How Do You Unwind without Food/Netflix?

I find more and more that I need to unwind mentally after work or when I have been around people for a couple hours. My go-to is to turn on Netflix and eat. Once I turn the TV on, I find it really difficult to turn it off and therefore spend 4 hours just sitting in front of the TV. I hate a quiet house at night.

During that time, I find it hard to stop eating. I'll be full, have had a treat, and have had sufficient calories for the day, but just want to keep eating. I think Netflix is a bit of a trigger and I want to break the habit.

I go for a 30 minute walk, but just haven't found anything that helps me to unwind. What do you do?
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Replies

  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,257 Member
    I started saving my clean laundry to fold in the evening. I put on a podcast and sit on my bedroom floor. I listen to audiobooks or read books that I have been meaning to get to, but... It's tricky because TV is a great brain break for me and my husband, but the food and drink habits around it are totally counter to our goals. With the weather getting warmer, we tend to be outside after dinner, even if it's just sitting on the deck and talking.
  • Thoin
    Thoin Posts: 942 Member
    JustaNoob wrote: »
    I find more and more that I need to unwind mentally after work or when I have been around people for a couple hours. My go-to is to turn on Netflix and eat. Once I turn the TV on, I find it really difficult to turn it off and therefore spend 4 hours just sitting in front of the TV. I hate a quiet house at night.

    During that time, I find it hard to stop eating. I'll be full, have had a treat, and have had sufficient calories for the day, but just want to keep eating. I think Netflix is a bit of a trigger and I want to break the habit.

    I go for a 30 minute walk, but just haven't found anything that helps me to unwind. What do you do?

    This may be way off but sometimes it has to do with depression or something. I have found myself trying to fill a void with food many times.

    Also I found I wanted food when watching Netflix. I basically trained my body to want food when I watch it because that's when I would eat. I think it was a reward system that my body grew used to. I needed to relax and eating and watching netflix was a great way to do that. However I also use food as a comfort system.
  • MidlifeCrisisFitness
    MidlifeCrisisFitness Posts: 1,106 Member
    read
  • JustaNoob
    JustaNoob Posts: 147 Member
    @girlwithcurls2 I don't know whhhhyy that just sounds so peaceful to me! Folding while listening to something does sound like something I would enjoy.

    @PAV8888 I have definitely been trying to make myself get out more with the time change. I think Covid gave me an excuse to stay in and be lazy and I have to encourage myself to get out and do stuff now.

    @cwolfman13 I think I would be okay with 1 hour of TV a day but I don't want to waste my life watching TV. I am in school online and sometimes spend a couple hours studying-- but my TV is alwaysssss on in the background
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I find walking and reading to be incredibly relaxing. I just pick up a book and walk around my kitchen island (which is pretty big). Yes, at first you may feel like a giant weirdo. Rosseau apparently even did this outside (https://medium.com/@mathieu.roy.freelancer/reading-and-walking-surprisingly-compatible-883094c227f4) but I am a klutz so I will stick to my kitchen.

    I find this works best at a slow, deliberate pace. The goal isn't to get a cardio workout, just to add some extra steps to the day. A bonus: I can walk and eat, I can read and eat, but I don't think even I could manage walking, reading, AND eating.
  • JustaNoob
    JustaNoob Posts: 147 Member
    Thoin wrote: »
    JustaNoob wrote: »
    I find more and more that I need to unwind mentally after work or when I have been around people for a couple hours. My go-to is to turn on Netflix and eat. Once I turn the TV on, I find it really difficult to turn it off and therefore spend 4 hours just sitting in front of the TV. I hate a quiet house at night.

    During that time, I find it hard to stop eating. I'll be full, have had a treat, and have had sufficient calories for the day, but just want to keep eating. I think Netflix is a bit of a trigger and I want to break the habit.

    I go for a 30 minute walk, but just haven't found anything that helps me to unwind. What do you do?

    This may be way off but sometimes it has to do with depression or something. I have found myself trying to fill a void with food many times.

    Also I found I wanted food when watching Netflix. I basically trained my body to want food when I watch it because that's when I would eat. I think it was a reward system that my body grew used to. I needed to relax and eating and watching netflix was a great way to do that. However I also use food as a comfort system.

    Thanks! I don't find that I am depressed, but I do find myself to be more anxious than normal. I feel like I am trying to feed something in my brain to release that "Ahhhh" feeling. I went to the doctor this morning to get bloodwork to make sure all of my hormones are working properly.
  • JustaNoob
    JustaNoob Posts: 147 Member
    @missysippy930 @KHMcG @janejellyroll

    Wow all readers. It makes sense, sometimes scrolling FB helps. But sometimes it hurts depending on the political climate. Then I have to decompress from my decompress time lol!

    I bet if I found a good book series, I could get into it. I've always been a book binger though.
  • suzij27
    suzij27 Posts: 199 Member
    I understand about having the tv on as background noise, especially when I use to live alone.

    Reading in the bedroom instead of putting on the TV in the living room really helps me. Perhaps you could try a new hobby to keep your hands and mind busy. I like coloring or doing a puzzle.

    Breaking the association between Netflix and eating is what you’re ultimately after. Perhaps turning the tv on later to unwind, as opposed to when you first get home will help. Then there is a duration to your viewing and will get you to select something you want to watch rather than just having things on in the background.

    I have struggled with eating in the evenings, in front of the tv, after everyone has gone to bed. A friend and I have made signs that say “Kitchen Closed” as a visual reminder to stop the mindless roaming which leads to snacking.
  • JustaNoob
    JustaNoob Posts: 147 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    JustaNoob wrote: »
    Thoin wrote: »
    JustaNoob wrote: »
    I find more and more that I need to unwind mentally after work or when I have been around people for a couple hours. My go-to is to turn on Netflix and eat. Once I turn the TV on, I find it really difficult to turn it off and therefore spend 4 hours just sitting in front of the TV. I hate a quiet house at night.

    During that time, I find it hard to stop eating. I'll be full, have had a treat, and have had sufficient calories for the day, but just want to keep eating. I think Netflix is a bit of a trigger and I want to break the habit.

    I go for a 30 minute walk, but just haven't found anything that helps me to unwind. What do you do?

    This may be way off but sometimes it has to do with depression or something. I have found myself trying to fill a void with food many times.

    Also I found I wanted food when watching Netflix. I basically trained my body to want food when I watch it because that's when I would eat. I think it was a reward system that my body grew used to. I needed to relax and eating and watching netflix was a great way to do that. However I also use food as a comfort system.

    Thanks! I don't find that I am depressed, but I do find myself to be more anxious than normal. I feel like I am trying to feed something in my brain to release that "Ahhhh" feeling. I went to the doctor this morning to get bloodwork to make sure all of my hormones are working properly.

    That is likely very habit driven...both the behavior as well as the psychological "release". Unfortunately, breaking habits suck. I experienced the same when I quit drinking...I was at a loss as to what to do our how to "unwind" in the evening without drinking. There is a lot going on there subconsciously and there is some retraining that has to take place and unfortunately, that isn't the most comfortable thing in the world.

    For alcohol I did a lot of cognitive behavior reading and journaling and saw a therapist for a short time as well...though I think I would have gone along just fine with the reading itself and journaling. I've heard of people doing this with food stuff as well.

    How long did it take to break that habit? I definitely think it is my habit and normally I am seeking out some type of sugar for that mental release. For the 100th time, I have removed all sweets from my house because I just can't handle them in moderation right now. I will eat them until there is none left.
  • vanmep
    vanmep Posts: 406 Member
    I started piano lessons, I started hand piecing a quilt (portable!), I read a fair bit, I ride my bicycle when the weather is good, I just bought a rebounder off kijiji and I’m thinking about using it while I watch tv.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,907 Member
    As far as "on in the background...." If I'm not actively watching it I'll put Pandora on instead.
  • JustaNoob
    JustaNoob Posts: 147 Member
    Associations are hard habits to break. So if Neflix = Food that would be an association I'd have to break, and it was in the past.


    Now I have my three meals and an after dinner snack or dessert. That's it.


    Boundaries.


    I had to create a lot of them when I lost weight.

    What did you do to disassociate Netflix from food? Was it just quitting both that lead to new habits?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,907 Member
    edited April 2021
    No, I still watch a couple or three hours of Netflix a day.


    I had to make RULES.

    I have a lot of food rules. One of them is - "Three meals a day and one after dinner snack or dessert." PERIOD.

    No exceptions, and they are pre-logged so I know where I stand for calories.


    It isn't easy. It has to be done, though. Everyone has some food rules, and everyone makes different food rules. Maybe if it's super important for you to eat while watching, you can save your calories for when you're in front of the TV, or limit your TV time.

    I mean, you have to come up with a plan.
  • JustaNoob
    JustaNoob Posts: 147 Member
    No, I still watch a couple or three hours of Netflix a day.


    I had to make RULES.

    I have a lot of food rules. One of them is - "Three meals a day and one after dinner snack or meal." PERIOD.

    No exceptions, and they are pre-logged so I know where I stand for calories.


    It isn't easy. It has to be done, though. Everyone has some food rules, and everyone makes different food rules. Maybe if it's super important for you to eat while watching, you can save your calories for when you're in front of the TV, or limit your TV time.

    I mean, you have to come up with a plan.

    Right, I am just trying to get ideas on the plan lol. I've known this was an issue for a while, I have just been unsuccessful at implementing anything. So I'm just trying to think it through-- I maybe over thinking.

    My current plan of action is to see if I can sub-out some of my Netflix time for a while with something else. I wake up every morning saying "no matter what, I'll stick to this." But my will isn't quite so strong when I'm hanging on the couch-- so I need to break the habit.