One of the hardest eating habits to overcome is boredom eating.
We can easily consume excess energy during the day by snacking on food purely because we can’t find anything better to do or because we can’t be bothered doing anything else.
Maybe your work day has started to drag or your daily routine has become mundane. Whatever the reason, eating due to boredom is our way of finding something to provide fulfillment, or a fix.
The major problem with boredom eating is a lack of eating awareness. We eat without thinking. When we eat without thinking we have no recollection of how much we ate, why we ate it or in some instances what we ate in the first place.
When asked to recall food intake from a previous 24 hours, most people can easily recall meals that were planned and mindful but fail to remember the bag of chips they nibbled on while at their computer or the block of chocolate they devoured while watching TV.
Good eating awareness is vital in order to develop and maintain good habits in regards to food. If you’re serious about making better food choices and improving your health, but struggle with this aspect of your diet, then read on.
Here are 8 strategies to help you overcome boredom eating:
1. Keep a food diary
Boredom eating stems from poor awareness of your eating habits. Keeping a food dairy for a week will make you much more aware of what, when and why you are eating. The first step to combating problem behaviour is an awareness of what the problem is in the first place.
2. Plan your meals
Meal planning is an essential part of good food awareness. If you ensure that all your meals and snacks are accounted for and planned into your day this will help you stay in control of your food choices and appetite. If you start to feel hungry or bored it may be time for your next scheduled meal or snack, which means you can go ahead and it eat! If its not time for your next scheduled meal or snack then you know to wait and find something else to do.
3. Brush your teeth
After every meal, give your teeth a good brush. Not only will it help you maintain healthy teeth and gums, the minty taste left in your mouth will suppress your appetite for other tastes and will make you less likely to snack.
4. Set yourself daily achievable tasks
Eating due to boredom is a way of providing ourselves with personal fulfillment and satisfaction. We need to have satisfying things to do and one thing that provides that satisfaction is food. If you can set yourself achievable tasks every day, you can satisfy your desire for fulfillment without the need for random snacking. At the start of your day, write out a “to do” list that can be completed within that day and then go through that list and complete as many of them as you can.
5. Chew gum
May seem rather simple, but can be effective. If you really just need something to chew without adding to your waist line, then sugar free, mint gum can do the trick. I also find that the minty taste left in my mouth decreases my appetite for other tastes. Kinda like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth… gross!
6. Give your hands something to do
Find an activity or hobby that you enjoy that involves your hands. When you keep your hands busy you can only do one activity at a time. This means that your hands are too busy to eat! Activities such as surfing the web, watching TV or reading don’t keep your hands busy and you are more tempted to eat at the same time. Do a cross-stitch, play an instrument, sew, draw, paint, clean…
7. Carry a drink bottle with you
If you really need to have some hand-to-mouth action then carry a water bottle with you through the day and sip on it regularly. It can really help satisfy the need to snack on food. It will also ensure you stay well hydrated which can help keep you better in control of your appetite. Dehydration will make you more hungry and thirsty and more likely to eat or drink something high in energy even if you don’t need it.
8. Go for a walk
If you are feeling bored and tempted to wander into the kitchen one of the best things to do is leave the house and give yourself some physical activity. It will be good for your health in so many ways and help you kill some time.
Go easy on yourself
Changing your eating habits can be hard work. So if you have a slip up, don’t despair, learn from it and make a plan to help you conquer it the next time. Learning to eat well and develop healthy habits is a life long endeavour, so don’t give up, be proactive and you’ll have success.
