Eating away the boredom

Wednesday:

I started the day well with an hour exercise on the Kinect, also practiced guitar and helped Jasmine with violin. I had a peach and a nectarine for breakfast. I sat down to do some editing but couldn't muster the mental energy. Healthy lunch.

In the afternoon I took the kids to an indoor playground that we went to last week. I sat for 2 1/2 hours and read. The one I am reading at the moment is big and slow and not very exciting. I was bored. I enjoyed a hot chocolate, which I had planned for, and later ordered nachos which I had not. I shared with the kids but it still wasn't very healthy. However, by eating a small dinner I have stayed under calories for the day so a big win there.

It was an especially good achievement because by the time we got home from the playground I was exhausted (yes, by just sitting reading -- maybe being bored is particularly fatiguing) and I really really didn't want to cook dinner. I was sorely tempted to order pizza and even looked at the home delivery menu. But I thought about how I really didn't want to eat more greasy food today and how I didn't want to have used up both of my diet-free days by Wednesday. I was strong and made a fresh tasty dinner.

Boredom is definitely an emotional eating trigger for me. Any of the sad introverted sort of emotions; lonely, depressed. I don't binge eat when I am happy or busy, and I don't think I do when I am angry. Mainly tired, bored & sad. And PMS.

The diet-free days are a bit tricky. I don't want to have a major binge and undo all my good work of the other days; but on the other hand if I just went over by 50 calories and had to call that a diet-free day I would feel ripped off, like I had wasted my chance. It's a balance.

Also, at the moment I am eating all the extra calories I earn through exercise. I would like to reduce that to maybe half. My calorie allowance is based on losing half a kilo a week, which is my goal, but I am only doing that five days a week. I need to burn a few extra to make up for my diet-free days to make sure I achieve my goal. That means not eating lots more on the days I exercise. Just a little bit more. Knowing I can eat a little bit extra when I exercise is one of my best motivations so I can't take it away entirely!