4 Signs You Are Bored Eating

4 Signs You Are Bored Eating

Bored eating is another kind of emotional eating that originates from not paying attention to hunger cues. When we eat out of boredom, we disconnect from our true hunger and fullness signals, which leads to us not knowing when to start and stop eating. Think about the last time you were bored eating, eating just out of enjoyment when you weren’t hungry, while you watched TV. How full did you feel after? Was it uncomfortable? Did you question how you mindlessly ate so much? Remember that eating just for pleasure is not bad, and it is actually normal, but it is important to be more aware of how our eating habits make us feel physically. Eating should not be our first strategy to experience pleasure and satisfaction.

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Here are 4 signs you are bored eating: 

1. Needing to have food when you are consuming media 

Needing a snack while consuming media is a sign that you are bored eating. Warming up a bag of popcorn just because you are about to watch a movie may be okay, but it is important to understand if you really want that popcorn. Again, a movie and popcorn is a common activity to do for enjoyment, so if you decide you aren’t hungry but still want to eat it that is fine. The goal is to ask yourself if you really want to eat popcorn right now while you watch the movie or if it is a force of habit that you need a snack while the movie plays. We want to be present when we eat because it will allow us to listen to our hunger and fullness signals and it will allow us to truly enjoy the food we are eating. 

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2. Wandering into the kitchen when you need something to do 

Wandering into the kitchen with no motives behind it is another sign that you are bored eating. When we bored eat, we aren’t thinking about what food we want or how much food we want. Bored eating occurs just as a way to pass time and get us through a lull in the day. Sometimes if we wander in the kitchen without any craving for anything we may end up mindlessly going through the shelves picking food and bored eating. This can be a harmful habit because you are not listening to your hunger signals on if you are hungry and if you really want to eat what’s in the pantry. Additionally, if you go through the pantry and start picking through a bunch of snacks you may start eating more than you intended too resulting in feelings of sickness or extreme fullness. 


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    3. Eating when you are full, but want something to do 

    Eating when you are full but need an activity to do is another sign you are bored eating. Simply put you are eating to mitigate feelings of loneliness and boredom. In this case, bored eating is a type of emotional eating, which if not noticed or looked into can result in a poor relationship with food. When going to food is our first reflex while bored, it can turn into a habit which can impact in poor mental health. Food brings temporary satisfaction, but other activities like hanging out with friends or family, going on a walk, finding a hobby are all ways to endure more long-term satisfaction. 

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    4. Eating to a point of being uncomfortable 

    Eating to the point of being uncomfortable is another sign that you are engaging in bored eating. Because the act of bored eating usually ignores hunger signals, if you find yourself eating when you aren’t hungry, then you may frequently find yourself eating until feeling sick. This can occur when we eat for pleasure but we don’t pay attention to what we are eating or how much we want to eat of it. When we do not pay attention to these things we can zone out and keep eating until the food is gone, and it almost feels like your body kept eating but you didn’t even realize it. It is important to note, that when you do engage in bored eating and feel sick afterward, that you should not blame yourself or feel guilty. You are not a ‘weak’ person, you just have fallen under a habit that you want to break. 

    In general, you want to avoid eating to the point of extreme fullness, and you also want to avoid waiting until you are famished to start eating. These extremes are not beneficial for our hormones or blood glucose levels. The hunger scale is outlined below. For best practice stay between a level 7 and a level 4 as much as possible. 

    10 - extremely stuffed, nauseous, feeling sick

    9 - stuffed, very uncomfortable

    8 - overfull, somewhat uncomfortable 

    7 - full 

    6 - satisfied, could eat more

    5 - neutral 

    4 - hungry stomach growling 

    3 - uncomfortably hungry, distracted

    2 - very hungry, low energy, weak, dizzy 

    1 - starving, no energy, very weak 

    Source: Berkley 


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