Boredom Eating is a Negative Coping Behavior

Any experience that is highly predictable or repetitive in nature can quickly become boring in some people. Being cooped up at home with an immense amount of downtime means your daily routine involves managing the bottomless pit known as your stomach. So, don’t let your kitchen become the great abyss. Eating when you’re not hungry is not fulfilling.

It can be a challenge to avoid boredom eating. Food today is easily available, and you can experience it whenever you have nothing to do or while you are doing some boring job. Eating when bored can serve as a coping mechanism. In other words, snacking helps to break up the monotony of boring situations and repetitive tasks.

Boredom eating usually triggers cravings for specific foods…

Food is actually a rather cheap sensation. If you are snacking too much between meals due to boredom, or another stressor, you are most likely consuming more food than your body needs. Try one of the strategies below to better manage boredom eating:

• Create Healthy Snacks – Bored eating is an emotional eating pattern that serves as a temporary solution to often negative feelings. If your prepare properly proportioned snacks with protein and fats ahead of time, you can plan for a snack in your daily dietary intake.
• Practice Mindful Eating – Before you put food in your mouth, ask yourself why you are eating. If it is because you are bored, eat a small snack but move on. It would be better to find other alternatives to relieve boredom or stress.
• Get Plenty of Rest – Since you can’t expect to always get a perfect night of sleep, it is important for maintaining your energy levels to stay well rested. A brief nap can help fuel your vitality to manage whatever the cause of your boredom.
• Move, Move, & Move – Boredom eating can be triggered by a host of negative emotions. However, it also leads to unconscious overeating. Before you give in to a sudden food craving, get up and move. Take a short walk, make up your bed, but do something to change up your brain chemistry.

Boredom is similar to fatigue but is caused by a lack of interest…

Boredom is most often caused by being stuck in a situation that is repetitive or monotonous. People who suffer from ADHD get bored faster and may have more difficulty than others tolerating monotony and are more susceptible to academic failure, poor work performance, and feelings of isolation. Although some people often eat less when faced with major life events, it is easy to turn to mindless eating when you are simply bored. Nonetheless, boredom eating can be equally damaging to your health and learning to recognize its triggers important for you well-being. Since attention span is closely linked to being bored, it is important to pay closer attention to your task at hand.

Contact Metabolic Research Center to give yourself a new kind of power - the power to do things right, the power to move your life forward, the power to say no more to boredom eating and YES to a healthier you.