One of the positive aspects of working is that a dieter is busy and occupied and, in theory, doesn’t have time to overeat. The office candy dish or lunch out with associates may be tempting. But generally when hard at work, it’s a little easier to diet.
Being at home during the day can be a bit more challenging. However, unless the day is spent eating candy bars in front of the television, it’s probably not as tough as the Dreaded Night Time Eating.
The more challenging diet times are often during down times. Weeknight evenings in front of the television; weekends with no firm commitments. There are also those unique at home times when a dieter is unable to get out because of inclement weather or even recovering from an illness (but feeling well enough to forage the kitchen for food).
How does one stick to a diet when a long evening lies ahead and the only way to offset potential boredom is to eat a dish (or two) of ice cream or dig in the cabinets for a bag of cookies?
Here are a few suggestions on dieting while bored at home
- Obvious solution #1: Keep the house clean of junk food. Definitely easier said than done if there is a family to feed and that family expects chips and cookies and so on. If you MUST have junk food in the house (really!), be sure to have a substantial supply of healthy foods.
- Drink, drink, and drink. Always have a cup of coffee or tea, and especially water close at hand. And, of course, all diets push the importance of drinking lots of water. Avoid sodas, even low calorie.
- Have healthy between meal diet foods in the house. A lot of diets recommend having fruit available. And that works, although – sadly – having an orange does not really stave off the hungry horrors the way something with a bit of protein will do.
- Mentally close down the kitchen by 7:30 at night. Make it off limits to avoid mindless grazing
- Make your home life as busy as your work life. Always have a “To Do” list. That list may range from housework to building something to staying connected (writing or calling) friends to reading a book or doing a project. Anything a dieter can do that keeps the mind and hands busy beats sitting like a statue in front of a TV (with a bowl of peanuts).
Some Suggestions for Getting Busy Out of The House
- Get out. Go to meetings, seminars, lectures, and classes. Improve your mind or make a contribution versus vegetating at home
- Go out! Short of a blizzard, hurricane or other nasty act of Nature, go to the gym or walk a mall or large grocery store (big box stores are great for racking up steps on a pedometer).
- If you have home workout equipment, use it. Or move around the house; go up and down the stairs a few times. Move!
The most important advice of all. Draw on willpower. That’s what dieting is all about: Having the inner strength to resist temptations. No matter what the dieting challenge (the work candy dish or a long night at home) it’s all about making choices.
It’s the balance between being committed to a diet and pretending to diet. Dieters can try every diet program out there, but they are all useless unless they get their heads – and acts – together.