Eating when you’re bored, rather than when you’re really hungry, is a surefire way to gain weight. But you probably already knew that. After all, it’s very easy to munch on a lot more food than you planned on if all you’re doing is avoiding boredom.

So what can you do to eliminate, or at least reduce, the boredom of eating?

Recognize your triggers

There will be certain things that will bore you and then in turn make you eat to relieve the state of boredom.

It could be the time of day, it could be times when you are alone. The particular reason doesn’t matter, just the fact that most of the time it happens.

Whatever the trigger, write it down. Then decide if you can prevent it from happening altogether or if you just need to take steps to reduce its importance and cause him to gobble up a lot of (probably unhealthy) food.

Take a hunger test

Ask yourself whether or not you are hungry.

This may sound stupid, but remember that we are not dealing with a rational process here. Which means that since your habit of eating out of boredom is irrational, it is very likely that you will react positively to other irrational methods.

If the answer is no, stay away from temptations for a while. This will depend on where you are when you feel hungry due to boredom. Maybe you need to go out for a short walk. Maybe you need to do that revision or preparation work. Feel free to experiment to see what works best to take your mind off not feeling hungry but eating anyway.

get another hobby

Hobbies are great for taking your mind off other things.

Of course, the hobby should be one that doesn’t allow your mind to return to food too often.

An online game may not be the best idea, otherwise you risk surrounding yourself with empty soda cans and pizza boxes while becoming someone who must be permanently glued to their computer screen.

But a more “normal” hobby would work just fine and help you stay away from the fridge or that giant bag of chips or whatever else you find yourself in for your boredom binge sessions.

drink more water

The water is filling up. Try to drink at least one glass of water about 30 minutes before a meal as usual. And sip another glass when you feel boredom creeping up on you.

Don’t be tempted to drink a diet soda. They’re more trouble than they’re worth and trigger all sorts of reactions within our bodies that aren’t entirely in sync with the “good for you” theme of the ads. If you really want to freak out about diet drinks, read up on the side effects of aspartame and the other goodies that are commonly added to these drinks. But leave them at that stage: don’t let an artificially sweetened diet drink past your lips! Ever!