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OMG Boredom Eating

Old 07-12-2010, 12:43 PM
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Question OMG Boredom Eating

Hi!
I've never posted before but I'm looking for any good advice.
I've never had a "full button", and that's always been kind of a problem. I'm not sure-its probably psychological. BUT....How can I avoid constantly eating when I'm bored? Or just constantly nibbling? Its a real concern for me as I feel I am over eating and its an obstacle to my fitness goals. Any thoughts on avoiding that constant grazing?

Thanks!
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Old 07-12-2010, 01:09 PM
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I have a "full button" but it doesn't go off until after I've eaten WAY too much.

I suppose it depends on where you are grazing. If it's at home, that's easy, flat out don't buy munchies, if it's not in the house, you can't really eat too much of it right? Instead buy things that you can eat lots of and still stay on track. We keep a great big bowl of fresh fruit in the middle of the kitchen island. I fill it up every week, and almost none of it goes bad before it's eaten. For munchies we have rice cakes, pretzels, nuts, yogurt, frozen fruit, granola bars, carrot sticks, fresh veggies, deviled eggs and cheese sticks. I haven't purchased a bag of potato chips in more than a year, although I do buy plain nacho chips and we eat those with homemade salsa.

I'm not too much of a grazer, but I usually plan for 3 meals/day plus 1-2 snacks. There are a lot of folks that plan their meals around having 5-6 each day, which I think helps to stabilize blood sugar levels (?) and it might also work very well for your grazer issues.

Grazing at work is a little harder to solve. You can try to leave your wallet in the car or locker room so you don't have change for the vending machine etc. But the free birthday cake and doughnuts are a little harder to get away from. My DH actually keeps snacks in his desk, most of which are healthy, pretzels, peanuts, almonds, protein bars, etc. But he has wwayyyy more willpower than I do.
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Old 07-12-2010, 01:20 PM
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Almeeker, that is excellent advice! I agree that keeping only healthy snacks around helps.

Ewilsher,

I work at home and have everything nearby, so I have to resist the urge to eat all the time, but I keep a 16.9 oz. bottle of water mixed w/a packet of Countrytime lemonade mix) right on my desk. When I start thinking about eating out of boredom or frustration with work, I reach for the lemonade. I don't care for plain bottled water, but if you don't mind, you can drink that instead. If drinking doesn't solve my problem, I munch on light popcorn or grab a piece of fruit or some veggies. I have found that sliced red peppers are yummy! They're incredibly healthy, too. Since strawberries, cherries, peaches, watermelon, etc. are in season, I stock up on those often, but I measure what I'm eating. For example, I've learned that 20 grapes = 1 cup, so I don't have to break out the measuring cup for that anymore. I do keep it handy for other things until I learn quantity control.

Best wishes!
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Old 07-12-2010, 01:34 PM
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Use your journal to keep track of times when you know you're not hungry, but are eating anyway. Create a list of things you can do instead of eating. Examples: read a book, do your nails, do word puzzles, play computer games...as long as it's things you enjoy doing, and not a punishment (don't put "clean the house" unless you love to clean or "learn French" unless you're really into languages). It's a lot harder to break bad habits if you're replacing them with good ones.
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Old 07-12-2010, 03:21 PM
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Don't bring anything bad into the home that you would eat. When you must have something else, eat some fresh fruit or make a salad. Can't lose with either of those two!

Keep busy and find things to do... go for a walk, do some housework, basically change the ways that you used to be into the "new" you that you want to be!
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Old 07-12-2010, 04:10 PM
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You cannot always isolate yourself from bad foods; there will always be a situation where it's present.

Try eating slowly, it takes about 20 minutes for your body to signal that you are full. Also, try to make it a habit that you can only eat sitting down with a plate and utensils--anything that doesn't require this is out of the question.

Hope that helps.
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Old 07-13-2010, 04:28 AM
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Default OMG Boredom Eating

you are all awesome.
Thanks to the community!
My boredom eating is mostly at work.

I'm going to take this advice and also give this piece of advoce to myself: try sparkling water, maybe through a straw.

I'll keep looking for any tips or experiences with this.
It helps to know you are out there and have walked through this.
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Old 07-13-2010, 06:10 AM
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If you find some other tips that work for you, please share them. I might get bored with my solutions to boredom eating. LOL!
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Old 07-13-2010, 11:05 AM
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I like to log my food ahead of time to gauge my protein/carb/fat ratios and make sure I'm staying in the ranges I like. It also helps me to see all the food I get to eat for the day and I can say "ok, it's noon, I just had my half sandwich and cup of soup for lunch, I won't eat again until 3." This helps me best on the weekends when I'm home and am tempted to eat and eat and eat. Scheduling my meals keeps me on track.
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Old 07-13-2010, 12:15 PM
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I sooooo want to be that way too, but I can't seem to make it stick. I can put whatever I want in that log, but what actually goes into my mouth is a completely different story.

Another way to keep yourself from grazing at work is to chew sugarless gum, specifically one that tastes like toothpaste. Toothpaste and munchies just don't go together, and you might also feel like you have just brushed your teeth and will hold out longer with that in mind. You can also keep a toothbrush, paste, floss etc in your desk and do the whole routine after lunch to keep yourself from being as tempted.
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