Do you have any odd habits that tie into eating?

ku140

I love to eat while I read. I remember being a kid, grabbing a snack and a book, thinking "I want to do my 2 favorite things at the same time".

To this day, this is a struggle for me. I do not like to eat at home unless I am reading. I can eat out no problem, but at home it's a struggle. I also do not like to read unless I have a snack at the same time.

Sometimes if I am in the middle of a new book, I can just read without eating. But anything I am re-reading (which is ALL THE TIME, because dang I love to read!), it's almost like I need 80% of my brain on the book and 20% on something else....and the something else is snacking.

I definitely do not do this with TV.....just reading!

Anyone else? Did you do anything to overcome it other than by just stopping?

ElizabethKalmbach

Maybe try connecting reading with something else? I used to *hate* spending time on my treadmill, because it's *boring.* I like walking, but usually that happens outside with dogs and playing in the park, but sometimes it's raining or there is ice and it's not safe.

I learned to *knit* on the treadmill. Now I do all the boring parts of my knitting on the treadmill at a reduced pace (2.5-3mph?) and I have significantly reduced the number of half finished items in my stash, AND kept up my exercise on days when the weather is less cooperative.

I also read and walk. Again, I have to lower the pace, but if I'm not bored by the lack of terrain on the treadmill, I will actually stay on it long enough to get my steps in, plus, pulp fiction becomes something less of a "guilty" pleasure and more of a "work out reward."

None of this eliminates my actual work out, but my warm up and cool down period get to coincide with things I like and might not otherwise make time for.

AnnPT77

It's usually easiest to break a habit by replacing it with a new habit.

Elizabeth had a good idea, to combine reading with mild activity. Other ideas might be to listen to music; maybe take a tennis ball and roll it under your foot (no shoe) for a little self-massage, switching feet now and then; playing with or petting your dog/cat if you have one; or - if you can't think of a new non-food habit - try something like drinking a no-calorie drink such as herb tea or sparkling water.