How to Stop Eating When Bored

What determines your hunger signals? Boredom? Indulgent cravings? Habit?

What should determine your hunger signals?
Hunger.

Here's how to make it so.

Things You'll Need

• Just a little will power

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Instructions

• 1

  RECOGNIZE IT BEFORE ACTING - When I feel the urge to eat a snack or meal, I ask myself where this urge is coming from.

  Good questions to I've asked myself to stop overeating:

  Am I busy when the urge came on?

  Do I feel as though I could eat a lot or a little?

  What am I hungry for?

  All of these small questions help me evaluate my desire for food, to see if it is genuine hunger or my mind playing a trick on me. Self-awareness is the most important thing.

• 2

  DO SOMETHING ELSE - After I've concluded that I want to eat purely because I am bored, I DO SOMETHING, and that helps me be productive too ;).

  Laundry

  Re-writing a resume

  Starting a blog

  Playing a game

  Catching up with a friend...

  I don't need to list daily activities you can do to live your life instead of eat it!

• 3

  WHEN GIVING IN, GIVE IN MINIMALLY - Complete self-denial should never be what we're after, because that only spawns self resentment and ultimate failure. If you really want a snack after sincerely trying to cure your boredom, eat one! But this is the pivotal moment to exercise your moderation skills. Here's why...

  When you're eating and not hungry, you're more likely to overeat. This is because your stomach is already stretched and ready for more food, plus, and perhaps more importantly, your MENTAL HUNGER comes with NO biological indicators to make you feel full. So if it's mental hunger you're feeding, you could eat forever. Yikes.

  Good minimal "giving-in" snacks:

  A cup of warm milk

  Slices of cheese

  Fruits

  Handful of nuts

  Bottle of regular soda

  A beer

  These are all good things!