Breaking mindless food habits
 

I know I'm a boredom eater. I can feel the fake hunger come on at work when I'm not occupied with a task, but I'm generally able to make the feeling go away with some water and a trip to the locker room to do some wall pushups (my new boredom-buster).

Unfortunately, I've had a much tougher time breaking my habit of eating while watching TV. I could be completely stuffed from a recent meal, but if I watch TV I'll still find my way to the fridge for something to eat. Generally, I manage to stick to relatively healthy foods like fruit, nuts or string cheese, but it's still calories I don't need and often leads to me being uncomfortably full. It's easy for me to go 3-500kcal over my limit just from TV-time snacking.

Other than giving up TV–I consider it a real hobby and enjoy it too much to completely abstain–what tricks do you all have for breaking the mental link between watching TV and snacking?

Sounds like you found the best way then - to keep on snacking, but doing it with lower calorie foods. Other than that, I can't think of anything else? If it is working for you though, that's great. Otherwise-if it helps, I used to make room for food habits that I was not willing to give up, then I changed my ways (1 way at a time) and it was horrible for 2 weeks and then its fine. I found that the thought of letting go, even temporarily is a lot scarier than actually doing it-the worst thing that can happen is that I still go back to my old ways. The past me would have been like WTF at my diet/activity now. :D

Along the same lines I never realized how much I eat my 3-year-old's leftovers. Since I've become mindful of it, it shocks me how many times I've gone to reach for food without even thinking. I'll catch myself and not eat it, because I'm not hungry! I can't even imagine how many extra calories I used to consume doing that!

Maybe you could take up knitting or crocheting to keep you busy while watching tv. Or paint your nails. Do jumping jacks during the commercials. Or make it a rule you can only eat things like celery that won't hurt your calorie intake.

I've been struggling with this for a long time. At my parents it's even associated with a particular room, at my place it's just when I'm watching TV. So I'm gonna tell you my dirtly little secret...and that is that I play World of Warcraft lol. I know...it's horrible. BUT - I play it while I watch TV and it's a good distraction from food. I get engrossed in doing whatever in the game and it tricks my mind into forgetting about food. So, I'm not suggesting you go out and buy WoW or anything, but the main idea is to do something distracting that requires even the tiniest bit of brain power..but also something u can do and still watch TV. Maybe some sort of craft? Or even just browse the web. Something like pinterest is good b/c it doesn't take too much of your attention to look at pretty pictures. Reading an article would defeat the purpose b/c u can't really watch TV and read an article (at least I can't) I discovered that the reason I ate was boredom..my hands and brain weren't that busy when just watching TV and food cured that, but there are definitely other things you can do to satisfy that need :) hope it helps!

EDIT:: I thought of one more thing after I posted. This might not stop the craving for snacks, but brush your teeth. Most people won't want to put anything in their mouth when its minty fresh and clean. It helps strengthen my will power against cravings b/c i don't want my teeth to get dirty again and b/c things tend to not taste as good with mint mixed in, but it may or may not work for you.

I found with myself that I don't eat during the TV show, but during the commercials I would get up and get a snack. I found that if I had my laptop on my lap during commercials and was using facebook, youtube or pinterest, then I busied myself during the commercials and didn't get up to go to the kitchen.

Recently, I tried I walking during the program (around the room or in place) while the show is on and sitting during the commercials. It helps a lot and I get more exercise. :)

Eat dinner instead of having a snack while you watch TV? That worked for me, with varying success (as you know sometimes I'd walk 3 miles to Trial and two 7-11s to buy binge food and then binge in front of the TV).

Also I know you're not a fan of stuffing yourself with liquid but if you drink a gallon of tea while you watch, you're still not eating...

I plan my foods and snacks out ahead of time and just eat on my plan. There is no wandering into the fridge for things because I've already figured it out.

I originally had to set times for myself (breakfast 8:30am, snack 11am, lunch 1pm, snack 4pm, dinner 6:30pm, snack 9pm) but now my body seems to get hungry at right times.

Totally guilty of mindless eating.. I am certain it is how I put on most of my weight. Boredom eating, stress eating, or any form of eating when I am not even hungry. Did it all the time!!

Besides sheer determination this time, I also go with the brushing your teeth. I either do this or I now have a supply of mints in the house as well. Anything like toothpaste or lifesaver mint type of thing keeps me from eating, because anything will taste funny after that.

Once you start breaking the habit it truly doesn't seem like long before forming the new habit of not eating. When I first started this time I had a supply of skinny cow ice cream in the freezer, DH and I would enjoy one like 3 nights a week to feel like we got that evening snack in. Now, I have 3 boxes of them in the freezer and we haven't touched one in 3 weeks. We're getting used to not eating anything after dinner. :) It's just hard to get started in the right direction.

So my best advice would be, mint up your mouth. LOL Do something to stay busy while watching TV, and maybe come up with a limit on how many days you're allowing yourself to snack at night, and have only a few select things you can eat, and then slowly cut back on the number of days.
HTH!

My solution is to not watch much TV, but I know that wouldn't work for everyone. I'm often working in the evenings (either on assignments or my own writing). I work from home, so my mindless eating tends to occur during the daytime and consist of grabbing handfuls of crackers or tortilla chips. My solution to THAT problem is to buy these things only intermittently. Always a work in progress.

F.

Can you stick to things like Celery or Cucumber that are super low cal?

I also took up knitting for a while.

I also am usually using the laptop while I watch what little TV that I watch.

For a while I used the treadmill while watching an hour of TV in the evening its hard to eat and walk at the same time.

Great suggestions here!

I agree with planning out what you will eat for the day ahead of time, if you can. I count calories, so I figure out what I will have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then see how many calories I have left for snacking. Then I think about that and see that I have enough for 2 pieces of string cheese, or a small bowl of nuts, or as many fresh-cut veggies as I want (within reason ;)), and when hunger hits (or a snack attack) I already know how much I can "afford" for the day.

Alternatively, if you don't want to snack at all and are trying to break the habit, find something else to do with your hands and/or mouth while you watch TV. Drink tea, or chew gum, or toss a Koosh ball around, or pick up cat's cradle, or pet the dog, or something. When your hands/mouth are satisfied that they have something to do while you watch TV, they won't be idle and you won't be so tempted to fill the void with food. Gum is the best way for me to avoid snacking - you get to chew without all the calories. :)

Thanks for all the advice! I just got a chance to look at this thread and I appreciate all the input. I use my laptop while watching TV, but I manage to snack at the same time, too.

I'm going to try brushing my teeth after dinner to see if that doesn't dissuade me :D

I was a boredom eater too. In some ways I'm glad that's what my issue with food was! I see the struggle that so many have with food emotionally and while boredom eating can be difficult to overcome, I think it's much easier to deal with than emotional triggers.

Keeping track of what I ate was a big deterrent. Even now when I'm bored and want something, I say "um no, that is a waste of calories."

When I'm bored now I drink something: tea, water, sometimes diet soda. I find hot tea to be the best thing to remove the desire to eat. The only thing with this is that if I have a very slow day I will be constantly running to the bathroom from all the boredom drinking :lol:

Thank you for posting such great ideas. I am already learning a lot from just logging on.

chewing gum helps me more than I can possibly tell you. It seems like my mouth just needs to stay busy...so whenever I feel the snacking urge, I grab a stick of gum and it keeps my mouth occupied for quite a while :)

This!

I really found that my nighttime/tv eating was just that - a terrible habit. I used to do it all the time, kind of like you describe... like a Pavlov's dog reaction: turn on the tv=go get a snack. I looked forward to it as my 'relaxing' part of the day, after the kids had all been put to bed.

So that was the first habit I changed last fall. Cold turkey. No more eating after dinner. Period. Instead, I switched to making myself a nice herbal tea. I bought all sorts of sexy kinds, African this, Moroccan that... anything to make it feel special and like a treat.

It didn't exactly feel like a treat for the first week - it felt like, 'where the ****'s my rice crackers'?? But after that, the new habit was formed. I no longer EVER think about eating in the evening... but boy oh boy, do I ever loook forward to my hot cup of African This with my Survivor! ;)

GL breaking your habit! :D

For those who drink tea or chew gum, do you find that you have to limit yourself to sugar-free (and milk-free) stuff? Of course the calories in a piece of gum or a cup of tea with sugar/milk would be pretty negligible, but I'm wondering how it affects your hunger.

I'd certainly like to make up a nice fancy cup of tea but I have a weird feeling that preparing it the way I want would just make me want to consume more.

I love chewing gum whenever I feel like snacking on something and yes, I usually go for sugar free gum, just because I'm used to having that and I like the taste. As for tea, I always have mine without any sweeteners in it. I find that tea has such a delicate aroma, the sugar would just ruin it and I wouldn't be able to truly enjoy it. Is it just me? :dizzy:

I drink tea with nothing in it. I thought I would hate it, but I actually really like it!

Funny thing is, I find a cup of hot tea makes me thirsty, not hungry (???) so I wind up reaching for a glass of water later on.

I only drink herbal tea now. I LOVE a nice cup of earl grey or orange pekoe too, but the only way I like it is with lots of milk and a nice spoon of honey. After that you're around 100 cals - so not worth it. I didn't think I'd get the same enjoyment oout of herbal when I started, but now I find I totally do.. just straight up, nothing in it. Start with something nice and mellow like rooibus - there are so many varieties I'm sure you'll find something you like all by itself!

I guess I'm going to go in search of some new teas, too! Chewed gum last night, but it was so sweet that I ended up eating some dried cinnamon-sugar apples, too.

Thanks again for all the input!

Haha, I'm a boredom/TV eater as well. Drasitcally reducing the time spent watching DVDs helped a lot, but then, it was sort of easy for me, because while I like good movies/series, I also become quickly impatient (usually, I break down my watching into 20-30 mins sessions; I can't keep sitting in front of the TV for more than that in one go).

Things that could help, except stopping watching TV:
- Knitting, crocheting, and other activities of the same kind, that will keep your hands busy (I do tapestry work, or draw).
- Eat your meal in front of the TV, to replace extra snacking by something you'd do anyway (won't work if you've got a family life, I suppose).
- Brush your teeth before.
- Munch on chewing-gum to keep your mouth busy.
- Light snacks only.

I feel there are other things to be done, but now nothing else's coming to mind.

For gum and tea, I also keep it simple - sugar-free five-calorie spearmint (I like 5 by Wrigley), and tea with nothing in it (I keep five different kinds at my desk at work: Earl Grey Lavender, Jasmine, Chamomile, Tazo Refresh - it's minty, and English Breakfast).

I'm just guessing, but it seems like sugary tea and gum would just make me crave more sweets.

Try to do something that will distract you but not enough so that you lose track of your TV show.

For example, I will do puzzles: jigsaw puzzles, word seeks, sudoku, crossword puzzles. I will also play games on my iPad or iPhone. I do reasonably well keeping my mind off food this way.

Maybe it's just dumb luck, but I've been eating differently and exercising more and the draw to eat while eating TV hasn't been quite as strong for the past few days. I did buy a pack of gum, though, and I've got my toothpaste at the ready!

Yesterday I snacked an 80g block of cheddar cheese while watching TV. I blame it on the cheese, though; I didn't realize just how much of a trigger good, real cheddar is (as opposed to cheap, fake string cheese or Japanese "cheese"). I've been doing well otherwise, though! There's a pack of gum on my living room table, and I've got tea ready to go, too.

With cheese, I often cut my block into 1 oz cubes so I can grab one, seal it up, and put it away.