Eating out of boredom

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Is anyone else prone to this? I'm sure it's not exclusively an aspie thing, but I find that I tend to eat when I'm bored, and I get bored a LOT.

Yes! I'm eating continuously when I'm at home and not sleeping. Eating is the easiest way to distract myself from boredom.

I am eating out of boredom right now - Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Cocoa Swirl. Eating out of boredom is how I get 8 hours of work to pass. Distraction is exactly what it is.

Yeah, I do this too. Pretzel sticks and beer are always nice to have around. Or anything, really, but I try to make sure it's not something totally bad for me, like pork rinds.

That's called 'comfort eating'.

No, that is a good way to get fat.

I'm already close to, or above, 190 lbs at 5 foot 5.

All this is caused by me eating out of boredom.

When I use to program or be researching something I would forget to eat for hours. But now a days not so much to do so I graze. So how do we stop that with an aspie mind?

I do eat out of boredom. I'm on a diet right now so I go to the pantry a lot only to come back with nothing because I've been eating the same cycle of foods for a long time now.

My diet generally consists of:

. Lemon tuna cans
. Chicken
. Baked beans
. Eggs
. Vegemite or peanut butter toast
. Weetbix
. Apples, bananas, strawberries
. Vegetables for dinner (usually potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, peas)

I can't afford a lot of red meat, so I tend to overload on other sources of protein, as I'm working out also.

When I was in college, I would buy unhealthy snacks from the vending machines partly for the Sugar Bump to get through my dull classwork. Or on the way to class, I would get a tall Cappuccino with an Espresso shot.

Strangely, sometimes I'll have days where I barely eat anything, mostly because I'm too absorbed with doing something else, but also because when I'm feeling really depressed or anxious, I simply can't stand the thought of eating.

I eat when I'm bored and depressed. When I'm not depressed I'm engaged in my special interest.

I tend to eat more when I get really upset or am in a sad mood, whereas when I'm an anxiety filled mood or anxious mood I tend to not eat.

When I'm mildly sad/depressed, I eat a lot to cheer myself up.
When I'm badly depressed/anxious (like some years ago), I can't eat.

When I have something else to do, I can go without eating for a whole day.

When my stomach is full, I feel depressed.

I think it's understandable that people resort to easy and enjoyable "activities" (such as eating and sleeping) when they are bored/unhappy.

A lot of NTs do this as well. In fact, I've been on some weight loss forums and this tends to be a very common problem. You're not alone, and it seems to be a bad habit a lot of people have.

Simply put, you need to find hobbies. What they might be may include a solo sport (and as an aspie I really can only play solo sports), writing, etc.

I compulsively eat when I am bored or when I am moderately anxious. If I am engrossed in something I don't do it but of course most of my day isn't engrossing.

It's an unbelievably hard habit to break. Much harder than the smart-arse exercise freaks would have you believe.

I am very orally fixated (stop giggling at the back) and I still tend to bite and chew and put objects in my mouth. I wonder if this is linked to compulsive eating?

I also wonder if I was given a bad relationship with food from a very early age. My parents ran an off-licence and we lived over top of it. Therefore there was an almost unlimited supply of crisps and sweets available in the house. I was never discouraged from eating them, My father despised eating fruit and vegetables - red meat was what men should eat (it probably won;t surprise you to know he died of a heart attack).

I also wonder (and this is pure speculation on my part) if some people are just wired-up to get more pleasure out of eating so that;s what they do. Others are wired to get greater pleasure from exercise or exertion. I just don't get that do so I don't do it even though I know I should.

Despite all of the above I've got to lose some weight. New Year's Resolution and all that sort of thing. I'm going to try hard. Good luck to everyone else doing the same.