Before I really get into it I want to start by saying, what I say that I will do to not over eat and what I actually do are two different things. This is a list that I have written down in my calorie counting book that you can read more about here. I write this down so that way I can be reminded that I dont have to fill my boredom with eating and if I am bored there are plenty of other ways to occupy my mind or to not stuff my mouth with food while doing literally nothing else.
Self care is a big motivator for me when it comes to trying to not over eat especially at night. Now that my two sons are sleeping pretty well I have more things that I can be doing with my spare time. This can include taking a nice warm bath. This is something I do when my partner is home because of the sheer fact if I do it when I am here with the boys I know that one of them will be awake and I will be in and out of the tub to tend to to them. Self care can be many things too. On my list I have paint my nails. This is normally a time consuming activity so it can be challenging at best but it certainly is a choice between eating a total of 3 bowls of chips or taking time to paint your nails so they are nice and fresh and making you feel good in a totally different way instead of filling that feel good space with food. This could be finger nails or even toe nails. Anything to do with this area I need to do more.
Another kind of group that I add to my list of things to do in order to occupy my hands and not pig out on junk food particularly at night would be things to do with my “work”. As many of you know I dont work as in, I dont get paid (Yet!) for doing things. But writing is something that I have really took a dive into. Whether that be sitting on the couch and typing up blogs on my cell phone or maybe sitting on the computer and typing up some poems and things. Maybe I am even writing in my calorie counting book pre-writing the pages like I talk more about here. Even writing poems and getting a jump start on things is huge for me. I also need to start dabbling more into drawing and illustrating like I did when I was younger.
Then there is the BORING parts of the list that I have there. This could be as simple as trying to cleaning a specific thing in the house I may have not done in a while. Maybe it has to do with cleaning a particular room instead. Doing something like this often leads, at least for me, the moment of wanting to snack and munch out on food to pass fast. I tend to try to stick to this when I have nothing else better to do or maybe planning a party of some sorts and this is my way to power clean. Barely do I ever do this at night though I sent to do this more so in the day time especially when my sons are napping because I have such a limited amount of time.
One thing that isn’t on the list that I will be doing regularly though is brushing my teeth early in the evenings. Especially if I smoke weed that night also too. We all know how I struggle with the munchies but for some reason brushing my teeth changed something in my head that made me not want to eat. Does that mean I never had the thoughts to much out? No. I for sure had moments where I was wanting some sort of snack however I also said to myself that I already brushed my teeth so why would I “ruin” it by eating something and then having to re-brush them.
And finally, though this is not on the list. It helps when I want to avoid over snacking or even snacking in general if I can sit there and half visualize and prepare myself for the day or evening ahead. I never limit myself when trying to lose weight instead I try to follow portion controls, counting the calories, and then trying to prep for the junk food I do want. Instead of taking a bowl of ice cream I will actually measure it out into the proper serving and most times eat it out of the measuring cup. I also plan the day around the calories I am snacking on also. If I want to snack on a chocolate bar then I would make sure I ate well during the day so that I dont over eat in the evenings.
All these little changes have been helpful. The hardest part is trying to get into the habit of doing these instead of reaching for something to put in my mouth. Get your minds out of the gutter! Hopefully on the bi-weekly checks I can get that under control!
Stacey J. Girard 