How to avoid eating junk food when you're bored

Eating when you're bored can be very difficult to stop doing as it's a very easy habit to get into. For instance, you're sat on your sofa watching tv. You may feel strange without food in your hand, therefore resulting in you searching your cupboards for any junk food you can find. Then, sitting back down and continuing to grab more food until you're occupied with something else. Its an endless cycle and in order to improve fitness wise, it may be best to get rid of the habit. I often question myself whether I am actually hungry, craving food, thirsty or just bored and procrastinating. Please continue reading to find out more on how to stop eating out of boredom. If you aren't sure what junk food is classed as, please check out this blog post of mine:

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Distract yourself with something else

My summer bucket list

Often the key to stopping yourself from doing something can involve distraction. So if you're struggling to fight the urge to walk in your kitchen and rummage through the cupboards for anything you can devour, why not decide to do something else instead. For instance, I'm sure there are plenty of better things you could be doing rather than eating something unhealthy which you may regret later. If you know you usually eat when you're bored, make a list of some things you can do instead. For example, since its the summer holidays here in Britain, I made a list of things I need to do this summer. Some of them are big, some of them are small, but its something I can focus on when I'm tempted to eat when I'm bored and not hungry. Here is a small list of other tasks you could do rather than eating when you're bored:

1. ​Exercise: Obviously this one would be first, you could exercise when you are bored. However, once you've finished exercising it would probably be best to eat something in order to help you stop feeling fatigued and to improve your rate of muscle growth.
2. Practise a skill: Practise makes perfect and even if you don't necessarily have any hobbies, why not pick up a new one? You've got access to the internet and may be able to find something you're good at. Even if its something stupid and funny like learning how to twirl a drumstick or learning to be ambidextrous, give it a try and you'll find yourself distracted.
3. Write: There are some people in the world who cannot write and don't have any form of education. So if you are able to write, do so. One day when you're older, you may struggle to write and not be able to recall as quickly. So why not write to your future self, answer questions about yourself, write lists, stupid poems, random thoughts, anything.
4. Make a video: This is something I've been meaning to do for a while. No, I'm not talking about a YouTube channel, but simply making a video to your future self. It may be awful and cringeworthy, but when you look back at it, you'll smile and be glad you spent the time to think about things. If you don't like it, simply delete it or re start. Its definitely a task which may stop you from eating out of boredom.

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Drink water

I've found that when I'm eating food, it may not necessarily be because I was hungry. Often, you may be thirsty if you find yourself eating for the hell of it. Drinking water is the best thing you can drink when dehydrated and can also help you to stop feeling addicted to eating junk. Water has its benefits too! It can help your skin to improve and make you feel refreshed. I wrote a blog post all about drinking the correct fluids, so heres the link for that if you'd like to give it a read.

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Motivate yourself to know what's right

My fridge (yes, i'm running out of images, this is a low as I've reached)

This is something which may work for you, as it works for me. Basically, if you feel the urge to grab some unhealthy snack out of boredom, think about why you're doing so. Is it because you're hungry or bored? Be honest with yourself whether getting food is going to push you a step backwards during your fitness journey. If you've done this before, perhaps learn from the experience and think about whether you felt guilty after you ate the unnecessary food. It may be very tempting and easy to go into your kitchen and scran on whatever you can find, however if you want to make progress, you must resist and overcome the feeling of eating food when you're bored. Why is it that we eat food anyway? because we're hungry and in need of energy, not just because it's there or for an accessory.  By changing your mind set and realising that eating junk won't do anything but make you regret it later, you can avoid eating out of boredom. Checking your fridge for food won't help and may just make you feel frustrated and reminded of the food you shouldn't be eating.

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Remove the junk food

This is the main factor I changed which helped me stop eating food out of boredom. It can be a bit more difficult if you live in a home with many people, as you may not be able to remove all junk food from your house. However, if you can, throw or give away the junk food in your house. I recommend giving the food that is in good condition to a local food bank or homeless shelter. If you cannot do this, perhaps separate the junk food in your home from the healthy food and have specific place for it in your house. If you think you'll still be tempted, why not put a lock on the cupboard it's in? When I removed all the junk food from my house, I managed to buy healthier and more nutritious food, which really helped me to progress on my fitness journey. You could workout every day, but what you eat is the main part of being fit and healthy.  

Tell people not to buy you junk food

People buying you junk food could be seen as nice or appreciative, however if you're trying to improve fitness wise, you may need to tell these people​ to stop. Many times before, people have bought me junk food when I haven't wanted it but because it was in my house and I viewed it as a gift, I'd still eat it. Although its difficult to decline, food gifts from other people can often cause feelings of guilt if they are left uneaten. To make it simple, I'd straight up tell somebody that you're thankful for the thought, however that you are trying to take care of your body by eating healthy foods. Many people who used to buy junk food for me, now either buy me healthy food (which I appreciate greatly) or only buy me small portions to eat on my cheat day. If you do have a lot of self control and are able to resist the food gifts from others, maybe you can keep them until your cheat day. 

Thank you for reading this post, please note that when I am discussing topics on nutrition that I am no where near as experienced as a professional nutritionist. However, these posts are purely my opinions and experiences. In no way, shape or form am I trying to explain that not eating much food is good for you. It is good to eat a variety of food and important to eat portions of healthy food in order to gain muscle mass and lose fat mass.