Comfort eating

[tinyjo]

I'm going have a week of trying really hard to apply the Weightwatchers programme this week - I need to remind myself that when I do it properly I can actually lose weight. One of the things I've been having problems with in the last couple of weeks particuarly but also generally is comfort eating. Or not exactly comfort eating but I've been finding that I get home and have dinner and a glass of wine and then what seems to happen is that I feel tired and perhaps a little bored and just want to sit in front of the TV with another glass of wine and perhaps a toasted pitta or bakewell tart. And then repeat for the next 3 hours or so.

So my question is have you got any suggestions for things I could try instead. I need something with fairly low barrier to entry (as it were) as it's difficult to get myself started but once I'm going I can get re-energised fairly quickly. Ideally it should also be something that I don't do just sitting down in the living room, at least for the moment as I currently associate that with relaxing with wine, pittas, etc. Any ideas?

Also, as support is so important ( :) ) I thought I'd organise a pub meet tonight. Far from the Madding Crowd? (Or Copa, but they have more tempting food) from around 5:45? Comment now and I'll txt white_hart after lunch with the conclusions.

Comments

[vinaigrettegirl.livejournal.com]

What Dotty says about the GI diet... cutting a clean head of Romaine lettuce into quarters and eating it out of hand dipped in a basic dressing is also amazingly satisfying.

If you are using wine to relax, you're probably better off (calorie-wise and psychologically and physiologically) with a single measured shot of brandy or Scotch than with three glasses of red or white (I'm hazarding a guess of one glass per hour for three hours).

If the idea of having a single dose of hard stuff "to relax" seems too close to flirting with alcohol dependency, as opposed to "just having a few glasses of wine" then conceivably you may be kidding yourself a little about the whole relationship between alcohol, weight, and you, full stop. Possibly. Or not. Having found myself at one time easily consuming half a bottle of red every day - it crept up on me somehow - I did have to face up to the fact that three or four glasses in the evening was half a bottle and for me that was too much. And getting rid of the extra weight was as hard as getting rid of the creeping dependency. But worth it in the end. Wine every day + insufficient exercise = fat. :-( Alas....

Just a thought, anyway.

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

The trick is that I love the taste of red wine, but not the taste of brandy/scotch. Perhaps I should try to train myself on scotch - I've heard it's an aquired taste. What's a good entry level whisky?

[vinaigrettegirl.livejournal.com]

Deepnds on whether you have a sweet tooth or a savoury one, and if you like Lapsang Souchong tea.

You could stay off Scotch and try bourbon, which is sweeter without being sickly: Jack Daniels is a perfectly acceptable entry-level bourbon. I love red wine also. I quite like very old Macallan Scotch; I will sip at Glen Moray and at Lagavulin, but sadly the best-ever Scotch, Bhunabhain ('bune-ah-hav-ain') is no more. But a good Macallan is lovely. Most blends will taket he roof of your mouth off and give you a nasty headache besides, so stay off the Bell's and the Dewar's. Even if offered them to you by a B & B landlady served by the teacupful at 8 a.m., they will dae ye nae gude, as I have found to my cost.

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

More of a savoury one, I would say, and I am a fan of Lapsang Souchong (much to Alex's disgust).