Filling the time

So, turns out I apparently spent a fair amount of time eating. Or thinking about eating. Or planning my eating (e.g., what take out should I pick up tonight on the way home from the office). I was aware pre-surgery that sitting down at the end of the work day in front of the TV was a real trigger for me to eat...mindlessly. I would eat like a "normal" person all day, but in the evening I was different. I truly enjoyed laying out my food and watching some TV, then perhaps going back to the pantry the next hour for a carb-y snack.

Part of the reason I had the surgery was to use the short window I have to instill better habits. Over 20 years of using food for comfort was something I couldn't overcome on my own. I've done a lot of emotional healing work in the past several years to learn how to deal with my feelings, cope with stress, etc. But the habitual use of food was stronger than me on my own. So, now that I've got this window, I'm trying to make new habits, so that when the time comes that I can eat what I want (though perhaps in smaller portions), I use my new habits to leverage food for its nutritional value. Not because I'm bored (or pissed. or stressed. or whatever).

Today I made a list of fifteen things that I can do when I'm bored. In no particular order

1. Work on the blog (which is what I chose to do tonight!)
2. Paint (I took up oil painting out of nowhere last year)
3. Walk the dog
4. Play the piano
5. Schedule a meetup (I run a meetup.com group on the east coast for people who have had WLS)
6. Go to the gym
7. Read
8. Work on Positive Psychology Certificate (doing this through Kripalu in Massachusetts...really cool place)
9. Email friends and family
10. Journal
11. Organize photos (I take a LOT!)
12. Call a friend
13. Write down three things you're grateful for
14. Meditate
15. Stretch

It's been officially pinned on the fridge! Later, gastricsleeve4me