Boredom eating

First of all, congratulations on quitting smoking, and on your 20lbs of weight loss! Those are both incredible accomplishments. Whoop whoop is right.

As for the boredom eating, I totally get it. I struggle with this myself. I'll come home stuffed from a big dinner, and next thing you know I'm pouring Cocoa Puffs straight from the box into my mouth. Through trial and error (a LOT of error), I've found a few techniques that have been effective for me:

(1) Prepare healthy snacks in advance. I always try to keep a couple premade salads in my fridge, so if I ever feel compelled to eat something, at least I have a low-cal option. I also use carrot sticks and baby cucumbers for this purpose. (Because I'm a weirdo, I eat them with hot sauce, which makes them more filling, and more likely to satisfy a craving). Fruit also works, but in moderation - they are full of nutrients and fiber, but are higher in calories than people tend to think. Some snack companies (Oreo, Goldfish, Cheez-Its) make these tiny 80-100 calorie snack packs intended a healthier alternative to the real thing. Personally, I find they just make things worse (I end up eating a dozen of them and still feeling unsatisfied), but your mileage may vary.

(2) Keep unhealthy snacks in a place where you can't see them. A jar of cookies sitting open on the counter, for instance, can trigger a response where your body will crave them even if you're not especially hungry. Keeping them in the cupboard or the pantry will reduce the urge to mindlessly snack.

(3) Sometimes, healthy snacks just ain't gonna cut it. Prepare for this. Portion control is key here. If you want to indulge and aren't really feeling a spring mix and herb salad, don't grab the bag of chips and start munching away. Instead, count/measure a serving, and put it into a bowl. Put the bag of chips away before you start eating from the bowl (per tip 2, in a place where it isn't visible). This way, you're limiting your intake, and you're conscious of what you're eating. Mindful eating typically leads to less consumption, even if the food isn't the healthiest.

(4) Speaking of mindfulness: pay attention when you snack. Enjoy it. Instead of eating ice cream in front of the TV, keep those activities separate. Eat a smaller quantity of ice cream, enjoy the hell out of it, and then watch TV. For me, TV snacking was the single biggest culprit when it came to overeating. Well, that and all-you-can-eat Chinese food buffets. (I gave up the former. They'll have to pry the latter from my cold, dead, MSG-soaked hands.)

And, most importantly (5) Forgive yourself for slip ups. They happen. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Identify what went wrong, move on, and try again.

Congratulations again for everything you've already achieved, and best of luck! You can do it.