POPSUGAR UK

I Was Overeating After Dinner Until I Started Doing This 1 Simple Thing

28/05/2019 - 10:20 AM

I love being in the kitchen. I should — I mean, I'm always there. I love to bake and meal prep on Sundays [1]. I enjoy making the kids a nutritious breakfast every morning. I love perusing through my vegan cookbooks and creating healthy dinners. And I even love filling the fun little multicompartment containers [2] for my kids' school lunches for the next day.

Nourishing myself and my family through food is so important and special to me, but sometimes I feel like food is the one thing I think about the most. No wonder I find myself hanging out in the kitchen after dinner, standing in front of our snack cabinet or fridge, wanting to nosh even though I'm totally satisfied.

Eating after dinner became a very bad habit that has not only contributed to weight gain, but it made me become so uncomfortably full that I'd be incredibly bloated. I'd feel too blah to play with my kids and ended up not sleeping well.

Something had to change for me to stop overeating after dinner [3]. Now I make lunches for the kids while making dinner, so after finishing my meal, I won't be tempted to mindlessly nosh on grapes or spoonfuls of peanut butter. And then after dinner, I started doing this one thing after doing the dishes — I got myself the heck out of the kitchen. Here are the three ways that I got a change of scenery to get food out of sight and off my brain.

I Play the Banjo

Before kids, I bought a banjo so I could join my husband's bluegrass band. Over the past eight years, I've always said, "I don't have time to play." This was a great time to make time. After dinner was finished and the table cleared, I started picking up my banjo and playing on the couch, or, when it's nice outside, on the back deck.

Working on this hobby has not only distracted me from wanting to nibble after dinner, but it's a form of self-care, to tap into my musical side once again. Singing and playing has also helped my husband and I reconnect in sharing something we both love.

I Get Crafty

I minored in art in college, and painting, drawing, working with clay, doing beadwork, sewing, quilting, and knitting has always been a part of my life. If I don't feel like playing music, I get my creative juices flowing another way by bringing out the watercolor paints, practicing hand lettering with brush markers, or I turn on Art for Kids Hub on YouTube [5], and my kids and I practice our drawing skills.

This is another great way to get me out of the kitchen and turn my focus off food. Within five minutes, I'm so involved in creating art that noshing is far from my mind.

I Get Outside

When the weather is nice enough — and my desire to keep eating is strong — instead of just getting out of the kitchen, sometimes I just need to get out of the house. A complete change of scenery, walking in the woods with my family, riding bikes in the neighbourhood, or playing games in the backyard helps me do something healthy by getting in a little NEAT [6]. It's also great for calming down before bed (for my kids and for myself), and more importantly, it takes my mind off food.

Find Your Favourite Way to Get Out of the Kitchen

If you find that you share this same habit of continuing to eat after dinner is done, find a way to get out of the kitchen that you enjoy. Maybe playing music or going for a walk isn't your thing. Maybe you'd prefer sipping herbal tea on the couch while watching Netflix, or sitting on the porch reading an engageing novel. Maybe you want to take the time to call a friend, write in your journal, or unroll your yoga mat and do 10 minutes of stretching [7].

It might be hard at first to get into this new habit of staying out of the kitchen. But after a week or two, you'll be craving this special after-dinner time to yourself.


Source URL
https://www.popsugar.co.uk/fitness/How-Should-I-Stop-Mindless-Eating-After-Dinner-46203855