Friday, January 16, 2009

Busy and Full or Hungry and Bored?

Have you ever noticed that busy days are often the days you hardly think of food while on boring days, thoughts of food seem to consume you as there is not much else to do? This is a common theme in my life.

Like many others, I have a job with long, stressful hours and we rarely have a slow season. Those days are filled with meetings, deadlines, and constant tasks nipping at the heels. Due to the logistics of those days, I am satiated from the combination of meals I have had to scarf down at my desk and the adrenaline my body produces going from one task to the other. I find that on those days, I will often ‘forget to eat’. Now this is coming from someone who can forget her car keys, her gym shoes, her wallet, her cell phone (and all necessary components), but almost NEVER forgets to eat! Food is often an afterthought and just pops in when I feel the hunger pangs.

The opposite happens on sluggish days when I am in between tasks or just enjoying a leisurely evening at home. My body starts messing with me and sending me boredom signals often in the form of hunger. Now I must explain that when I am in fact hungry, I find myself something to eat and enjoy it. The hunger I am talking about is what forms from a lack of things to do. When we turn on the TV, we get food commercials, magazines are filled with food, and an extra hour of reading blogs results in a plethora of food pictures that help us ‘work up an appetite’. Many of these things are usually hard to avoid, so it's best to arm ourselves with some activities. There are lots of tips that address boredom eating. What works for you?

However, today was definitely a busy day and here is what I had for my snack- a bunch of blurry strawberries (sorry!)
Gotta get ready to call it a day and have a great workout at the gym tonight!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am the exact same way. When I'm busy, I forget to eat. When I'm bored, all I do is eat. I've been trying to balance it all out and divide my tasks throughout the day. It's a work in progress. Have a great day!