How to Overcome Boredom After Quitting Drinking?

When your body is physically hungry and in need of calories for energy, you may notice signs like your stomach growling, a headache, and feelings of weakness or fatigue. To avoid overeating and letting boredom get the best of your appetite in those moments, portion your snacks onto a plate or serving dish rather than eating them directly https://ecosoberhouse.com/ from the bag or container. There are many reasons why you might be eating when you’re bored. Stress also raises ghrelin, the «hunger hormone,» which stimulates appetite too. Food is comforting and pleasurable—especially refined carbohydrates like pasta, bread and desserts (and we tend to crave those carbs when we’re stressed).

Watching TV is scientifically linked to increased snacking regardless of hunger (1). Take away the opportunity to snack by turning off the television and get moving. Some studies have found that people tend to eat more than they otherwise would when they’re distracted or in front of a screen, such as a TV or computer (35, 36, 37). Much of what you eat is influenced by your environment, and the same goes for when and how much you eat. The most important thing is to stop and ask yourself, «Why am I eating right now?» and then decide the best course of action depending on that answer. As a psychologist who primarily serves older adults, I have helped many people through the transition into retirement.

Understanding the Link Between Boredom and Drinking

That’s why it’s important to try and change your environment in the early days as much as possible. The association between drinking and having a good time has been perpetuated and promoted for years by companies marketing beer, wine, and spirits. Given the ubiquitous nature of alcohol advertising, you might look forward to having that drink as soon as you walk through the door at home or meet your pals at a bar. You feel more relaxed after that drink and look forward to the reward. Pretty soon, the anticipation starts to happen more frequently. This kind of patterned behavior can lead you down a path toward alcohol addiction.

What we do—the behaviors we choose to engage in—heavily affect how we feel about ourselves. What this means is that we have personal control and responsibility for reducing boredom in our lives. That’s worrying because self-medicating feelings of boredom with alcohol can invite health problems. Drinking substitutes alcohol for other forms of stimulation that are better for health and fitness, and, in some cases, it can escalate into alcoholism and require professional detox and treatment.

Seeking Professional Help for Boredom Drinking

As we’ve developed as a species, it’s a privilege to have the leisure time to make and eat food that brings us joy. But it can also be a curse, especially if you’re trying to lose weight drinking out of boredom or suffer from a diet related health condition. In the modern era, food in many parts of the world has become as much a source of entertainment as it is nourishment for survival.

It is natural to feel bored when you are sober because of the way your life has previously revolved around alcohol. The reasons people start drinking alcohol are very much not the same as the reasons they continue to drink alcohol. Yet, if boredom eating is affecting your mental or physical health with side effects like weight gain and anxiety, you may be looking for a way to stop. To prevent boredom eating from becoming habit, try to keep your days from becoming too tedious or repetitive.

Why Shouldn’t You Drink Out of Boredom?

Alcohol has been shown to artificially boost serotonin and dopamine in your brain, which are two of the main neurotransmitters responsible for mood regulation. What do you do when the temptation to drink sneaks in during those long stretches of nothing? Are there things that you can attempt to do to find exciting activities and still stay alcohol-free? In this blog post, we’ll explore some fun and simple ways to keep yourself occupied without having to rely on booze as entertainment.