up and stretch, it's okay to eat again because it's been a few hours. They really are a wonderful distraction.
I get up here and obssessively read all the posts on the forum when I'm feeling the urge to eat! And I think doing stuff like painting my nails (kinda hard to eat when nails aren't dry) and lighting aromatic candles (I hear some smells like apple & cinnamon help to suppress the appetite!)
