3d ago

How do you handle overeating caused by boredom and innatentiveness?

I figured my overeating might be caused by my undiagnosed inattentive ADHD I have been suspecting to have it.

Like with other habits I try to make any plan or strategy falls apart in max few weeks. But I need a long term solution. However I have never thought about it as caused by ADHD. But When I think about it, I overeat only when I am bored.

During meals I eat normal portions. But when I am bored I will be eating small chunks of food every time I visit fridge. I do not stop that because of my inattentiveness I do not even know I ate a lot. While watching a movie I get bored - even if it is interesting and I am very invested in it. I get some snack and I will eat a whole bag not even knowing when that happened. This happens even if snack was some special offer that tasted bad.

Few examples I get bored and overeating:

watching a movie - somehow movie is not enough stimuli for me
after I eat my meal and I wait for others to finish (I eat exactly as twice as fast as my wife)
when I am visiting someone and there is a food in front of me (conversation somehow is also not enough stimuli)
random parts of the day - usually if I have to wait.

No standard recommender diet practices worked in the long run (portion control, mindful eating, intermittent fasting, healthy eating, building a healthy lifestyle/routine...) Especially those based on building routine failed the most.

Do you have similar issues? Do you have a strategy that works in the long run? Have you successfully substituted eating for other stimuli?

42 comments

I managed to wire myself with a trigger to answer my inner dialogue of "I can't ..." with "Well what CAN you do?"
In case of the escalating snacking, I realised that I can't just switch them out with something healthy. But I CAN make a plate of raw carrots, apple slices, cucumbers etc. and set it up at my desk. Surprisingly, that was already one big leap forward. Even my sloth mind - especially my sloth mind - would rather chew on a carrot right now than get a chocolate bar from the kitchen. Beat it with its own weapons.
Ready to eat quick food that is relatively healthy. Bananas, carrots, celery, rice cakes, chewing gum, water. Short circuit the junk snacks with fruits and veggies that are more easily accessed or at least as easy. I also had premade meals delivered. Make it to where it's a hassle to get access to unhealthy food. Hard to go through the trouble to get the junk food when the healthy stuff is readily available.
Pre-measure your snacks into a reasonable portion size. Go ahead and refill the container if you want more. It gets tedious pretty quickly which stops you from eating, and helps you realize just how much you’ve had so the disgust kicks in and you realize what you’re doing to yourself.
i have only just now considered that my adhd could be contributing to my binge/restrict eating disorder...wow
that aside, it has been a long time since ive had an binge episode and my greatest tips are:
HYDRATION!!!! -- NOT JUST DRINKING WATER, EAT IT TOO! i find it hard to chug a lot of watwr in a day, so i make sure to eat veggies and fruits and other drinks that have a lot of water in them, wet food satiates in ways dry foods cant
change the order in which you eat certain foods...if you can, during meals, eat greens and veggies first then short chain sugary stuff like fruit, and carbs, then long chain protein...you might find it slows down your eating and fills you up quicker, as well as its main bonus: improving digestion and regulating fat storage
during movies or sitting to wait, busy your hands with something like folding laundry, knitting, a fidget tool, SUDOKU, clip your nails, etc. get creative, planning ahead of time what you might fill your attention with besides a snack
but to be real, the best thing that has helped me from overeating is not to shame myself when it happens, to be kind with my habits and behaviors, not become dogmatic about rules or shoulds/shouldnts and let myself go toward what im allured to more often than not
sometimes our inattentiveness is due to shame and not actual boredom, we are ashamed to be still, to relax, and be content, so sit with your feelings and see if that is true at all for you, then you might be able to implement some things that would communicate to yourself that relaxing is okay in this situation, like soaking your feet while you watch tv, get a handheld massager to use on your legs and arms and body or one of those ones you can set on your seat and back to massage you while you watch, or any other relaxing thing you can think of...
hope this helps someone ♡
- ❤️
looks down
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badly?
Grab a no or low calorie drink to sip on instead. Water, flavored water, or something carbonated. Plan snacks like carrots or celery, pickles, or seeds or nuts or grapes etc. And yeah, gum, mints, suckers or cigarettes.
Try telling yourself things you can have instead of things you can’t. Then keep those things in arms reach. And try to always start with water. I even drink water with a splash of vinegar and salt bc the salt sparks your dopamine. But of course be wary of overindulging in salt.
As for meals have something that signals the end of the meal for you. Some people wait to drink until they’re done eating. Smokers light a cigarette. Maybe a hard candy or gum so you know you’ve completed the meal at least for you?
Intermittent fasting, 16 hours of fasting, 8 hours eating period. It simplifies the problem to "am I allowed to eat right now or not".
- This works for me too. I lost a bunch of weight too because I just wasn't eating when it wasn't mealtime.
- When you put it that way, it makes so much sense.
Through the almighty power of amphetamines I no longer require quaint human things like food. Also does anyone know why I feel dizy and shakey?
Joking aside, before I was medicated the only things I found that worked to prevent snacking were strict keto or strict intermittent fasting. The keto worked much better but it's miserable and hard to keep up for the first few weeks before your body kicks into ketosis. Once I was in ketosis though it was a breeze.
Outside of those something that helped was just keeping healthy snacks around. I'd still snack all the time but I would just wind up eating a ton of of grapes or dried fruit instead of a whole bag of chips. I still have several bags of dried fruits in my cubbord and a bag in my van.
I drink alcohol instead.
I am not a good role model.
- Hey hey, that's what I do too
  
  +1, but I also do farm work so I don't get fat.
  And I'm too AD to worry about the long term health effects.
Overeating has been my thing. I've done two main things. First, exercise. Exercise has been so helpful. I like to exercise in twenty minutes bouts and so do two session. I've known this about myself for a while and couldn't do it. Two things helped. First, doing something at home. And second, taking creatine. Exercise has been difficult because of not having enough energy and creatine has been helpful at a low dose.
The other things that have helped is taking a digestive with my meal. I always felt tired after a meal, but the supplement helped. Finally, ending the day with psyllium. It just topped me off so I wouldn't eat at night.
So far it's been good. Let's see how the next few weeks go.
by being poor and not able to afford a lot of food
Get some multigrain snack (like a bun not chips) or an apple. You eat less after.
A low-sugar (Monster, Nightwatch) energy drink can be a temorary substitute. Zero-sugar just get me more munchies(?) long-term.
What i noticed:
less pasta/potato in my diet: less appetite for snacks
two meals over the day is better than 3, as long as they are not too far apart, or else you can't trick your wish for a snack with "i'll cook in a hour anyway".
Somebody once recommended pumpkin seeds as a snack to me. Not because they are especially healthy or something like that, but because they are really annoying to peel. Yes, I could eat them unpeeled, but the entire point of the idea is to make the snacking just a bit less rewarding. I tried it. Worked for maybe a week or so before I stopped. But it had a much more interesting long term effect: it got me used to unsalted nuts as viable snacks. Of course I immediately fell back into my old habits after the pumpkin seed experiment, but from then on I made sure to always buy a pack or two of unsalted nuts or seeds or dried fruits together with my other snacks. And at some point I managed to figure out the one rule that worked for me, and had the biggest impact long term: only buy new snacks once I've fully run out of old ones. And maan, that bag of wallnuts/peanuts/pumpkin seeds/dried apples could last for a long time. In turn I also started snacking on stuff that I didn't really consider a snack before. Like, I'm bored, and the only snack in my cupboard is a bag of wall nuts - so I'd make myself a cucumber salad instead (which is just cucumber and soy sauce. Maybe some olive oil if I'm feeling fancy) . I didn't really stop snacking. And the amount I am eating hasn't really gone down either. But what I'm eating has become a lot less fatty and sugary in general. It took me about five years of very slowly changing the ratio of sweet snacks to healthy snacks, and by now I basically never have more than one single pack of cookies, chips or chocolate at home (which is gone within a day, but it'll take about a week before I buy another one). At social events I find myself constantly eating whatever is on the table. But all in all, my weight is very slowly, but consistently, going down, and I am feeling better about myself in general.
Tldr: buy a bag of unpeeled pumpkin seeds, and force yourself to peel each one of them before eating it. See where the journey takes you.
- You may find that certain nuts or seeds have an effect on your bowels. Shelled sunflower seeds absolutely destroy me for like 24 hours.
A couple of people mentioned sparkling water, and I want to join the train.
I got an off-brand sodastream. That and some Aarke flavor drops (https://aarke.us/collections/flavor-drops), and I have an infinite supply of la croix-esq bubble water.
I keep 2 bottles of (fridge-filtered) tap water in the fridge at all times and when I get the "I'm bored and don't know what else I want" pangs, I go there first.
I also generally try drinking more water, especially at the start of a meal, to push back against the tendency to over eat.
Finally there's the "just buy healthier snacks" but I struggle with that one the most
The only thing that solved that for me was finally getting medicated. A lot of adhd meds curb appetite. So that plus the extra executive function makes it a lot easier
Don’t shop hungry and make sure you only have healthy food in the house. Celery and hummus work for me.
Stock healthy food. Almonds, carrots, apples, bananas, grapes, plums/peaches/nectarines etc
Being short of money pretty much covers it for me. Yeah sure I could whip up some sustenance but I'm not "that" hungry. Where if there was a dirty nachos pile with hot dog pieces I could make appear from the local 7-11 for 2 bucks .. .HELL yes.
The most useful thing has been grocery shopping. If you don't have calorie dense foods at hand then you won't eat them. Sure you can mindlessly eat an apple or two, but you will probably be full by that point. Also 2 apples is way less calories than any junk food.
Want stimulus when watching a movie, sit down with a big bowl of broccoli. Even if you eat all of it, that's like 100 calories.
- Carrot sticks and hummus are my go-to for this situation. It might not be the lowest calorie option, but still healthy without at all feeling like I'm torturing myself in the process.
  Like so many things, there are degrees. Yes you can sit down with a big bowl of celery, but making yourself miserable isn't going to help you keep up the good habits.
  
  Well the problem seems to be eating without actually experiencing the act. So either that keeps going and they don't care or they start paying attention to what they are doing. It's a win either way.
Same. I have to put snack foods in a bowl, I can't eat them out of the bag or I'll eat them all.
I've noticed sometimes I run to snacks when I haven't actually drank anything all day.
I notice that if I eat a couple of pieces of fruit, I'm less likely to go overboard with other snacks, or even feel like snacking a lot. I have no idea what that's about. Do I then snack on fruit at least once a day? That sounds like the smart option, but no. I try. But I've also gotta be in the right mood for a food, and I get a bit sensory about fruit sometimes. It also has to be zero effort, sometimes I don't even have the energy to get into the fruit. Sometimes food has to be hand to mouth, no other effort or I won't eat, but I will walk to the fridge and open it a thousand times, hoping it's refreshed and stocked differently since last time. Which is more effort than just bloody cutting up or cooking the food! I think that's when I've left it too long to eat and gone into deficit of energy.
I started making a banana bread with blueberries on top and adding a couple of different fibre and protein powders. And then I cut it into little squares and I can eat it cold from the fridge or warm it up, it's zero effort all week, after making it.... Which I rarely do because effort.
I'll get there. Gotta keep plugging at it.
I make up for it on those days where I ate 3 grapes all day because I couldn't be bothered with cooking or even going somewhere.
It took a couple of months, but I had to get into the habit of writing down everything I ate. So each meal, each snack, etc. The first month was the hardest, but after that month I was solid on meals and working on snacks, and then around the end of the second month I was making decisions to not eat so I wouldn't need to write it down.
Sadly I lost the habit during covid because it felt successful enough that it trailed off. Put the weight right back on and I'm trying to get back to it again, but damn it's hard!
I fast. I do 24* hour fasts 5 days a week (only eat dinner), a 36 hour fast (I don't eat on Thursdays). Friday I eat twice, breakfast and dinner.
Works for me, but most people say there is no way they could do it.
Vyvanse is also used to treat binge eating disorder. However once it's past dinner and it's ineffective, all bets are off.
I tried exercise, but I end up running at 10PM, coming home, and eating even more. A year later you're the same weight and your knees hurt.
I found it's worse when I'm cold, so turn the heater up, I guess?
Try doing something with your hands. Instead of watching movies, play a video game.
Amphetamines and cigarettes
- Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
I don't know if it would work for anyone else, but chewing gum keeps me occupied when inattentive and watching something, or any activity where I'd be snacking without noticing.
Other comments mention many other options. But sometimes, none of the tricks work, and that's usually due to a stressed+bored combo.
- If there were a chewing gum with the flavour and texture of fresh kettle chips, I'd be all over that
I don't think snacking and overeating have to go hand in hand. You can snack without overeating - if you know you're a big snacker, try having smaller portions at meal time to compensate for it.
Replace snacking with drinking water or chewing on ice cubes. It's the same stimuli, and it's healthy.
Celery sticks/carrot sticks are good, healthy and give you something to bite into that isn't ice. 1 carrot gives you probably 20 carrot sticks, which would probably get you through a movie. And I wouldn't be concerned about 1 carrots worth of extra calories a day.
Or a charcuterie board, not as healthy as above but at least it's not full of sugar. Having some crackers with hummus, and some cornichons is a relatively healthy snack, maybe some cherry tomatoes and prosciutto, and a little bit of cheese to go with it although that's getting into meal territory - but I found that if I'm having a charcuterie board for dinner, you can drag it out, eat it over a couple hours, slowing down your intake and satisfying your craving for snacking without it being in addition to a meal - it is the meal.
- I don't think snacking and overeating have to go hand in hand. You can snack without overeating - if you know you're a big snacker, try having smaller portions at meal time to compensate for it.
  Replace snacking with drinking water or chewing on ice cubes. It's the same stimuli, and it's healthy.
  Celery sticks/carrot sticks are good, healthy and give you something to bite into that isn't ice. 1 carrot gives you probably 20 carrot sticks, which would probably get you through a movie. And I wouldn't be concerned about 1 carrots worth of extra calories a day.
  Or a charcuterie board, not as healthy as above but at least it's not full of sugar. Having some crackers with hummus, and some cornichons is a relatively healthy snack, maybe some cherry tomatoes and prosciutto, and a little bit of cheese to go with it although that's getting into meal territory - but I found that if I'm having a charcuterie board for dinner, you can drag it out, eat it over a couple hours, slowing down your intake and satisfying your craving for snacking without it being in addition to a meal - it is the meal.
  Lastly, if you only snack when you're bored, don't get bored (lol easier said than done). I find that I love a project and when I'm working on a project time flies and I haven't eaten anything because I've been busy.
Embrace being on your phone while watching a movie. (If you’re not at a theater)
Movies aren’t enough stimuli for me either. So I just scroll a bit during boring parts.
Don’t buy snacks and leave them in the house unless they’re healthy. Some nuts. Baby carrots. Fruit.
Find fun sparkling water drinks to sip
Gum helps keep me from snacking between meals.
Have you tried being more stimulated?
Try building something. I'm putting together a bike right now, in between office work and dad duties. My fitbit is screaming about my cardio load and I forget to eat.
I relate a lot with the second thing. Happens mostly when I speak or because I see the other people eating and I feel I need to eat faster to be able to intersct with them.
Not speaking, eating alone, listening to music/news, help.
The being shown food is a difficult thing though. Taking water sometimes removed my hunger in those cases (as most times is just that).

42 comments