Eating out of Boredom?

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Eating out of Boredom?
10
Wed, 11-08-2006 - 2:54pm

Okay ladies, I'm looking for suggestions here. My calories have been creeping up (well not creeping, more like stampeding) and I think it's because I seem to be eating all the time!


I'm sure it's not just because I'm hungry, I eat when I watch tv, I eat in the car, I eat at work, it just seems like I'm always reaching for something to snack on.


How do you break a habit like that? I think my body is used to eating a fair amount of food, so that I think I'm hungry even when I shouldn't be. So I need a way to try to break these snacking habits, and get back to eating my 3 meals plus mid-morning & mid-afternoon snacks.


If I can scale down the AMOUNT of food I'm eating then I can start concentrating on making sure I'm just eating the healthy options and not whatever strikes my fancy (which most of the time is crap!).


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2004
Wed, 11-08-2006 - 3:18pm

I hear you on that one!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-09-2003
Wed, 11-08-2006 - 3:28pm

My suggestions:


Plan your eating schedule, for example:
6:30 - Breakfast
10:00 - Snack
12:00 - Lunch
4:00 - Snack
6:00 - Dinner


Measure your snacks out ahead of time so your sure to only eat one serving. I know you do this somtimes anyway.


For those times your just wanting to put stuff in your mouth get out the carrots, grapes, low/no fat pudding cups, etc.


Plus your thinking about it you'll put your mind to it and get your eating into a more routine habit in no time.


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2003
Wed, 11-08-2006 - 3:54pm

I agree with Gretchen that just being aware of what you're doing will help ... awareness seems to take a lot of the momentum out of "hand-to-mouth" behavior!


I too at times have this problem, and you're right, feeling bored or (for me) frustrated seems to propel it.


I keep wintergreen Life Savers on my desk in a covered container. They're not high calorie, and they taste good but not great like chocolate, so they seem to be good for when I know I'm not hungry but I want to eat something anyway. It's takes a long time to be done with one, LOL. However, if I put something I really LOVE in the bowl, like Dove chocolates, I have a hard time stopping and will consume tons of calories just by snacking all day.


Also coffee or tea when I want something helps, or snacking on something like grapes or canteloupe pieces. I don't think there's anything wrong with snacking as long as the snacks are healthy and not adding a ton of calories. If I snack during the day, I don't eat as much at mealtimes because I'm not dying of hunger.


iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2005
Wed, 11-08-2006 - 4:03pm

I know how that goes!

The WeatherPixie <
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 11-08-2006 - 4:34pm

I agree with the others here Miranda, you need an eating schedule!! Firstly....don't drive while eating- that's dangerous ;-)


Secondly- eating at your desk?? Tut-tut......there should be no food on your desk.


OK....that was me being a little preachy, but seriously if you know you have 'snack' coming up at let's say 10am you're less likely to sabotage that. Make sense?


Nighttime munchies are different- perhaps some 'sucky' sweet things would help- you know the kind of ones you have to suck on for hours??


Good luck :-)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Thu, 11-09-2006 - 11:03am

Thanks ladies!!


I am trying to get back on the tea wagon, so instead of reaching for more food after my meal, I'm trying to have that cup of tea instead.


I do have to concentrate on getting better snacks in the house, that is definitely an issue. I did get some amazing apples from the Farmer's Market that are so sweet they are as good as a dessert, so that is one step in the right direction!


Okay, am going to make a serious effort today on snacks!


iVillage Member
Registered: 10-28-2006
Thu, 11-09-2006 - 3:44pm
I always spread my calories out so I am eating once every hour or two. I am a snacker also and I find that I can be satisfied after eating 100 calories. Of course I will want something to eat again in an hour or two but I find even if I eat 400 calories I will still want to eat again in 2 hours. Many times in my journal I will write lunch: beans, fish, cucumber. What I don't write is that I eat the beans, two hours later the cucumber, then an hour later the fish. I also always have a mug of tea because I have to constantly fiddle with something. It might not be practical at your job to eat every couple of hours but if you could work it in like that and you are satisfied you could try it. It also has a tendency over a period of time to shrink your stomach so if you ever try to overindulge you will feel full faster. By the way I love your haircut! I am thinking of cutting my hair into something a little more polished and I would love to steal your hair!
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Fri, 11-10-2006 - 11:00am

That is too funny about the hair. This is actually my 'subdued' do. Last summer I had my hair like this:

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-fbfitthirty&msg=10541.8&x=y

So then I decided that blonde was too high maintenance and it took four hours of coloring and cutting to get my hair back to a darker color. But I will say my hairstylist is fabulous, because this cut falls into place beautifully!


iVillage Member
Registered: 10-28-2006
Sun, 11-12-2006 - 10:27pm

Oh wow what a huge difference! With the blonde hair you have sort of a more trendy, edgy look. I bet with blonde hair you would get people treating you like a college student sort of. You have a very young face and I bet it's easy for people to walk up to you and talk to you like you are some young co-ed right? I am just guessing by your picture. The brown hair to me is a little more sophisticated looking and although you still have a young face you look more like a young, polished, executive.

My hair had been brown for the past year and in September I did to my hair what you did in the picture and streaked it all up very blonde. I think when my roots start to show it's going to look really tacky and be more of a headache to keep up. I told her to do the highlights I had more blonde but I didn't expect her to foil more hair and she did! Hard to find a good stylist. My hair is a bit stringy on bottom. I tried some BC pills last year and for the first time in my life had the side effect of having my fall out! It got really thin, especially around the hair line. So I went off of it and now my hair is growing back in but it looks kind of sickly. My hairstylist was like "Did you just have a baby? You have exactly 2 inches of new hair grow out all over your head". Roots are thick, ends are sparse :( I definately need some polish.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Tue, 11-14-2006 - 11:43am

I am rather younger looking, especially since I'm short. I just felt like I wanted something a bit more sophisticated. Plus I hated having roots, and sure couldn't afford to re-color as much as I needed! LOL


Anyways, it is so hard to find a stylist that will give a good cut for your hair! That's crazy too about your BC pills having that much of an effect on your hair! But once that new growth grows out, it will look fabulous!