Stay Busy To Avoid Boredom Snacking

I know for many of you the new year brings about the resolution to lose weight. This is the day that you can start creating a better you! So in that regard here is an easy fitness tip I use daily and especially nightly: STAY BUSY. Keep your mind busy and your body busy doing something. Have you ever noticed that people gravitate toward the kitchen when they’re bored? It’s easy to do, especially on a winter weekend when the sun disappears at 5pm.

To combat this bad habit is really pretty easy. For me I like to play guitar, workout, play with my kids, go for a walk, read, build web applications, and the list goes on. Many times I’ll find that thing that I’ve been putting off and get it done in this time.

For purposes of illustration, let’s say that in an average week you might “boredom snack” 3 times a week. Let’s say that each of those instances you would consume 300 extra calories, which is extremely conservative for most go to comfort/boredom foods. That’s an extra 900 calories per week! We know that there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat, so you can see where I’m going with this. It doesn’t take very many weeks boredom snacking to add a few pounds.

We can also take a look at it from the much more positive side, the side of if you cut out the boredom snacking. Keeping those same numbers, in a year you would have cut out a massive 46,800 calories from your diet. That’s over 13 pounds!

In short, small consistent changes add up to huge results. I would also keep in mind that I think snacking in between meals is a great thing to do, it keeps your metabolism burning and can control your urges to binge at the next meal. The trick is to set yourself up for success. Keep your snacks healthy! Some of my in-between-meal go to snacks are old fashioned oatmeal, fresh raw fruit, all types of vegetables, and plain non-fat greek yogurt. Oh, don’t forget that chewing gum is your best friend too! Veggies should be a consistent staple at any meal and as your snack because they are fibrous and keep you full much longer. Nevermind they’re packed with nutritious value of all sorts.

What do you do to stay busy? Leave your comments and ideas below!