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Sunday Night Musings

Sunday Night Musings

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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13 Comments

  1. kalin

    I’ve realized now when josh isn’t here at dinner i totally eat out of boredom… Back in my single days I ate microwave popcorn just about every night because I liked having something to munch on.
    if you’ve got cable some of the exercise TV stuff on the on demand is great for the lazy unproductive moments in life-they have some short workouts (theres at least a dozen or so that are 15 minutes or less) and it gives you that little healthy something instead of finding a snack or whatever

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s a good idea. I totally should have done yoga instead. 😉

      I think boredom plays a big part in it. And having a partner with you keeps you from mindlessly eating. Not that that’s Michael’s job by any means, but when we’re together we stick to the same eating plans and eating times.

  2. Eleah

    I think boredom plays a huge role.
    I’ve noticed on days where I am at home studying instead of running around on campus or doing errands, I eat so much more, because the food is all right there in front of my face.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Yep–out of sight out of mind! I rarely eat candy at home because it’s not there. But at work? That’s another story!

  3. jane Cartelli

    Every tool I use each day works to guard against a binge. Accounting for my food, writing it down, refraining from the addictive foods.

    Changing my eating behaviors has been one of the keys that keeps the binge monster out of my life. I do not eat things that are hand-mouth-hand-mouth-and-repeat. I do not ALWAYS have X with Y and Z. I do not reward myself with food.

    Perhaps most importantly, I had to learn to live with myself without food and without substitutions for eating. I had to learn how to be alone and relatively inactive and still be at peace – so if the day comes when I am ever forced to be inactive or alone, I can cope without the release of a binge – and the insanity that precedes and follows it. I hope this is in anyway helpful.

    Jane~
    Keepingthepoundsoff.com

    1. Lisa Eirene

      “I had to learn how to be alone and relatively inactive and still be at peace” <—That is such a good comment. I agree!

      And the "I always have X with Z" is a trap I've fallen into….the "I always have a big glass of milk with my chocolate." etc etc

      1. jane Cartelli

        I love that you called it a ‘trap.’ That is exactly the term to describe an action that is not hurtful by itself but when it becomes a habit or develops into giving us a feeling of entitlement it can trap us.

        Jane~
        Keepingthepoundsoff.com

  4. Jennifer

    Boredom plays a huge role for me too…but I honestly don’t think I should be bored. I always have stuff to do! I can play a computer game while watching TV so my hands are busy. I can read a good book. I could take up knitting or something while I watch TV. As you can see…it’s the loafing around that is dangerous for me. If I’m out and about or doing housework, I’m not thinking about food as much. But if I’m just lazing around, which we all need to do sometimes, I think about food more. I think if I could keep myself busy while allowing myself to laze around, if that makes sense, I wouldn’t turn to food out of boredom. Hmm…which hobby to take up??

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I used to do scrapbooking while I watched TV. That definitely kept my hands and mind occupied!

  5. Lori

    Did my Chipotle lunch the other day get you craving?

    I used to eat a big burrito all by myself back in the day. When I get the salad, I leave off the beans and rice and even with cheese and sour cream it is only about 500 calories max – pretty good for a ride day!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      YES!!! I didn’t want to call you out Lori, but it looks so damn good. 😉

      I’m not too worried though, I didn’t go over my calories for the day by eating at Chipotle. I just think I could have made better choices…I wish I’d gotten the salad instead of the rice too.

  6. Sara

    I attribute a lot of my eating/weight issues due to boredom. I don’t like being alone very much despite being an only child. I like “alone time” and I need it – but I love having people to interact with or just be around. When I’m in limbo with plans I tend to struggle the most with snacking. On days when I’m not bored I hardly think about food and eat moderately. It’s weird. I wish I could only be so mentally stimulated every day. The ironic part is if I was super busy every single day then I’d get really stressed out and eat because of that. It’s such a catch 22! So instead of wishing my life were different, I make it exciting after work hours in moderation and am constantly working on how to eat in moderation, too.
    I’m no expert at any of it, but I am loving that I have maybe 1 or 2 nights a week when I truly feel bored and the rest are spent doing things I like or with friends or running errands (that’s not fun but it keeps me from being bored). This prevents me from going too nutty with eating.
    I do have a fear of what I’d do if I ever got seriously injured and couldn’t do the active things I love now…but I realized I don’t have to worry about that because for every person’s situation there is a way to still be active. I just would have to take time to think outside of the box.
    I know our irrational thoughts is just the fear of returning back to our old habits and who we used to be but we can be confident that regardless to what happens to us – after learning how to be healthy for so many years, all we know about nutrition, about exercise, how to live healthy – there is no reason we’d ever actually go back to how we used to be! …did I just go off on a tangent?? sorry if I did.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      When I got injured last year I worried about my eating habits as well. Staying active and working out allows me to splurge more than I normally would and not see the number on the scale move. But if I’m injured and can’t exercise??? I’d have to be really serious about my food choices.

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