Hi NNava,
Welcome to the forums.
For me, boredom and overeating are inextricably linked and are also tied up with fear -- the fear (and resentment) that I have gradually discovered is really the root cause of my TMS.
The answer for me regarding overeating has been to accept the humdrumness of daily life by forcing myself to 'lean' into it. Routine was an anathema to me so I faced it head on and deliberately created a sensible daily regimen to stick to, which I initially had to really force myself to adhere to. I do daily chores that I used to avoid as much as possible. I don't have to force myself nowadays, but I also made myself go out for a morning walk - come rain or shine, whatever the weather - and more recently I made myself 'dance' (for 'dance' read 'sway about' as best I can despite my bodily pain) each evening in my living room to some music I like. The exercise lifts my mood and I believe boosts the metabolism for weight loss.
I also practise what I guess amounts to mindfulness, for example, by keeping to a schedule of tasks which includes making healthy meals from scratch -- doing lots of 'boring' vegetable preparation -- and endeavouring to concentrate on those tasks while I do them, gently pulling my mind back to the present whenever it goes off into fearful and resentful meanderings regarding events that happened in the past and what might happen in the future.
The longer I've kept to a routine, the easier it has got for me to do tasks without lethargy, apathy and resentment...'magically' my feelings very gradually changed towards performing them. They don't feel like boring chores anymore and have become just a way of living and an important way of living. I used to scoff (no eating pun intended!) at advice given by people to walk and observe and 'smell the roses' and notice the little things in life as, when I tried to do that, it didn't work. However, once I pushed myself to walk, do chores etc., noticing the little things and smelling the roses etc., began to happen for me kind of automatically and it gives me some peace and serenity. (I guess, therefore, that I had previously been doing things the wrong way round, if you see what I mean?) So, anyway, I can say with 'hand on heart' that I no longer feel 'viscerally' bored like I used to and I have accepted what I couldn't accept before and that is that my life may be a relatively small life in the great scheme of things, but that's okay. When I look back I think I wanted to make a mark somehow, but didn't know how...and now I feel it really doesn't matter.
Over the last year, I found that I was putting on some weight -- due to portion sizes rather than binge eating -- although I could still see that there was an element of comfort eating involved, what with what's happening in the world, to include the pandemic, and difficult decisions I've had to make about various things. So, I changed my routine to eating 5 very small meals a day, at the same time every day, to even out blood sugar levels and to stop cravings (for comfort). The meals (which are more like snacks) consist of small portions of what I would normally eat. I cook a normal size meal and divide it into two or three or sometimes four smaller portions, eat one portion and save the rest for later that day or the next day. These small meals don't initially immediately satisfy my hunger, but I ignore that hunger and get on with other things and lo and behold, an hour later I realise that I'm no longer hungry. And when I do get hungry, it's usually only just before my next due snack and now the food tastes really great, even without sugary and/or salty sauces etc. I no longer want sugar, salt and lots of carbs.
Other things that have helped me on my weight-loss and recovery from binge, comfort and overeating are:
- Eating a little bit of protein (meat or cheese or nuts or seeds) with each meal.
- Cutting down on carbohydrates, e.g. when I have a curry, I don't have any rice.
- I have some fresh fruit everyday, but only a small portion, and never drink fruit juices as it raises my blood sugar too high and isn't as satisfying as eating whole fruit.
- I eat some dairy every day, e.g. some kefir (for the good bacteria in it).
- I eat gluten free.
- I don't have any cakes or chocolate or cookies and such like in my house (not even gluten free ones) and I don't drink alcohol. I drink only water, when I'm thirsty.
- I always have things ready in the fridge and my kitchen cupboards that I like that are also healthy to snack on that can be eaten by themselves or in combination - things that are quick and easy...a hard boiled egg, a few nuts, a small piece of cheese etc.
- I take a multivitamin and multimineral capsule a day - one without iron, copper or iodine.
- I wear a wrist 'watch' that vibrates 10 times a day...it buzzes to remind me to get a snack together and then 10 to 15 minutes after that it vibrates again to remind me to eat. That way I don't get too caught up in things and find myself late for my next snack or miss it altogether, which can lead to low blood sugar and cravings.
Despite all of the above, my fibromyalgia-like pain symptoms haven't vanished, but of late they have reduced somewhat; I think this is because my routine - concentrating on and paying attention to other things in life - stops me dwelling on them and this is teaching my brain that I can't be fooled into believing that my TMS symptoms are significant.
I hope that something I've said may be of some help to you.
Best;
BM
. I hope you are healed from TMS, Lizzy. I obviously read on my 'where in the body we feel our emotions' thread that you still get some symptoms, but I do hope that they are purely a blip in the great scheme of things. Xx
