Comments on: Forgot to Eat

By: sadira

sadira — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:44:08 +0000

Oh…I’ve done that before, even though I usually look forward to every meal of the day and the snacks in between. It’s so strange when it happens, but I agree with you about boredom…I will certainly eat when bored…or when I read…ugh, eating can sneak in my life as bad habits…like when I get done with dinner I immediately crave something sweet. But, boredom is the absolute worst…keep busy, it’s good on every level…

By: flutter

flutter — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:52:27 +0000

I could use to forget a few times. Just sayin

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:50:38 +0000

Totally!!! If I have nothing else to do then being weird about my food soon fills my head with a lot to think about. Whenever I get more busy and fill my life with good things then the less likely I am to engage in behavours.

By: ciji

ciji — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:40:30 +0000

Hi, just found your site from BISJ. I want to start by commending you for blogging about this. It’s very helpful to me.

“Forgot to eat” for me IS utter shite. I’m just testing how long I can go in between meals. I try to only eat when I’m hungry, an unfortunately, I’m not hungry until about 3pm, even if I work out. I work from home, so the boredom=eating potential is very high, especially since I’m a night owl. I can’t seem to wrap my brain around the ‘eat every 3-4 hours’ ideal: when I did WW, I did this and lost weight, but dangit if I didn’t feel stuffed all the time. Whether this is normal or not I havent’ figured out yet. But I’m working on it.

Thanks again for this site.

By: Sheena

Sheena — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:37:35 +0000

Ever since I struggled with eating disorders and disordered eating, I have instituted such a structured time table to my eating that I don’t understand how someone could possibly forget about food. But I have a brother who is just that way. Although for a lot of people when they say they forget to eat on a regular basis, I think they just find what they have to do to be more important than eating and push food out of their mind. But my brother, who is a genius and borderline autistic, gets wrapped up in reading or on the computer, and will forget to eat for a day at a time.

As for me, my binges always come at night when I have nothing to do. I have tried leisure activities, such as knitting or reading, something to keep my hands busy. But then I get up to grab a small snack, and it turns into a whole kitchen of snacks. So I completely understand and agree that boredom is the root of all evil to a diet.

By: Alison

Alison — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:17:53 +0000

What a timely post - just last night I was studying for a final exam and ended up making shortbread and eating the majority of what I made because I was home, alone, without anything pressing to do. I like Steph’s comment of “unstructured time”. This definitely relates back to your developing a routine posts - routine is definitely an anxiety soother and will lead to a structured schedule where I won’t end up binging or forgetting to eat. Once I stop beating myself up for eating too much shortbread, I look forward to getting back on routine.
(and congrats on the writing gig!)

By: Danielle

Danielle — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:37:22 +0000

I’ve never had that “I forgot to eat” thing, either. The only time I even come close to that feeling is when I’ve remembered to bring good snacks & lunch to work and I’m eating a little protein or fruit or whatever every couple of hours…when I don’t feel that constant empty feeling in my stomach, I don’t focus on it as much and eating doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue on those days. When I’m crazy busy I especially don’t forget about eating, probably because I get stressed and that’s my trigger to eat.

And boredom…oh yes!! Boredom gives me time to think - about being alone, about how , about how one hip feels bigger than the other…I think you get the idea. And once I’m headed down that spiral, it’s very very difficult to get out of it. So for me, just doing something simple like vacuuming or laundry - something to focus on - helps snap me out of it. The main problem is that I can’t always get my butt up off the couch to actually DO something…still working on that whole motivation thing!!

By: Steph

Steph — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:55:08 +0000

When I read this, I had a little ah-ha moment, as this to definitely me. I am a teacher, with summers off - which translates to lots of unstructured time at home, alone. Looking back, I see the pattern of random, disordered eating most definitely occurs when I am bored and have easy, quick access to food. The worst is when the boredom turns to baking…ack.
But thanks for the great blog and post - it helped me think about my main trigger for my eating issues…and boredom is it. And as much s I loooove summer, there is a benefit for me in getting back to school and getting food off the brain.

By: Mark Salinas

Mark Salinas — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:08:06 +0000

Eat, eat , eat! Well that is my motto…just stay active! Nice site!

By: jodi

jodi — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:10:47 +0000

hi there, found your blog from stephanie and thought i would comment… i make fun of my b/f all the time for ‘forgetting to eat lunch’ because i can’t fathom what that’s like… my eating schedule has been SO regimented for years, it’s hard for me to stray very far off plan… i do, however, relate to the whole boredom thing - the busier i am, the less i eat but it’s not on purpose… i’m jut not eating because there’s nothing else to do, i’m just focusing on other things…

love the blog! :o)