Tips to get your mind off food?

That's the problem with being 'on a diet', you have to think about food choices to ensure that you have the right things available. Plan your meals and the time you will eat them so you know you only have x time to wait. Enjoy the act of preparing and cooking the food as much as the eating itself, as during this time you are allowing and approving your brain to think about food.

But to stop yourself thinking about food (or do you really mean eating) *all* the time, you need something that will occupy your hands and brain. I use lacemaking, knitting and other crafts but each to their own. Watching television is not good as even your brain isn't fully busy and food features in both programme X and adverts. Spending lots of time here probably doesn't help either if you're trying not to think about food..... Make your entries in your diaries and get out quick :-)

To distract yourself when desperate try cleaning your teeth really well so you don't want to dirty them again just yet, drinking water or another low calorie liquid or soup, go for a walk or do some tidying or gardening. If nothing else you will have burnt a few calories. And finally find a really intense flavour something that you can suck when all else fails - aniseed balls, extra strong mints, cough candy (my favourite, cheap too from Asda. Two is always plenty) or similar, that leave plenty of taste behind. Many of them are only between 10 and 20 calories, a good investment if it stops you snacking on higher calory stuff like chocolate where it's easy to eat 200 calories in the blink of an eye.

I just rediscovered gum too!! Extra Sugarfree - 5cals each. Now if I can just get my mind off coffee.....

I eat every 3 hours & make sure to include protein with every meal.

A good trick is the "apple test" to determine if you're really hungry or just bored. When you find yourself thinking about food; think about eating the most perfect apple. Does that sound appealing? If so, you're probably legitamately hungry. If not, you're bored.

Drink some water or tea and check back in with yourself in 30 minutes. Still thinking about food? EAT.

bumpyyyyyybump

When I tend to get hungry I just go drink a big glass of lemon water !

Just find something to stay busy, if your mind is preoccupied with other things you won't think about food until you are genuinely hungry.

Rigger

I usually just start cleaning or organizing my house and then before I know it, It's lunch or dinner time! lol

I sometimes get cravings to eat that are related to anxiety levels. If this happens in the evening, and I've already eaten enough for the day (or I have cals left but feel that the cravings will be too much for the cals I have left) I sometimes have a bath with nice music, bath salts, candles etc. I usually take a book in there and lie there for a while. It takes up time and distracts me from thinking about food, but it also has the effect of calming me down and reducing anxiety which usually takes away the food cravings.

I am a 16:8 Intermittent faster so I don't eat when I wake up. My first meal is around noon each day. Doing this has taught me that the body gives off the same signal when you are hungry and thirsty. Try drinking water when you think you are hungry.

I think about food all the time :laugh: I like cooking and inventing my own dishes from things I got in the house, now I am trying to loose weight I find it fun making meals and seeing how low calorie I can make it and still be a yummy filling meal

I keep busy. I've also found my cravings/desire for high calorie snack foods is directly related to my stress level. The more stress I'm under, the more likely I am to reach for a snack. So I do things to relax me - have a cup of tea, read a book, stay away from my family :P. It's not always successful but I think overall I'm happier and healthier because I'm teaching myself better habits and am more aware of not just what I'm eating but why I'm eating.

I've also found that over time I've become less obsessed with food. Before I was fixated on what my next meal would be, now it's not as important. I don't feel like just because I'm hungry that I need to stop everything and eat. I know that's not helpful, but it's just an observation that I've made about myself.

I obviously am not going tell you to drink coffee or I might get beaten up by the community. but recently I started drinking coffee and I swear like 1 cup of black coffee (yes I like it black) keeps my hunger away for like 2 hours.. it's not intentional, but I do find it fascinating.

Glad I didn't comment before reading... I was going to say I drink a cup of coffee in the afternoon in leiu of a snack most days. I use skim milk and splenda so it's low cal....

(Let the trash talk begin on the artifical sweetners...:devil: )

In fact, I think I will go have a cup....

I obviously am not going tell you to drink coffee or I might get beaten up by the community. but recently I started drinking coffee and I swear like 1 cup of black coffee (yes I like it black) keeps my hunger away for like 2 hours.. it's not intentional, but I do find it fascinating.

Glad I didn't comment before reading... I was going to say I drink a cup of coffee in the afternoon in leiu of a snack most days. I use skim milk and splenda so it's low cal....

(Let the trash talk begin on the artifical sweetners...:devil: )

In fact, I think I will go have a cup....

I agree with the coffee! I'll drink it after lunch if I feel like snacking but I'm not really hungry.

When I'm craving chocolate or something sweet I make a cup of chocolate malt ovaltine with 1%milk. I find it lasts longer than a small chocolate bar or candy which means by the time I'm done with it I'm not going to go back for more.

Salty and crunchy cravings are a little harder to combat. Sometimes a handful of goldfish crackers will fix it, sometimes popcorn will. Sometimes I just have to give in and take 1 serving of whatever is the problem maker, close the bag/box, put it in the pantry, go outside with my bowl/plate and eat it mindfully. Making it "harder" to get to makes it easier to not get more...

Sometimes I'm craving snacks because I'm feeling restless, for this I'll go for a walk/run. If the weather is bad I'll intensely clean something in my house.