Do you eat when you have nothing to do?

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rajivdubey
rajivdubey Posts: 382 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have observed that one tends to eat more when you have nothing much to do compared to when you are very busy! Best solution for such times is to engage in some activity which takes you away from food!!

What is your experience?
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Replies

  • EvelynForsyth
    EvelynForsyth Posts: 272 Member
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    I am very hungry all day at work but i am also not mentally stimulated! In the evenings when i am with family, sewing, reading, exercising, etc i am not so hungry! Or, rather i dont feel the need to eat!
    Wierd!
  • schnugglebug
    schnugglebug Posts: 333 Member
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    I have noticed I am more prone to nibbling when I have nothing to do... lol we were busy this past weekend and in the car for 2 hour periods etc... so I missed lunch so to say so we had what my son calls Lupper (lunch and supper combined) and I wasn't that hungry and kept my calories down to about 12-1300 for the day

    When I am home all day by myself I tend to snack (healthy now mind you) but yes the urge is their... time to by some more gum lol to chew away on :D
  • rajivdubey
    rajivdubey Posts: 382 Member
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    I am very hungry all day at work but i am also not mentally stimulated! In the evenings when i am with family, sewing, reading, exercising, etc i am not so hungry! Or, rather i dont feel the need to eat!
    Wierd!

    I guess that's because family time is precious! At work one tends to "get away from work" and at home you are "At Home"!! Lol!
  • Amy911Gray
    Amy911Gray Posts: 685 Member
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    Same as all the other posts...and right now what gets me away from the kitchen is finding new treasures in my closet that fit!!! And pickles--0 calories and cuts about 30 minutes to an hour of that "wanting to eat"!
  • Jacquibennett
    Jacquibennett Posts: 95 Member
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    Yeah I often boredom eat. Problem is it's not a lack of something to do for me that makes me bored, there's avoidance eating too. If I'm bored at work (and my work can be rather repetitive) I will eat something to break it up. Was exactly the same at Uni when doing revision, I would use food to give myself a break from work. That's when I put on all of my weight. When I'm at home I find loads of other things to do instead.
  • sc1572
    sc1572 Posts: 2,309 Member
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    I find myself doing this occasionally, but nowhere near as bad as I used to! I try to occupy myself with other things, drink water, etc.
  • rsforster
    rsforster Posts: 7 Member
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    I was very guilty of eating and snacking all the time. I found this app last week and then moved on to the web site and now that
    am keeping track of my calorie intake I find that I don't do that. I'd hate to see how many calories I was consuming if I had kept track of what all I did eat back then. Less than a week in and I can already tell the difference in my waist. :happy:
  • missmaggiemd
    missmaggiemd Posts: 25 Member
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    Very much agree with that. Although my experience got me in trouble w the opposite id be quite busy all day and forget about eating id go to dr complaining about not being able to lose weight. Of course once I started counting calories she said "Maggie ur getting half the daily amount ur body needs to function! Try getting up between 1200-1500". And although most of my days I only get right above 1000, im losing weight...finally! And I always thought the less id eat the better id be!! NOT TRUE:)
  • missmaggiemd
    missmaggiemd Posts: 25 Member
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    Congrats that great!!!
  • ShelleyD81
    ShelleyD81 Posts: 237 Member
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    My worst nibble time is when I'm watching a Movie, it's not technically "doing nothing" but it's my worst time.
    I haven't attempted to sit and do this without a bag of Dortios or a big bar of Chocolate...maybe I should set myself a challenge to do this at the weekend and see how I get on!
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
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    Boredom eating is probably one of the most common causes of being overweight. I know it was my downfall too.

    This is where gaming has helped as opposed to TV/movie watching. When I'm gaming, i'm constantly using both hands...so unless i get good at flicking those treats in with just my tongue, i can't snack while I'm doing it!
  • lik_11
    lik_11 Posts: 433 Member
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    Same as all the other posts...and right now what gets me away from the kitchen is finding new treasures in my closet that fit!!! And pickles--0 calories and cuts about 30 minutes to an hour of that "wanting to eat"!

    Haha! Pickles! My boss is convinced I'm pregnant- because of my new infatuation with pickles! (Though he has noticed the weight loss.)
  • lawkat
    lawkat Posts: 538 Member
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    That is called emotional eating. You need to find something to distract yourself to not eat. It is easy to eat when you are bored, but it can become a dangerous habit that you don't realize you have created for yourself. If you are truly hungry, then eat, but if you are eating to kill time, you aren't killing much time and could easily eat far too much.
  • iwillsoonbeslim
    iwillsoonbeslim Posts: 283
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    I was never a grazer until I followed SW. 3 years of 'unlimited' foods turned me into a grazer :o(
    Now I only eat when I'm hungry (and I don't think it's a bad thing to recognise hunger) and if I'm sat infromt of the telly all night, I make a point of having a cup of tea on the go the whole time, so I'm satisfying that hand-to-mouth movement without adding (many) calories. I log 6 cuppas a day, but don't fret if I go over - imagine how much more it'd be if I didn't have my tea!? lol
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I eat when I have nothing to do if I'm hungry.
  • Sookie_182
    Sookie_182 Posts: 72 Member
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    this is me all over im such a picker its my main downfall!! especiall if im at home alone and get bored pr lonely!! :P something that has to change!!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Yeah I often boredom eat. Problem is it's not a lack of something to do for me that makes me bored, there's avoidance eating too. If I'm bored at work (and my work can be rather repetitive) I will eat something to break it up. Was exactly the same at Uni when doing revision, I would use food to give myself a break from work. That's when I put on all of my weight. When I'm at home I find loads of other things to do instead.

    Ditto. And it's my biggest problem on the weekends, especially this time of year when it's getting colder so I'm less likely to want to go outside to do something and have far less social plans. Being stuck indoors most of the day, especially when there's housework or studying to do but you don't feel like doing anything, there's nothing on TV and you don't like the book you're reading. What else is fun to do? Eat, of course!
    I'm seriously thinking about joining a gym near home so I can have somewhere to go to on the weekends to kill an hour or two.
  • kitinboots
    kitinboots Posts: 589 Member
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    Definitely, but I try to have a drink of water or a coffee before I succumb to snacking.
    If I do eat then I try to eat something time consuming and low in calories. A chopped salad is my favourite - to gather and prepare all my veggies/fruits takes some time, and I'm left with a massive bowl of healthiness for between 1 and 2 hundred calories.

    I find when I travel I lose my appetite completely though, despite the hours spent in airports or on transportation.
  • Just1forMe
    Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
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    Nope, but then again...it's a rare moment that I have NOTHING to do!!!! That would be nice though :laugh:
  • casi_ann
    casi_ann Posts: 423 Member
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    I tend to have a harder time staying on program when I'm bored too. I can work all day without thinking about food but when I come home I think about it as soon as i walk in the door. Actually I start to think about it when i'm driving home or to my last patient for the day. I plan on dealing with this problem by keeping myself busy with homemaking type things, my hobbies and other things.

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