Sometimes people eat when they are bored. I was one of those people. After being "on plan" for a year almost, boredom is about the one circumstance that pulls me back into bad habits. I have not slipped yet, but my mind is going there. It doesn't help that is is cloudy outside (lack of sun makes my mood lower for some reason). If you are not eating when bored, then what are you doing instead? Sometimes it is not as easy as just reading a book, watching TV or exercising. Sometimes it is boredom while working and you still have to work, yet you have these feelings of satisfying boredom with food. Even if you could do one of these activities, sometimes you just don't want to drag your lazy butt out of your chair yet eating is not the direction that would be beneficial. What are your thoughts?

Boredom...stress....or fatigue. All make me wanna eat when I shouldn't. It's so hard to fight the urge. Many times I'll go ahead and eat' date=' but I'll stick to lean Protein or a bag full of sweet peppers or some other high fibrous low cal veggie. I look at it like protein loading. I'd rather be full of protein or veggies than sit their and hope the cravings go away before I eat a donut.[/quote']

I like the idea of protein loading ( ha! I east 170 g a day). However, I do not think Protein Bars can count as protein loading. , too much processed stuff. I generally use protein during the day to regulate my hunger. Works well under normal circumstances...except when bored. Still have not caved to sugar of salt. I would definitely prefer not to go there and stick with protein instead. I do not eat carbs now unless they are part of a low carb food or part of veggie. No problem saying no to breads or table sugar Snacks. Heck, it has been over a year for either (stopped eating that about 1.5 month before July 2nd, 2012). Don't have the desire any longer for those. However, low carb protein bars...

Great topic!

I started in with sf gum' date=' but I'm now totally regretting it. It sort of reinforced my desire to be chewing on something when I'm bored or stressed, and now i'm finding myself going through a ridiculous amount of gum and wanting something ALL the TIME. Great, now I have another bad habit to break.

At work, I try to get up for a quick walk around the office, or stretch, or take some deep breaths. I can tell some of my problem is just habit, because if I get away from my desk I have fewer snack urges (some of my work can be done at a secretarial station outside my office). I'm in the habit of eating my meals at my desk, and I''m sure that's reinforced some bad habits.

I read a tip recently from a weight loss blogger that I liked the idea of - she said every time she went to the kitchen to grab a snack she got in the habit of dropping and doing 10 or 20 pushups. Not sure how you'd incorporate that at work, though I've been known to do squats, lunges, or counter "pushups" in a restroom stall. Go ahead and laugh... but don't judge!...[/quote']

Awesome suggestion on the pushups. Not laughing. I am doing impromptu squats, pushups and plank holds all the time. Have not done them to fight urge to eat from bore dome though. I am going to try that. Great idea!!!!!

I had formed an almost Pavlovian reaction to sitting at my desk working (work at home) with little candies in my desk... BAD. I have totally replaced that with having SF gum on hand in the same drawer. I may be transferring into a bad habit of gum' date=' but it's really only when I sit down to the computer.

FYI those dessert SF gums are fab![/quote']

Preaching to the choir on those dessert Extra gum flavors. Sigh! Why must the food industry cater to trigger points so well. Don't answer that- rhetorical question. Lol. I have been totally addicted to these gum flavors and go through way to much. And to think I was gum free 2 weeks ago and for a year before that. Time to break this crack habit of mine on gum before it gets out of hand...

Guzzle Water... Then you CAN'T snack for awhile afterwards

I'm sitting here eating while I'm writing this

It's so easy to tell others what the right things to do are!

Hehehe...

I like the idea of Protein loading ( ha! I east 170 g a day). However, I do not think Protein Bars can count as protein loading. , too much processed stuff. I generally use protein during the day to regulate my hunger. Works well under normal circumstances...except when bored. Still have not caved to sugar of salt. I would definitely prefer not to go there and stick with protein instead. I do not eat carbs now unless they are part of a low carb food or part of veggie. No problem saying no to breads or table sugar Snacks. Heck, it has been over a year for either (stopped eating that about 1.5 month before July 2nd, 2012). Don't have the desire any longer for those. However, low carb protein bars...

I can't remember the last time I had a Protein Bar. It's pretty rare for me. I bought a dozen Quest bars way back when. They may be out of date.

You are right. We should just abstain as there are way better foods to be eating. I like to eat paleo most of the time, but on occasion I will have a protein bar. And then "it" wakes up. You know what I am talking about. The carb beast. Roaaar...Best to let it lie dormant.

The biggest challenge with the sleeve is our brains.

Sometimes I find myself just opening the fridge and staring, or standing in the pantry looking. Aaaargh! WHY?

I used to be able to tell myself "If you are not looking for Protein then you must not be hungry" and that would work. Now I do find myself snacking on things that are NOT on my plan, but for the most part I do at least portion it out. Never again eat handfuls out of the bag or box. It's good that you are recognizing the old ways and behaviors, that alone is going to help. Awareness is a good tool.

I work at home on a similar schedule as you fiddle. Everytime I get that bored feeling etc and want to graze I go upstairs and clean something..I have the cleanest damn bathroom ever!!

Or I grab my dog and walk her around the cul de sac..she is definitely loving the extra walks lol

I think this is one of the biggest hurdles to tackle and I think any fully honest vet is going to admit this is sometimes a challenge. I don't obsess about food like I used to but if I'm having a rough day or if it's been dreary out for days on end (it affects me, too) I'll find myself wandering in and out of the kitchen, just because I can. It adds up, and quickly.

I chewed gum, a lot of gum and had never considered that it might be having the opposite effect on me, like mentioned earlier. Because I would chew gum and once the flavor was gone, I'd want more, or I'd want to chew again and there I'd go and walk into the kitchen for more gum. I was going through ridiculous amounts of gum in a month. And yeah, I can see that I was just reinforcing my desire to chew through boredom.

I do notice that the urge to snack or graze is less urgent if I'm eating lots of Protein, drinking my Water and avoiding processed carbs for the most part. It's one thing for me to eat a cookie I baked myself from scratch. Somehow, I can stop at one and go about my business. If I eat an Oreo or a Thin Mint? It's like Russian Roulette. Sometimes it's no big deal and I eat one and move along. But other times? It's on...and I'll feel the strong desire to eat half a dozen of them before stopping. It won't matter if I choose not to do it - I'll then sit and think about them until they're out of the house.

So I try to avoid protein bars and junk like Chex Mix or chips or Cookies. I do not think they're bad and that we should avoid them forever. But if I want chips? I fry my own. Crazy, yeah, but I can fry up one small potato, get my fix and be done. And you know what? I ain't gonna lie - knowing that I need to engage forty minutes into my chip fix before I can eat them will usually kill the urge. If I buy a bag, I'm going to eat those chips until they're gone, even if that means having them every day for a week in small portions. Even if I follow the rules and they're reasonable portions it can be an issue until they're gone.

Will I gain weight from it? Usually not. But I can't help but feel that even engaging in that behavior is setting me up for regain down the road, so while I embrace moderation, I also embrace sanity. You don't keep a crack pipe in your purse if you don't intend to use it - why would a person with food addictions keep themselves surrounded by the very junk that led them to morbid obesity in the first place?

In any case, back to the original post - I do a few things to help. I turn on music and distract my brain. If that won't work, I get up and move around (NOT in the kitchen). I do not keep Snacks other than gum anywhere else in the house but the kitchen. I do not allow myself to snack while watching television unless it's movie night (then I allow myself a portion of stove popped popcorn and a drink) and I no longer keep a stash of snacks in my bedside drawer for when I read in bed. If I'm on my laptop, the only thing I allow on my table is a mug of coffee or tea or my bottle of water. So I would not keep anything near my desk if I were you. I get a big glass of fruit infused water. I tell myself that if I'm still snacky in an hour I'll have a few vegetables. If all else fails a cup of green tea or black coffee will give me something to put in my hands. Sipping on it takes a while and it then suppresses my appetite.

Truth be told, this usually only gets me if I'm hormonal or if I'm really feeling stressed out. But it is a real thing, and it is important to find a way to get through it. Hopefully something someone posts here will help you out. And I'm learning that you don't have to feel any hunger to shove food in your face. Keeping snacks around me while I'm engaged in busy work - no matter how healthy - would have me snacking without even thinking.

Good luck,

~Cheri

Two weeks ago I would have answered this differently I think. I have spent the last week at home, sick and recuperating, on antibiotics. Nothing serious, just a nasty cold that turned into a since infection that floored me.

Usually I am crazy busy. I have a hectic work schedule. I am away at least one night a week, have at least one return flight a week to another part of the country, and when at the office am pretty much going non stop from when I arrive to when I walk out the door. At work I often have to set my phone alarm to remind me to eat and my personal assistant has been known to stand guard and block people getting to me so that I can have lunch some days.

At home, well, I work out, I go to yoga, I pack and unpack, i cook and i organise. I do the things that need to be done like endless laundry. I run a fairly tight ship at home in order to keep things manageable so that I can work my crazy job. I usually collapse on the couch and browse the Internet/watch TV for about an hour before bed each night and that is my only stop time. Weekends are with family, out and about, on the boat, etc. a full life.

I don't have time to be bored.

Until this past week, at home, sick.

Wow.

The pantry and fridge have called my name this past week. I have learnt a few big things from being stuck at home. When I have nothing to do, I want to eat. Boredom can masquerade as hunger. Because I know I am not hungry. I have rarely been hungry since the surgery and yet I have found myself this past week looking in the pantry even when I felt physically full. Insane.

I ate a full packet of shortbread Cookies over two days. 12 cookies. 1400 calories. I ate two bars of Lindt dark chocolate, one chilli intense and the other coconut intense. That's 1000 calories. I ate toast. Crumpets. This is stuff I never normally eat but sent my husband out to buy on crazy 'cravings'. I used being sick as an excuse and stopped entering things into MFP. I convinced myself that my body wanted this stuff to help it heal. Riiiight.

This feels a bit like confession now. I am not beating myself up over it, I am not one to focus on such things or get down on myself. I am more one to look at what I can learn from it and move forward.

I went back to yoga yesterday, will work out today, I am up now (it's 6am Monday here) and going to work shortly. I am back on plan and on target. But my eyes are opened a little wider into my own behaviour when bored.

What it has taught me, I think, is that I need to learn to happy and at peace in my own company. It has also perhaps taught me that since surgery I use busy-ness as a distraction from food.

Boredom is still an obstacle that I have to learn to navigate around.

Cheri and other vets - you all consistently give among the most detailed and thoughtful responses on VST (Others, obviously not leaving you out, but want to give special kudos here), in the vets forum. Super impressed with your thought processes around these types of struggles and the ability to offer practical solutions. It is a pleasure to read your tomes.

Sometimes I find myself just opening the fridge and staring' date=' or standing in the pantry looking. Aaaargh! WHY?

I used to be able to tell myself "If you are not looking for Protein then you must not be hungry" and that would work. Now I do find myself snacking on things that are NOT on my plan, but for the most part I do at least portion it out. Never again eat handfuls out of the bag or box. It's good that you are recognizing the old ways and behaviors, that alone is going to help. Awareness is a good tool.[/quote']

One trick I learned when I'm standing in front of the fridge....I ask myself if I'm hungry enough to eat a boiled egg. If not, then I don't eat.

One trick I learned when I'm standing in front of the fridge....I ask myself if I'm hungry enough to eat a boiled egg. If not, then I don't eat.

Too funny! I keep a bag of these in the fridge now and it's my go-to, "okay, I really am hungry but I don't want absolute crap and I will die if I eat another carrot stick" snack. And ya know, after three years one hard boiled egg still fills me up almost to the point of discomfort.

~Cheri

I am struggling more and more with this.It used to be that gum, or a Protein drink (low carb) or a cup of coffee would just kill the desire to snack. I am not having that good of result anymore!

I have to keep all protien bars out of the house, out of my life as they somehow quickly turned into junk food. I was having like 2 a day and the thing is - that is just too much carbs/calories. Protein drinks don't have that same effect on me (I use the preimier protein drinks or the nectar powder - all pretty low carb).

anyway, i am struggling right now. grrrrr