Bored binging

hospitablegirl
hospitablegirl Posts: 64 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have an issue with bored eating. I do great the whole day, and then I get home at night and I eat dinner. Then a few hours later, I'm ready to eat everything in the house while watching TV. I'm trying to do puzzles (sudoku, tetris), drink water, play board games, but it only seems to work for a little while before I want food again. What do you do when you experience this issue?

Replies

  • Nickih4619093
    Nickih4619093 Posts: 91 Member
    Exercise! Or save a couple hundred calories for some filing snacks in the evening :)
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    Maybe stop watching TV?

    It probably sounds flippant, but I mean it. Me persoanlly, if I'm thinking more about food than the tv show, then I turn it off. Go take a bath and read in the tub for the rest of the night instead. But also, a HUGE bowl of popcorn without oil is 300 calories. So sometimes I'll make popcorn. A 300 calorie bowl of popcorn is better than some of the other things I could mindlessly snack on.
  • spdoughe
    spdoughe Posts: 51
    Great post, something that I struggle with as well. The past 2 weeks that I've been on this journey, I've stayed SOO busy that I havn't had time for snacking at night.. by the time I get out of work, get my work out in, dinner cooked, get mysef showered and ready for the next day I'm exhausted and ready to plop into bed by 930. Being at work is where my binging battle takes place, and what to concur it I just prepare a lot of healthy snacking foods.. but the key is you have to like them to feel like they are replacing what you're used to. For example, I tried carrots before as a snack replacemnet but iiickkk I did not like those!! I realized I was craving different things at different times.. in the morning its something salty so if you look at my diary you'll see I eat cut up cheese and a lean meat, or sring cheese and a cut up apple. in the afternoon I'm craving sweets, so I make sure I have rasberries or blackberries on me at all times haha. I like that they are super sweet so it really doesnt take that many to feel like I've satisfied my sweet tooth. Pumpkin seeds are a great one too, i love my pumpkin seed snack! Or even a light butter popcorn or something ! Just make sure you measure out what you're eating :)

    I found that I had to kind of train my brain to think differently. I realized what I like is to be continuiously putting food in my mouth.. as in the actual act of bringing something to my mouth multiple times. Before when I was mindlessly eating, that was really dangerous and probably the main reason i packed on sooo many pounds. But once I recognized what I was doing, I just picked foods that I could still do that with but would be so calorie packed.. the pumpkin seeds, popcorn, even rasperries.I am trying to be more concious and eventually not be so mindless about it but sometimes our bodies are just wired that way and those habits are hard to break!
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
    I like to eat snacks at night. So I save calories for the evening if I know I'm really going to want to eat .

    If I have a small budget for snack calories, I'll pop a large bag of light Kettle Corn and eat the entire thing. It takes an hour or so for me to polish it off, so it's great for when I'm watching TV.

    An entire bag is around 280 calories.
  • tristaj90
    tristaj90 Posts: 330 Member
    I agree with the exercise, you'll forget about eating and you'll build more of a deficit so you have some extra calories to eat once you're done... I typically plan for some "late night" (for me it's like 8pm) eating since I plan my diary out for the whole day in the mornings..
    Eat healthy snacks. Low calorie snacks are great. Fruits would be a good choice.
  • denny_menter
    denny_menter Posts: 34 Member
    TV is a huge problem for me. I wouldn't even have one if my family would allow it. I can't sit in front of it without wanting to eat something.

    My solution is just to simply not watch. Even if the family is watching one of their shows (American Idol!!!) I don't sit down. I'll go to my home office and do something productive or play some music.

    I have only learned this in about the last 6 months. For me and my weaknesses, TV is the enemy.

    Get rid of it - it's evil!
  • Iknowsaur
    Iknowsaur Posts: 777 Member
    Exercise!
    If you're a foody like I am, browse recipes on pinterest. It passes time super fast and is weirdly satisfying. Kinda like hoarding food without eating it xD
  • cryan19
    cryan19 Posts: 6
    I am the same way with binging watching tv and agree that being on ipad looking at pinterest looking at recipes helps....odd but works! I totally struggle with this and try to just watch TV in bed b/c I will not eat in bed! But don't always want to get into bed at 8:00.....it's a struggle!
  • babyj0
    babyj0 Posts: 531 Member
    Exercise!
    If you're a foody like I am, browse recipes on pinterest. It passes time super fast and is weirdly satisfying. Kinda like hoarding food without eating it xD

    Whuuuut. I do this all the time too! I'm obsessed with pintrest. :tongue:
  • hospitablegirl
    hospitablegirl Posts: 64 Member
    LOL! I do exercise. I'm trying a new schedule this week to push me over the edge here. After work, I get home, change and work out immediately (no excuses!). Then I cook dinner (lean meat and veggies, or leftovers). I eat, then work on my school stuff for an hour before finally relaxing with my husband in front of the TV. He is not a mindless eater, like I am, and has been helping me this week with conquering it. But it's definitely a struggle. I just don't know why it is that way! I started pinning food on Pinterest last night, but it started making me hungry, so I put that down and drank some water. I just keep telling myself I'm not hungry, I'm bored or thirsty. Ha! If only my stomach believed me.
  • acb2144
    acb2144 Posts: 34
    For the nights when the new plan of simply not snacking doesn't work: For relatively low calorie evening snacks, I eat a bowl of frozen blueberries if I'm craving something sweet, or a package of crispy seaweed (seasnax-- insanely low calorie) if craving something salty. It's hard to each too much of either.
  • 515513missy
    515513missy Posts: 3
    After your dinner if you brush your teeth it does stop me from wanting to snack - alternatively - save some calories and pick low calorie foods to snack on at night!
  • conquertheself
    conquertheself Posts: 91 Member
    great tip. I did that for a while and it did help although when thinking about food, brushing teeth becomes the last thing you want to do lol
  • Eve_e
    Eve_e Posts: 57
    I have stifling late-night food cravings. Honestly, the only thing that's worked for me in saving around 800 calories for late-night snacks, and then planning what snacks I'm going to eat. I eat lightly during the day, so I can snack in the evening. It probably isn't the healthiest lifestyle choice, but currently, it's working for me.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Account for some extra cals at the end of the day for random snacking, problem solved.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Maybe stop watching TV?

    It probably sounds flippant, but I mean it. Me persoanlly, if I'm thinking more about food than the tv show, then I turn it off.

    This ^^

    If you are bored watching TV, then why watch? Do something you enjoy, or at least something that occupies your hands.
  • hospitablegirl
    hospitablegirl Posts: 64 Member
    I'm slowly cutting out TV (trying not to alarm the husband. LOL). I'm also going to try brushing my teeth after dinner tonight. Thanks for the advice. :)

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