i watch a movie, have friend nights, listen to music, write, exercise -- anything to keep myself distracted! i turn to food if i think about things too much and don't fill my day with activity.
oh, and like a few others have said, a pet! my dog is my life as well, and if i'm ever feeling sad, he is there to comfort me. could be an option worth exploring! they're great walking buddies.
^ Agreed. I love the joy they get from something as simple as a walk around the block. I have 2 border collie crosses so not excersing them is NOT an option. If you don't have a pet maybe you could walk a shelter dog or a neighbors? Puppy love is the best love there is.
What works best for me is sewing something, or drawing or painting something. Anything that takes a lot of concentration, and that I wont eat around in fear of getting it dirty!
Reading might also be a good idea, since you wont want to get food on the pages of the book!
Two most important things:
1.It must be something you enjoy! If you cant get engaged in it you'll just be distracted by the thought of food.
2.It's helpful if it's something you want to keep clean. But, this isn't necessary! Just helpful if you need an extra push.
I keep an adult coloring book and pencils near my couch in the living room. When a commercial comes on television, I COLOR instead of watching all the tempting food commercials.
The power of suggestion is one of my weaknesses. I'll see a delicious food commercial and head into my kitchen to get something to eat... even when I'm not hungry.
Coloring helps. I can put it down when my show comes back on. Also, when I look back at all the pages I colored, I'm reminded of all the times I didn't eat when I really wanted to.
I know you said not food, but sometimes a really special food that is about quality and not quantity is great. Some things I like that I don't normally buy are French macarons, smoked salmon, sushi, canned coffee.
I agree with exercise and crocheting. And also splurging time with a tv show or video game. I find detailing drawings takes my mind off things. Relaxing baths, "window" shopping, movies at the theatre.
My "fun" is being assertive. I've found that I eat when I'm not standing up for myself, not so much to bring me joy for the sake of fun. Food helps me to feel better when I'm feeling depressed. And I tend to get depressed when I'm not standing up for myself. When I provide people with my truth, I feel more solid, less depressed. In that mode, the undercurrent that compels me to eat when I'm not hungry, is just plain not there.
I know this is an old post, but I'll answer anyway. If I've been exercising hard then exercise will help me feel better. But if I'm in my (usual) lazy mode, exercise is the last thing I want to do. I really enjoy playing the Herinteractive Nancy Drew video games when I just want to feel better. They get me thinking and focusing on solving the puzzles and I get really involved in the mystery.
So I have been trying and failing, very consistently, for a few weeks to actually get started on a diet plan again. My boyfriend recently broke up with me, and more or less what happens is I start trying, I get sad, I eat something and feel better, but then I've already gone pretty far off plan. Obviously, as effective a coping mechanism as eating is, it needs to be replaced.
So I thought I'd ask you guys: what are your favorite things to do to cheer up / ways to calm down from a bout of crazy "OH GOD EVERYTHING IS RUINED FOREVER" style-thinking quickly?
You are better than the "guy" that dumped you! Why are you letting what he did, dictate, what you are doing now? He is gone! Good riddance.
Quit worrying about how you are going to make others happy, take on yourself, and make you happy!
We are no good to anyone else, if we are not happy and content with where we are.
This might sound silly but it has worked for me a few times. I feel like identifying that I have the urge to self-comfort with food and then consciously not doing it works as a way to comfort myself. Like I've had a few really upsetting/stressful incidents lately and while I was like planning what I could snack on, I realized that I was doing it to comfort myself, so I didn't have those snacks. I was so proud of myself for catching the urge and not doing it that it totally turned my mood around.
Oh, my gosh, I didn't even remember posting this! It is from 2011, for anyone who didn't notice.
Updates:
I'm now, unfortunately, 30 pounds heavier than I was when I made this post. Dropped fourty, gained seventy-five in a period of extremely poor mental health, starting to get mental health back on track now, dropped five. I am feeling cautiously hopeful. I definitely have major food issues, but saving up calories for a large dinner seems to be working ok.
As for the boyfriend, I am now extremely happy that he broke up with me. It wasn't a good relationship, and besides that, now I'm engaged to someone who blew any sort of standards I had away!
