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Do you ever eat or do your habit out of boredom? Most of us do. On today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, we’ll talk about how to stop boredom eating and boredom habiting.
It’s particularly tempting to give in to boredom eating and habiting when we’re in a long boring stretch of life or when we’ve just finished something exciting and are having a hard time adjusting back to real life.
That’s how I’m feeling today. I just got back from a super fun vacation–a biblical counseling conference, a couple of days with two of our adult children, and a 3 day backpacking trip in the gorgeous Beartooth Mountains–and this morning I’m having a hard time getting back to real life.
Knowing my tendencies after a vacation, I thought I better get started right away this morning renewing my mind. Fortunately I was in Galatians 5 for my daily quiet time, which was the perfect section of Scripture to renew my mind with.
We’ll renew our minds with that passage on the podcast and also with the boredom questions and Bible verses from I Deserve a Donut (And Other Lies That Make You Eat), but before we do that, let’s take a look at some practical things we can do to help with boredom eating and boredom habiting.
How to Stop Boredom Eating and Boredom Habiting
If you want to stop boredom eating or boredom habiting, try this plan:
- Divide your day up into segments. It’s a lot easier to indulge in boredom eating and boredom habiting if you feel like the whole day is stretching out forever.
- Plan each segment of the day. What are you going to do during that time period? How much time do you have to fill before the next scheduled event? That scheduled event may be a meeting with a friend, a job, or an appointment, or it may just be a natural break of the day such as lunch or supper.
- Try to get out of the house if possible. As you plan your day, try to plan at least one thing that will take you out of the house at some point if you don’t have a job or other things that naturally take you out. This will break up the day a bit and help you since you won’t have a whole day at home to manage.
- Renew your mind throughout the day. It’s essential to do this so we change our thinking and look at life from God’s perspective. Take my day today, for example. I’m starting out from a “life should be fun!” perspective. After all, I’ve just been on vacation for six days. But that’s not what God says life is about. He says life is about loving Him and others–I have all kinds of opportunities to do that today. My backpack trip was a wonderful time of fellowship with God and fun with my husband, but I didn’t really get a lot of opportunities to love others on my trip. Today I will. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing!
Having my quiet time on the last morning of our trip.
If you’d like help renewing your mind, join me on the podcast. We’ll be talking about the following questions and Bible verses:
Boredom Questions
- What do you feel like eating (or doing)?
- Will you break a boundary if you eat (or do) that?
- Yes: If so, which boundary will you break? Is that a good boundary? Explain.
- No: If not, will you be more likely to break your boundaries later if you eat this? Why or why not?
- How much time do you need to fill until your next meal or snack (or scheduled event)?
- Would eating (or your habit) be a good way to fill this time?
- What are some other things you could do with this block of time? List a few ideas.
- What would be the best use of your time right now?
- What would you gain by using your time this way?
- Is there anything you need to accept?
Note: Click here for another set of questions you can journal through when you’re bored.
My favorite hiking partner. :) From a hiking trip we did in Canada near Jasper, Alberta.
Boredom Bible Verses
Note: We’ll also be going over Galatians 5:13-25 on the podcast.
Psalm 18:29 For by You I can run upon a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall.
2 Corinthians 12:9a And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 6:7-8 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
On mile 23 of the Beaten Path near Cooke City, Montana and 3 miles away from one of the best cheeseburgers I’ve ever had in my life!
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This post was a great encouragement. I loved the photos. They look beautiful and peaceful.
Thanks, Bernard! Those are the perfect words to describe the trip – beautiful and peaceful! So glad the post was an encouragement.
I think you really hit on two of the, what I feel are the, most important physical acts regarding this subject.
Physical exercise is paramount because it makes eating an absolute necessity and it does seem to make the food taste that much better!
The other one is just being busy. Not busy for the sake of being busy, but for the purpose of being productive and adding to our and the world around us.
Those are the things that stuck out to me. Ones that I go out of my way to do, ones that are as gratifying in their own way, just like food.
I like how you put that, Floyd, that they’re gratifying in their own way, just like food. Just thinking of it that way makes me see how I could apply that to other areas of my life. Thanks for that insight!
I used to be eat when I was bored…having kids cured me of this- I don’t have time to be bored anymore!
While food is gratifying (and there are time I’m craving chip/dip so bad that I go out of my way to buy it) taking care of my family is more gratifying (and time consuming).
26 miles…wow! Great job. Thanks for sharing the pic.
I just realized a few days ago that the second pic was from a hiking trip we did a few weeks later in Canada!Old age is making me even spacier than normal. :)
Boredom eating is one of my biggest struggles. Even while following hunger/fullness, those down times are really hard. I just found your site recently and I’m so thankful! I love the suggestion for dividing the day into segments and, of course, renewing the mind!
So glad you’re enjoying the site, Julie! I’ve been dividing my afternoon into segments lately and it’s really helping. I don’t keep a tight schedule, but I’ve just been saying, 1/2 hour for emails, 1-2 hours writing work, 1 hour personal work (housework, etc), and 2 hours for recreation and rest. I find that when I schedule in that recreation/rest time, I don’t feel so guilty when I do it. I get up really early usually so I usually need a little rest time by late afternoon. Also, by having a kind of general routine, I don’t have to plan it out each day. That’s been working a long time for me in the mornings, and now I hope to make it work in the afternoons. We’ll see!
ONLY IN TᕼE SΟUƬH!!!!
Wow. I love your perspective on this. Thank you SO Much
Glad it was helpful, Becky!