Five Things to Do Instead of Eating

We eat to live- but that’s not always the only reason.  Many people, when trying to diet, find that they eat even when they’re not hungry- especially when they’re bored, tired, or sad.  This can add plenty of calories to your daily intake, and sometimes we do it without even knowing it!  Here are five things you can do when you feel the urge to reach for a snack, to give your mind an outlet other than eating.

1. Turn off the TV.  Television is something that dieters come to know as an enemy.  Watching television puts you in what is called “alpha state”- the brainwave state you reach when you “zone out”, like when you’re drifting off to sleep.  When you do things in alpha state, you’re not giving them your full concentration.  You may not even be paying the slightest attention.  Snacking while in alpha state can lead to a tremendous amount of calories being ingested without you even knowing it.  You may set out to only have a few chips, but if your mind is occupied watching a show, you probably aren’t counting the chips you’re eating.  It isn’t just junk food- say you munch on grapes, but don’t pay attention to how many you eat as the time passes.  Before you know it, the bag is empty!  And a bag of grapes- say 2 pounds- carries a whopping 600 calories.
2. Go for a walk.  A walk has double benefits.  It gets you moving and helps burn calories, and it also occupies your mind.  If you’re a person who gets hungry when they’re bored, a walk is capable of giving you the visual stimulation needed to set your brain on a different course.  If you’re an emotional eater, a walk not only boosts happy hormones in your body, which can make you feel better, but it also gives you time to think about things that might be bothering you.  And if you’re actually hungry, a walk will stimulate your appetite!
3. Dance to some music.  Turn on the radio, put on a CD, or bust out your iPod.  If you haven’t an iPod, proper CDs to dance to, or any good radio stations in your area, log on to a website like Pandora or last.fm and pick a genre station, like “Alternative Rock” or “Big Band”.  You’ll get to hear some music, and dancing- whether you’re alone or not- will make you giggle at yourself.
4. Make a calorie list.  When you’re fighting the urge to snack, sometimes the best deterrent is cold, hard facts.  An excellent online resource for calorie counting is CalorieKing, which provides calories for the average type of food, along with specific food brands and restaurant meals.  Make a list of the things you usually eat or that you constantly crave, and figure out how many calories and grams of fat are in each one.  Calorie research can often make you re-think those Dibs or Fritos you’ve been unable to get out of your mind for days.  A few foods that might surprise you: Starbucks low-fat blueberry apricot muffins, orange juice from concentrate, Costco chocolate muffins, homemade granola.
5. Read.  Reading has a tendency to absorb us- and help us forget about other things.  Not into books?  Try an amusing online alternative, such as satire newspaper The Onion, comic Pictures for Sad Children, or Perez Hilton’s gossipy website.  Google Books also has a wonderful selection of “full view” options that you can search for via their website.

I’m sure you can come up with plenty of other suggestions.  If you can’t decide, one good thing to do is make a list of things you like to do, such as crocheting or doing a crossword, and/or things you need to do, like calling your mother or doing the dishes, and write them all on small pieces of paper.  Place them in a jar and pull them out at random when you need an activity to distract you.  The idea is to get your brain on a different track, to occupy it so it won’t automatically point you toward the refrigerator.  It’s also a great way to try new things.  See if you have any friends who need help with this- you can do group activities together.