Tuesday, May 31, 2005

 

Idle Hands Remedy

I can't sit still. Really. I know ex-smokers who trade handling cigarettes for handling snacks. If you put a bowl of snack food nearby me, it's likely I would nibble my way through it. Part of this is an eating disorder. An active lifestyle is ideal, but that may not be realistic (really: it's November and your two year old has a cold-- you're home). Basal calorie burn is approximately 9 kCal/lb/day (200 lbs means you burn 1800 calories by being alive). If you do nothing, you're running at that basal burn-- that's what you're using when you're sitting there watching TV. Add in a bag of chips and you have a problem. Here are some ideas for the idle hands issue. Here's some thoughts on what to do with idle hands:

Crafting: If you have your hands covered in glue and glitter, you're not fit to handle bigs'n'bites. My personal favorite is sculpting. I noticed that when I am deep into a project, I don't even think about food.

Keyboarding: Why not? Yes, a senditentary passtime is a killer and surfing the web probably keeps your calorie burn rate close to a coma. But, it will keep your fingers busy.

Knitting: It's active, it keeps your hands busy and Russell Crowe does it.

Busy Balls: Replace the snack bowl for one of those cornstarch filled rubber balls. It will keep your hands busy if all else fails.

Comments:
here are a few more options:

1. don't keep junk food in the house - you can't eat it if it's not there :)

2. exercise at home (yoga, pushups, situps, leg raises, etc) homebound with a toddler doesn't mean you can't be active.

3. sculpting is a good distraction but I'm sure there are other, less sedentary, things you can do...even house-cleaning burns calories.

4. Rain or shine, go for walks every day. Long walks.

:)
 
I have to say keyboarding does not stop me from snacking... it is almost as bad as television.

Knitting on the other hand, that will even stop me from drinking coffee, which is truly amazing.
 
Russel Crowe knits?!?! Get outta here! Actually, I found knitting quite integral to my quit smoking campaign, and drinking water, too, so perhaps there's something in what you say.

I agree with Christopher on the point about not keeping junk food in the house. I shed 17 kg a few years ago (37.5lbs, apparently) and that was one of the strategies I used.
 
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