Eating when I know I am not hungry....

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karirenae
karirenae Posts: 106 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I have this issue with knowing I am not hungry, yet I will still eat, usually something unhealthy like candy or something.. I was hoping that someone has some useful idea or something they do when this happens to keep from eating? :) and before the smartasses answer.. I know I can just not eat.. but Id like some useful tips ;)

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  • RunsWithBees
    RunsWithBees Posts: 1,508 Member
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    I tend to eat if I'm bored so I keep myself busy with exercise, activities or hobbies. I also want to snack when I watch TV so I rarely watch it anymore. Keep low calorie snacks around if you need them like pickles, carrots, celery, cucumbers, mushrooms, low calorie fruit, etc. and plenty of water :)
  • MystikPixie
    MystikPixie Posts: 342 Member
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    I don't know if it will help you, but I meditate. There are apps that help guide you through different types of meditation, the one I use is called Headspace. If anything its something to spend time on instead of eating. I have the same problem, I don't have any kind of medical condition and yet I'm hungry, but it's my mind trying to trick me. So I have to trick it back. Hope that helps.
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
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    I'm a bored eater. It's the first thing I do. Especially when watching TV, or at my desk at work...

    I solved the TV thing with watching my shows on a Tablet, that I have to hold. Gives my hands something to do other than shoving food into my mouth..

    The work thing is solved by going to get a cup of tea or having gum.

    I also pre-log my day up until dinner - not only to make sure I dont go OVER my calories, but to make sure I don't go under much either. After cutting for 2 months I need to up my calories and I'm finding it's hard if I just do it randomly. My brain takes over and tells me I can't have "it". My brain is hard core. LOL
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    My worst time to eat bored is when I get home from work, but an hour or so before dinner. I need to do something other than park it in front of the TV. I hit the gym first thing in the morning, but need to find something else to do.

    So, no advice, but I get it.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    karirenae wrote: »
    So I have this issue with knowing I am not hungry, yet I will still eat, usually something unhealthy like candy or something.. I was hoping that someone has some useful idea or something they do when this happens to keep from eating? :) and before the smartasses answer.. I know I can just not eat.. but Id like some useful tips ;)

    Schedules - I don't tell myself it's ______, so "it's unhealthy, don't eat it." Instead I allow myself to have a treat every day. My calories aren't so low that I can't fit that in.

    Timing - I put that treat off until later in the day. That way I have something to look forward to.

    Mindless eating - I can't do this anymore. It's not allowed. So when I watch TV, I will keep my hand busy - adult coloring book, solitaire, crochet.....anything. I will have a large glass of ice water.
  • 22Brentwoodgirl
    22Brentwoodgirl Posts: 51 Member
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    I also eat when I am not hungry! So.... here are a few ideas that work for me
    Drink something low or no calorie - water (hot, warm, cold or iced), tea, coffee, broth (I buy chicken or veggie broth and often water it down so it doesn't taste too strong)
    Floss your teeth - really, this helps! Use mint floss for flavour (lol)
    Brush your teeth
    Keep a container of prepared low cal snacks in the fridge - celery (I can sure eat a lot of this and I don't even like celery!), carrots, any veggie really.
    Keep your hands busy too. I loved TeaBea's idea of colouring and plan to use that in addition to knit/crochet and doing my nails
    Good luck!
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,993 Member
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    If I log a snack before I eat it, I will often change my mind when I see how many calories it is. But I also have treats everyday. Sometimes I eat candy. I just plan them into my calorie goal. If it is something I can't moderate then I don't keep it in the house or I buy individual packages. If I tell myself I can't have something that always backfires for me.
  • cwilber1
    cwilber1 Posts: 30 Member
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    I know this is not a solution but when I need to munch I have one of those little dum dum pops. They take time to dissolve, are sweet and they are low calorie (20 cals ea). I also want water after I have one - since I don't have much of sweet tooth. Hope this helps.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    I keep a lot of low-calorie snacks that don't taste like Styrofoam around. And I log them before I take them. Never take the rest of the bag into the other room with me. If I want more, I log it again.

    Mostly, I snack on dry cereal, popcorn, veggie dogs, and string cheese. There's homemade applesauce and sorbet in the fridge and freezer at the moment. In moderation, none of these are calorie bombs. (Of course, if I take the whole bag of Skinny Pop with me and mindlessly eat it by the handful, it's a problem. But two cups worth? 86 calories? No guilt, no problem.)
  • EatingAndKnitting
    EatingAndKnitting Posts: 531 Member
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    If you mean you're not eating meals because you're not hungry, and I don't mean doing IF, but like skipping lunch and going to bed with 500 calories left for the day on a regular basis, you're probably going to have to eat even though you're not really hungry.

    I have to make myself eat lunch every day because of medication making me not hungry at lunchtime. Otherwise my defict is way too big.

    If you mean snacking because you're bored, try using up a hobby that uses your hands at night. Especially woke you watch TV, or do other mindless activities. I like to knit or crochet. It uses both hands, so I can't eat at the same time, but generally leaves my mind free so I can watch (half watch, half listen) TV or listen to podcasts.

    Plus, I use nice yarn usually, and I DON'T want to get grease/Cheeto dust on my expensive yarn. That leaves a stain I can't get out.

    If you're a man (I haven't looked at your profile so forgive me if you're female), rear assured that men knit and crochet, and female fiber artists find them SEXY. ;)

    Other people like to cross stich/do embroidery, and that's a lot cheaper than knitting, because floss is like 25 cents or less a skein. Same deal about stains too.

    Coloring is another big hobby. A 72 pack of gel pens with refills is $18 on Amazon, and a coloring book is maybe $10. Hours of creative fun that you can do anytime you feel the urge to eat.

    If you have tried distraction and it's just not working and you decide that you must snack, learn to like crispy roasted veggies. I've seen recipes for sliced and baked carrot chips. Slice then super thin in a food processor, spray with a tiny bit of spray oil, salt, pepper/other seasonings. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake until brown and crispy. Very low calorie, and should satisfy the crispy part of snacking, which is probably what you're craving/used to (that's my craving anyway). Make a batch in advance and store in the fridge.

    Or suck on ice chips. I have a very high powered blender, so I make a sugar free syrup with a packet of Kool aid, two cups of water, and a cup of Splenda. Grind up a cup of ice, and drizzle a bit of syrup on top. No (I think there's a couple calories in the Splenda, because of the maltodextron, but I count it as zero) calories, sweet, and yummy in the summer.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    monkeefan1974 wrote: »
    I tend to eat if I'm bored so I keep myself busy with exercise, activities or hobbies. I also want to snack when I watch TV so I rarely watch it anymore. Keep low calorie snacks around if you need them like pickles, carrots, celery, cucumbers, mushrooms, low calorie fruit, etc. and plenty of water :)

    [1] ditto on keeping low-calorie snackable items around, especially things that take time to eat.
    [2] If prone to boredom snacking, don't keep the high-calorie-density stuff around the house.
    [3] Keep water/tea/diet soda or some other non-calorie beverage in front of you to sip instead.
    [4] Find something to occupy your hands while watching TV - learn to crochet/knit/etc.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited October 2017
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    I sit in front of a computer doing the world's most boring work for 8 hours every day. It was very easy to keep snacking, so when I decided to lose weight, that's exactly what I did! I bring everything from home, pre-logged, and instead of eating three large meals with lots of snacks in between, I spread my food out over the course of the day. Generally I eat about 800 calories between waking up and an hour before dinner time, a larger dinner with my spouse (around 500-600 calories) and a snack before bed (100-200 calories). I also alternate between drinking water and ice tea, so there's pretty much always something there to reach for if I'm bored or antsy.
  • kpeterson00
    kpeterson00 Posts: 15 Member
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    I chew gum, drink a cup of herbal tea.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I think challenging two assumptions will make it easier:
    1) We only eat because we are hungry and need food.
    Humans eat for a number of reasons - pleasure, opportunity, availability, emotions, traditions, boredom and nutrition.
    2) Foods are either healthy or unhealthy.
    No foods are in themselves healthy or unhealthy. Some foods are more nutritious and some foods are more calorie dense than others, but no foods are off limits, and no foods should be eaten in unlimited amounts. Diets can be more or less healthy for one particular person, and this will also vary over time, with changes in caloric need, medical issues. Healthy eating is both a healthy diet and a healthy relationship with food.

    Then remind yourself of these things you already know but are easy to forget because they are so obvious:
    Forbidden fruits taste the sweetest.
    Not having a food available, means that you can't eat it.
    Boundaries, like meal times, and reserving treats for special occasions, sounds so sad and boring, but that was how people used to eat when most people were normal weight, and it didn't make people unhappy, quite the contrary, they looked forward to both meals and treats, and they had few worries about weight.
  • LiveLoveFitFab
    LiveLoveFitFab Posts: 302 Member
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    I tell myself if I want a snack, I can have some cucumber or something. If I'm not hungry enough to cut up a cucumber, then I'm not that hungry after all. I also eat at the same times every day on the dot, which helps. It's like feeding my dogs, I know when food time is...so I just wait until food time.

    It's like when you were a kid in school. You knew when lunch was and that was just when you ate lunch. Maybe you had a snack at recess, but you didn't just eat all the time in class ( I didn't anyways )

    After a while, you learn to eat at food time and that is that. You are a human that has almost all of it's actions based on habit. You have the habit of eating when you please, so that is what you do. Create a new habit.

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