Eating When Bored - How To Avoid Boredom Eating

This is totally me!  And it's gotten worse now that I have an injury and am not exercising as much. - L

From www.stop-emotional-eating.net

Boredom eaters can't stand the feeling of being bored so they eat. Eating becomes a way to bring some excitement into their lives without rocking the boat or doing something too out-of-their-comfort-zone.
Boredom eating can come in many forms - eating when there's nothing to do is the obvious one.

But there are others. For example, you may be watching a TV show that you're only half into - and reaching for some munchies to turn up the excitement level.

You may be stuck in traffic - so you grab your stash of chips in the glove compartment - just to get through the monotony of stop-and-go traffic.

Maybe you're out with a group of work colleagues and the conversation turns very dull. Instead of trying to liven up the conversation, you reach for the bread basket instead.

Boredom eating is a type of emotional eating - and it can lead to extra weight. Instead of eating when bored you can learn other ways to handle dull situations.

Here are 4 things you can do when bored instead of eating:


1) Try Something Out of Your Comfort Zone
There's nothing like trying a new activity or project that you've never tackled before. However it may feel uncomfortable at first - that's how you grow.

Maybe you've always wanted to take a class on home repair. Perhaps you want to learn a new language.

Whatever it is, make sure it's something you've always wanted to do, but never had the nerve to try.
Stepping out of your comfort zone not only kills the boredom - it also builds your confidence to try other things as well.


2) Improve Your Mind
If you're stuck in situations that breed boredom (like a half hour of stop-and-go traffic every day), focus on doing something to improve your mind.

Buy audiobooks or download inspirational speeches to your Mp3 player. Listen to a funny speech or learn about how to be an effective leader. There are so many audio and video educational resources these days, there's no excuse not to learn.

And it's a much healthier alternative to snacking.


3) Turn Off The TV
Ok, this one is hard, I know. But try turning off the TV - even if only for a week. While watching TV isn't necessarily bad, it does breed boredom - and boredom eating.

We find ourselves watching a lot of TV, not because we're really into the show, but just out of habit. And then we have to use food to improve the experience.

If you find you have the urge to reach for a snack when watching a show, ask yourself why. Is it because you're actually bored? If so, turn off the tube and do something more interesting like taking a walk or calling a friend.


4) Rediscover Your Dreams
Many times we become bored because we've settled in life. We're no longer following our dreams - we're content to 'just get by'. Eating becomes a poor substitution for following our dreams.

Try asking yourself what you'd really love - what are the dreams that may have followed by the wayside?

Then ask yourself what steps - even small ones - you can take to get back on track to following your dreams and creating the life you really want!


Conclusion:
Boredom eating is one of the more subtle forms of emotional eating. Many times we don't even realize we're doing it.

There are ways to avoid eating out of boredom - but you have to be willing to try something new. Get out of your comfort zone. Change your perspective.

Only then will you really take steps to stop the habit of boredom overeating.

Pumpkin Smoothie

I love pumpkin smoothies - a great start to the day or mid-afternoon snack.  Here is what I put in mine:

Vanilla protein powder

1 frozen banana

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup greek yogurt (I use plain)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Dash of ground cloves

1 tbls maple syrup or brown sugar (for sweetness, although I usually don't add this)

Water and ice as desired

Instead of water you can try orange juice.  You can also just use 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice instead of the other spices.  Regardless, it's yummy.  Drink up!

10 Tips to Control Your Weight This Holiday Season

I think I'm going to get a little crazy this month and group posts together by subject each week.  ;-)  I'll start with the ever popular subject of eating. - L

By Hana A. Feeney, MS, RD, CSSD
For Active.com

The holiday season wreaks havoc on our bodies. Stress and irregular sleep messes with our workout routine. Plus there is tempting food everywhere beckoning us and calling our names. From Halloween to New Year's Day the average weight gain is about 5 to 7 pounds. Unfortunately that weight doesn't drop off come January. It's like a winter coat that we never shed.

Why do you struggle with weight gain though the holidays? Many challenges exist, such as office potlucks, family gatherings, once-a-year treats, and traditions of over-eating. Take time now to think about your challenges and create new approaches for this holiday season.

Here are the 10 best tips to beat holiday weight gain. Which tips work for you?

10. Prioritize exercise.

Exercise in the morning so you start your day energized with a clear mind. Exercise gives you the mental reminder that you are living a healthy lifestyle, which keeps you on track and focused during the day. Can't swing a morning workout? Plan a lunch-hour workout with colleagues or buddy up to workout before leaving your worksite. Build exercise into your day; schedule it as you would any other commitment.

9. Don't be a caveperson.

Cave people are programmed to eat. Avoid famine and feast cycles by eating regularly throughout the day. It's hard to turn down the extra treats that fill the office this time of year, and when you are tired and starving, they are nearly impossible to resist.

8. Plan ahead.

Understand what food challenges you are facing so that you can make informed decisions. Call friends to see what healthy side dish you can bring to the dinner party. Look up restaurant information before going out to eat. Know when you need to pack a lunch or bring a healthy option to the office potluck.

7. Indulge with full awareness.

If you decide to indulge, do so consciously; make that tasty treat a part of a planned meal or snack. Then you can savor each and every bite.

6. Enhance family favorites.

As you plan your meals and treats for the holiday season, look for creative ways to cut calories and boost nutrients in your favorite recipes.

• Spice sweet potatoes with nutmeg and cinnamon rather than brown sugar.
• Make sure to prepare a few vegetable dishes, such as roasted Brussels sprouts, sautéed spinach and garlic or an arugula salad.
• Use dried fruit for half the chocolate chips in cookies and pumpkin or banana bread.
• Cut cookies and bars into smaller bite size pieces. 

5. Honor your body's healthy limits.

Honor your body by committing to NOT overeat. Commit to filling your plate full of colorful veggies and cutting back portions of high calorie sides, such as stuffing, buttery rolls, candied sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, savory appetizers, creamy dips, desserts and candies.
There's no need to eliminate these tasteful, traditional foods; just cut back your portions so that you finish the meal feeling satisfied, not stuffed.

• Save room for dessert so that it doesn't push you into a food coma.
• If you are tempted to overeat because many holiday foods are only served once a year, put away a plate of food to enjoy tomorrow. It will taste better when you are able to savor each bite, rather than stuffing extra bites into an already full stomach.
• Make one holiday favorite every month so that you are able to enjoy these favorites year round.
• Resist peer pressure to overeat. Talk to loved ones prior to meals and explain your personal goals.
• Eat slowly and savor each bite. You will be more satisfied and it will help limit comments such as, "you haven't eaten a thing" or "surely you will go back for more."

4. Eat breakfast every day.

Include a bit of protein at this important meal. Start the day with protein rich foods to control your appetite and boost self-control. This will help you to "just say no" to all of the holiday treats that surround you.

3. Don't let holiday weight gain creep up on you.

Weigh yourself once a week and make adjustments to your lifestyle as needed. If you gain a pound, reflect on your eating and exercise habits. Be curious not critical. Look for opportunities to make changes. Have you been stressed? Are you an emotional eater? Have been to more parties and social engagements? Eating out more often? These are factors that everyone faces more frequently this time of year, and they often lead to weight gain.

2. Keep alcohol consumption low.

How easily alcohol calories add up. During this social holiday season, you could easily gain a pound or two through alcohol alone.

• Pint of beer = 150 calories
• Typical glass of wine = 200 calories
• Martini = 250 calories
• Margarita = 300-800 calories depending on who makes it!
• Spiked eggnog = 400 calories per cup

These calorie counts don't even include the extras that come from reduced inhibitions and missing your morning workouts.

1. Get off the "See Food Diet"!

We see it, we want to eat it. This time of year, the "See Food Diet" consists of cookies, pastries, candies and fudge. Not too mention all of the leftovers, gifts and party favors. Change what you see, and you will change your body.

• Bring a beautiful bowl of fruit into the office.
• Place a bowl of nuts in the shell on your desk. You'll eat fewer when you have to crack them open yourself.
• Put cut veggies front and center in the fridge; use hummus or herbed ricotta as a healthy dip.
• Always bring a healthy option to dinners, parties and potlucks.
• Gift your office or home with an opaque candy dish or cookie jar. When you don't see it, you're less likely to eat the treat.
• Get rid of leftovers. If you throw a party, clean out the house the next day. Host a dinner? Send everyone home with leftovers or have a "part 2 dinner" the next night.

Surround yourself with the healthy foods that you need to eat, and you will find it easier to maintain your weight--or even lose weight--during this holiday season.

A Training Plan… for Spectators

11/09/2010  from runnersworld.com by Mark Remy

Raise and lower, and repeat after me: 'Woo! Hoo!... Woo! Hoo!...'

Okay, the New York City Marathon is behind us. Some 45,000 runners finished the race — thanks, no doubt, to months of rigorous training.

Training plans are such an ingrained part of marathon running, most of us barely give them a second thought. We decide to run a marathon; we seek a training plan; we follow the plan, for 14 or 16 or 20 weeks or whatever; we run the marathon. Simple.

But what about the estimated 2 million (give or take) folks who rolled out of bed to watch the marathon in New York on Sunday morning? For that matter, what about any of the gazillion spectators who line the roads to cheer us on during any of the gazillion marathons that take place each year?

Where is their training plan?

This question occurred to me over the weekend, as all those folks lined the streets of New York, hooting and hollering and standing and clapping. Watching them, I thought to myself:

You know what? Those are the real champs. The runners have been training for this day for months now. These poor schmucks on the sidewalks, though… They didn't train one lick. Yet there they stand, shouting and applauding and "raising the roof" for hours on end. They're the ones who are gonna be sore tomorrow. 

Well, spectators, help is here. You never have to go into a race unprepared, ever again.

Below you'll find what I believe to be the first training plan ever devised for marathon spectators. It's a four-week program; feel free to tailor it to suit your needs and level of spectating fitness.

Week 1: Base building. Especially if you're starting from zero — i.e. you haven't done any real spectating since, say, your college years — it's important to start out slow.

MON: 15 minutes standing around
TUE: 5 mins standing around; 5 mins clapping; 5 mins standing around
WED: rest
THU: posterboard sign drills — lift and lower a handmade sign 50 times; warm up and cool down with 5 mins easy cheering
FRI: rest
SAT: 15 mins standing around
SUN: 30 mins spectating fartlek — freestyle blend of standing around, cheering, clapping, and/or raising arms, as you feel

Week 2: This week we'll add some "quality" workouts to the mix.

MON: 20 mins standing around; optional: sip coffee for duration
TUE: rest
WED: cowbell repeats — ring a cowbell for 90 seconds, recover with 30 seconds easy "woo-hoo-ing" repeat 8 times ; warm up and cool down with 5 mins easy cheering
THU: 20 mins standing around
FRI: street-crossing sprints — stand around for 5 mins on sidewalk; wait for break in traffic; sprint across to opposite sidewalk; repeat 10 times
SAT: rest
SUN: 45 mins standing around with sign

Week 3: Time spent cheering and standing around will peak this week.

MON: rest
TUE: 30 mins standing around with sign, plus intervals of screaming (e.g., "Go!", "Looking good!", "Woo hoo!"), 10 x 30 seconds
WED: 12 cowbell repeats (see Week 2)
THU: rest
FRI: 40 mins standing around with sign
SAT: 15 mins easy cheering
SUN: 60 mins standing around, interspersed with cheering and sign holding

Week 4: It's taper time. This week you'll drastically cut the quantity of your cheering and standing around, while maintaining quality. Remember to get lots of rest, and drink plenty of fluids. The day before your event, sip hot water with lemon and honey to really prepare those vocal cords.

MON: 15 mins easy standing around
TUE: street-crossing sprints (see Week 2)
WED: rest
THU: 20 mins standing around
FRI: rest
SAT: 10 mins very easy standing around
SUN: Race day — stand up and cheer!

6 Surprising Health Foods

Posted on Nov 5th 2010 12:30PM by That's Fit Editors

If the low-carb craze of the early 21st century left you believing that potatoes equal pounds and corn is no better than candy, it's time to wake up and taste the produce. The truth is: Certain fruits and vegetables -- along with other foods with less than stellar nutritional reputations -- are rich in vitamins and minerals, not to mention come in an array of colors, flavors and textures. If you've been avoiding the following dietary outcasts, it's time to give them another look.

1. POTATOES

For the 161 calories in a medium baked potato with skin, you get 4 grams of fiber plus 20 percent of your daily requirement for potassium, along with a boatload of phytochemicals known as kukoamines. Both potassium and kukoamines help keep your blood pressure in check. If you allow that cooked potato to chill before eating it, you'll get a generous dose of resistant starch, a fiber-like substance that promotes post-meal satiety -- important for losing weight without feeling hungry. "If you keep portion sizes in check -- no more than one medium potato in a given meal -- and eat the fiber-rich skin, potatoes make a satisfying, low-calorie, nutrient-rich side dish," says Michelle Dudash, a Gilbert, Ariz.-based registered dietitian.

2. ICEBERG LETTUCE

Just one cup of shredded iceberg lettuce delivers nearly 20 percent of your daily dose of vitamin K, a nutrient that many women don't get enough of. When Harvard University researchers tracked the diets of more than 72,000 women, those who ate one or more servings a day of any type of lettuce (all are good sources of vitamin K) had the lowest rates of hip fracture. Iceberg lettuce also is a good source of vitamin A, which helps keep your vision sharp; just one cup supplies 15 percent of your recommended daily intake. So if iceberg lettuce is the leafy green that floats your boat the most, go ahead and eat up!

3. CELERY

This pale, crunchy veggie delivers a unique combination of disease-fighting vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. For example, celery is a good source of pthalides, rare compounds that lower your blood pressure by relaxing artery walls. It also is rich in apigenin, a potent plant chemical that protects against cancer by inhibiting gene mutations. Munch on celery sticks for a low-calorie, crunchy snack: One large rib has just 10 calories and one gram of filling fiber.

4. CORN

Corn does double duty as a veggie and a whole grain, with one large ear supplying 15 percent of your recommended daily fiber intake. It also satisfies 10 percent of your daily folate requirement. This heart-healthy B vitamin plays an important role in keeping blood levels of potentially dangerous homocysteine in check. Not to be outdone, the lutein and zeaxanthin in corn help protect your eyes against agerelated macular degeneration. For a simple corn salsa, toss together fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels; finely chopped jalapeno chili pepper; chopped fresh cilantro, tomato, and onion; and a pinch each of chili powder or ground cumin.

5. WATERMELON

The amino acid arginine, abundant in watermelon, might promote weight loss, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition. When researchers supplemented the diets of obese mice with arginine over three months, the animals' body fat gains declined by a whopping 64 percent. Adding this amino acid to the diet enhanced fat and glucose oxidation while increasing lean muscle, which burns more calories than fat. Snack on watermelon while it's in season, and enjoy other arginine sources -- such as seafood, nuts and seeds -- year-round.

6. BUTTERMILK

It might sound as rich as cream, but, in fact, buttermilk has 98 percent less fat. This tart, thick dairy product contains beneficial bacteria that convert the milk protein lactose into lactic acid, a natural preservative. Buttermilk can be used in place of milk in many recipes, reducing fat and calories; it makes pancakes, waffles and cakes rise quite nicely, and adds a tangy flavor to smoothies and salad dressings.