5 Ways to Overcome Boredom After You Stop Drinking

You’ll learn the exact steps I take with clients to achieve real health without feeling deprived and overwhelmed. Experts have also suggested that how well you regulate your emotions can influence boredom eating. Poor emotional regulation could potentially lead to an drinking out of boredom increase in eating when you’re feeling bored (22, 23). Research suggests that emotional eating often happens as a response to loneliness, boredom, or anxiety. Therefore, taking care of one’s mental health is an essential aspect of avoiding eating out of boredom.

These are all things you’re trying to overcome from drinking. Volunteering is a great way to reconnect with your community. Helping others actually boosts our own mental health and feelings of self-worth. Plus, it helps us with our emotional sobriety and wellness.

Make a meal plan

At times, you may have the strong urge to eat even if you’re not hungry. When you experience this, it is helpful to find a distraction. You must train your mind and body to find happiness elsewhere other than food. Break the monotonous rut you’re on by focusing on other things.

“Just like having a glass of wine after a stressful day is perfectly fine on occasion, but becomes problematic when relied too heavily upon.” Then there’s popping popcorn in your mouth while watching TV or eating snacks after dinner while scrolling on your phone. Mindless eating refers to eating without awareness of what you’re consuming or where you’re consuming it. Planning an activity at times when a person would usually eat through boredom, such as in the evening, may prove effective. In addition, interests that stimulate the brain may diminish a person’s cravings for excess food.

Short-Term Effects

If you want to get better control of your drinking, you need to think about what your future drink-free life will look like. Boredom is a key reason people give for drinking too much and drinking out of boredom like this can become almost a subconscious activity, something that you do whilst doing something else. At the end of the day, one of the most important tools you have at your disposal is self-compassion. Instead of criticizing yourself for having a hard time or slipping up and having a drink, remember that no one’s perfect. What matters most is your ability to maintain an open, curious outlook as you learn what does and doesn’t work for you. If you turn to alcohol to manage emotional distress, the added overwhelm can prompt the urge to drink, making success seem even more out of reach.

What’s more, knowing that you plan to eat a meal or snack in the next few hours could be motivation to hold back from eating until then. Try to spread out your calorie intake throughout a regular meal and snack schedule. This may keep you more full and less hungry than eating the same number of calories on a less regular meal schedule (5). So often, our lives are full of distraction, social interaction, entertainment, and things we consider fun. In the midst of these stimuli that keep us busy, engaged, and upbeat about our lives, it can be easy to assume that life of its own accord is here to entertain us. But I PROMISE you, if you keep moving forward, things in your brain will start to click.

Address emotional eating

Healthy snacks can help maintain energy levels and satiety throughout the day. However, snacks in excess can be unhealthy, and it can be difficult to break the habit. If you’re having trouble making this change alone, Sunlight Recovery offers programs like individual therapy, group therapy and medical detox to help you with drug and alcohol treatment. Often, being bored without alcohol seems intimidating because when there’s no task to put your mind to, you’re forced to notice the things that are making you unhappy.

• There’s no completely safe level of drinking, but sticking within these guidelines lowers your risk of harming your health.
• Take away the opportunity to snack by turning off the television and get moving.
• The problem is that overindulgence or even regular drinking is known to cause a number of health issues.
• Remember, how one adjusts to the circumstances of their life is more important than the circumstances themselves.
• So when you’re bored, drinking tea and water will keep your mouth and hand occupied.
• You may want some chocolate even though you aren’t feeling physically hungry, stressed or bored.

Try to stay focused on your end goal, and don’t be afraid to call your doctor if something doesn’t feel right. According to the NIAAA, alcohol pretty much affects you head to toe. Alcohol can make it hard to think clearly, cause strokes or high blood pressure, lead to cirrhosis and weaken your immune system. It may also mess with your sleep, and poor sleep hygiene can lead to further health concerns, like obesity and diabetes. Knowing all the negative effects alcohol has on your physical and mental health can make it easier to understand why you’re better off without it.

Reasons You’re Not Staying Sober (+ What To Do About It)

However, if you’re just craving something very specific, it could mean otherwise. Take time to pause and ask yourself if you are truly hungry. Sometimes, doing something as simple as this can stop you. You started boredom eating for a reason and therefore trying to stop boredom eating might be a fool’s errand. If you love enjoying a snack when you watch TV, just make sure it’s a healthy snack, something low in calories and high in micronutrients.

Stress eating, emotional eating, boredom eating—are these all the same? We explain the differences and share tips from dietitians on what to do if you find yourself snacking the day (or night!) away. Eating out of boredom can cause unintentional weight gain. Tips to change this habit include planning the diet, eating mindfully, and making changes to the environment in which a person eats their food. But if you keep arriving to moments of boredom feeling hungry and ravenous, eating when you’re bored is going to feel hard to resist. Ignoring the harmful effects of alcohol consumption and regularly indulging can have short-term and long-term effects on your health.

I’ve spent the last six years researching and understanding alcoholism, addiction, and how people get sober. By focusing on eating healthy, nourishing foods, you are actively working on reversing those symptoms. It is very common for people to replace alcohol with sugar in the beginning, which is detrimental not only to your https://ecosoberhouse.com/ waistline and physical health but your mental well-being as well. Getting outside and communing with nature is scientifically proven to reduce stress and improve mental health and cognitive function in both kids and adults. Exercise is critically important in early sobriety and for ongoing mental health and wellness.

Yet, no matter how much pain it causes to the individual or family, alcohol is one of the most difficult substances to remove. There is a strong relationship between boredom, stress, and drug or alcohol use. It’s therefore no surprise that during the pandemic, the rate of alcohol consumption increased among people that reported COVID-19 related stress.

Drink less

If too much of your eating is occurring outside of mealtime out of boredom, it may be time to reevaluate your relationship with food. Put tempting foods behind closed cabinets or up high where you aren’t as likely to see them. In contrast, store healthy foods in see-through containers. It may sound silly, but research finds keeping healthier food in plain sight and less-healthy treats out of sight can help you choose healthier options more frequently.