Tl;dr
Central Theme: The article discusses the concept of the "Boredom Plateau" in the context of healthy eating, explaining why boredom often leads to overeating and offering solutions to overcome this challenge.
Details:
Did you know that?
It's a recipe for disaster, especially since many people already find the concept of healthy eating dull. This often leads to a cycle where they attempt to create healthy meals, become bored with food, and subsequently lose their motivation to continue.
Boredom is a state of mind that can often lead to bored eating. Usually, that state of mind sounds something like this:
"I don’t want to cook anymore. I’m bored with food, especially asparagus AGAIN. I’m tired of chicken. Let’s go have a burger and a shake instead," is a common thought when you're bored and eating healthy seems like a chore, prompting the desire to stop boredom eating."
Sound familiar?
After a few episodes of such thinking, you might start to question your ability to maintain your new healthy habits due to bored eating. You find yourself stagnating, preferring to revert to your old, less healthy ways.
I refer to this point of stagnation as the “Boredom Plateau”. It’s the juncture where growth halts and food boredom threatens to derail healthy lifestyles.
That's why bored eating can be so dangerous if we don't quickly shift to a more productive mindset.
If boredom has been a barrier for you, it's crucial to break through that plateau once and for all. Embrace a healthy lifestyle that allows you to be both healthy and happy! Keep reading for insights on how to stop bored eating.
Conquering the habit of eating when you're bored is a two-step process. By consistently practicing these steps, you'll break free from the Boredom Plateau.
Eating out of boredom doesn't happen beyond your control; it's not a force that overpowers you. It's a habitual thought pattern you've nurtured over time, a strategy you've devised to remain idle when you're bored.
Don’t believe me? Let's try a thought experiment.
Reflect on someone from your childhood, perhaps a parent, who might have cited being bored as a reason to give up. This might be the origin of your tendency to eat when bored, as you possibly mimicked this behavior from them.
Often, this person may have hidden behind eating disorders as a defense against fear. They might embark on a diet, yet harbor the belief that it's an uphill battle. The fear of what it entails to stay healthy, or skepticism in their own perseverance, could result in an eating when bored disorder, abandoning their aspirations with the excuse, 'I'm not a healthy eater'.
Envision the potential if they had sought out ways to make healthy eating more appealing, steering clear of the dullness of boring healthy food. What if they had embraced the delight of healthy eating without slaving over the stove by experimenting with recipes like sesame broccoli stir fry, chicken and peanut saute, or baked chicken lasagna?
The problem was their ingrained belief that healthy eating was synonymous with 'no fun', and as they clung to this notion, they found themselves trapped in a cycle of boredom eating, reinforcing their own negative expectations.
The key to overcoming the urge to eat when bored lies in recognizing its roots. By dissecting its true nature, you can deconstruct it and experience a significant breakthrough.
These questions will help you uncover your boredom eating mechanism and see it for what it truly is—a distraction from something else.
The thing about boredom eating is that it’s inevitable in the process of growth. To make any change, we have to practice something new. We repeat that new habit over and over until it becomes natural and easy. Wax on, wax off. At some point, the repetition will feel mundane, and you might find yourself bored.
If you know this, all you need to remember is to pivot your thinking when you get bored and learn how to not eat when bored.
Pivoting is called "breaking patterns" or "pattern breaks" by psychologists. Breaking patterns is like scratching a CD or vinyl record. Each time you scratch it, the songs (old pattern in this case) become more difficult to replay.
Like anything, the more you practice, the easier it gets. If you practice fun instead of being bored, you can create a new pattern of thinking for yourself that will lead to eating healthy, and this will create a new result. Instead of giving up, you’ll try something new. Instead of stopping, you’ll create a whole new way of being- and this will give you the healthy lifestyle you dream of, encouraging you to eat healthy consistently.
If you’re feeling alone in this, I’ve been there too. Boredom and apathy used to stop me from learning and changing my eating habits, which is why it's crucial to stop boredom eating. That’s why my team created a Facebook Group to teach others how to eat, cook, and live healthy in a way that’s fun, easy, and delicious. If you’d like to be a part, joining us can be a step towards a healthy lifestyle and a way to stop eating when bored. Click here to join the group. I promise, you don’t have to have a boring life or eat like a rabbit to live healthy.
If you’re determined to start your healthy journey, our fitness coaches can help you out. Give us a call and we’ll be glad to be part of your journey
If you're wondering how to not get bored eating healthy, find yourself calling your diet "the boring diet," and telling yourself "eating health is boring" then try to reframe the situation by analysing your thinking, questioning the truth of it, and continuing to reframe everything.
The "Boredom Plateau" refers to the point where people lose motivation to continue their healthy eating habits due to the monotony of their diet. It's a stagnation point where growth stops and healthy lifestyles can potentially fail.
Breaking past the "Boredom Plateau" involves a two-step process:
Strategies to make healthy eating more enjoyable include:
If you're struggling with boredom, you can join a community like a Facebook Group where you can learn how to eat, cook, and live healthily in a fun, easy, and delicious way. You can also hire a fitness coach for personalized guidance and support.
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DO YOU WANT TO TALK MORE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS GOALS?
Enter your name and contact information below and a team member will reach out to you.
DO YOU WANT TO TALK MORE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS GOALS?
Enter your name and contact information below and a team member will reach out to you.
