People often eat when they are not hungry.

 Here are some things you can do besides eat. Please feel free to e-mail me with your favorite non-eating activities!(click on Contact Me)

50 Things to do Besides Eat

1. Do something physical – walk, do yoga, use free weights if you know how to safely use them.  Exercise helps control cravings.
2. Take a shower or bath and put lots of lotion on your body afterwards. Buy a new body lotion, or break into your collection of hotel lotions, if you have one. Even if you don't like the smell of a hotel lotion, it may break your "set" that says "I must have........" The smell of the lotion may overpower your desire for certain foods.
3. Meditate. Do relaxation exercises or yoga. Read a book. Play solitaire.
4. Get out of the house.
5. Call a friend and tell them you are going crazy with a craving.
6. Do a Google search and look at art – in Russia, or fabric from Africa, or glass from Italy or, learn about fractals or volcanoes -- or snowflakes! Or, research the origins of your last name.
7. Write to a soldier or read about soldiers - www.anysoldier.com.
8. Clean the computer keys with alcohol and a toothpick. Or, clean the telephone and see how nice it looks. Your hands will smell like cleaning products and that may help your craving.
9. If you are into cleaning, pick a SMALL area and clean it - a SMALL area of your toolbench, or SMALL area of your kitchen.
10. Read a magazine or rent a movie..
11. Take a class at your local church or synagogue.
12. Women – do your nails, or just put cream on your cuticles, or cream on your feet (don't slide on the floor!)
13. Get out anything sentimental and look at it. (cards, photos)
14. Write a letter on the computer to someone you are upset with. Leave the e-mail address space blank, so you don't accidentally send it! Then erase it.
15. Go to a used book store or library and read a murder mystery.
16. Go back to hobbies you used to enjoy. If your hands are full of woodworking, car grease, knitting, batik dyeing, porcelain painting you are unlikely to be eating.
17. Look up volunteer opportunities on the internet.
18. Think about how good you will feel getting past this crisis, and how it will help you in the future.
19. If you don't have kids of your own or they are too old, "adopt" some neighborhood kids and read to them, teach them to sand wood, or make junk collages with them.
20. Drink a diet soda, or icy water. Make iced tea by making hot tea first. Make lemonade by hand.
21. Listen to music – take our your old Beatles, Grateful Dead, or another collection. Dance - or lie down and close your eyes.
22. If you have kids who use Play Dough, take some out and play with them. Your hands will smell like Play Dough and it will help you lose your appetite. Or, buy some silly putty to keep your hands busy while you watch TV or listen to music.
23. Garden. Clean your plants or plant some seeds in a container if there is snow outside. Start a sweet potato or avocado plant.
24. Try to avoid eating while you do other things, such as work on the computer or watch TV. Otherwise, you will tend to pair them together.
25. Lubricate the locks in your house with (RD-40?) – or oil the squeaky hinges on the doors.
26. Make a list of the things in your life you are most proud of.
27. Make a list of the kindest or cleverest things you have done.
28. Sew on a button. Quilt, crochet, knit, needlepoint.
29. Match up socks and throw out the ones that don't match anything.
30. Go for a walk: along water, in a public place, walk around the entire mall three times.
31. Wash your car. If that is too much, just clean part of it, like the inside.
32. Make a list of places your want to visit in your lifetime. Research them on the internet.
33. Write ethical wills to your children, nieces or nephews, or grandchildren. What do you think is important in life?
34. Pick a really tiny cleaning project. A little tiny corner that's filthy,or one small area of your tool chest or cabinet.
35. See how long you can sit and do nothing.
36. Polish anything silver or brass.Putter in the garage. Put WD-40 in your locks.
37. Walk on the curbs outside like you did when you were 5.
38. Jump rope inside the house.
39. Play Boggle. It's a word game that you can even play by yourself.
40. Do a crossword puzzle. Call friends or relatives for help when you get stuck.
41. Collect catalogs from local community colleges and find out what fun classes you could take..
42. Refinish a piece of furniture, or sand and repaint some outside furniture.
43. Write a letter to an American soldier in harm's way, through www.anysoldier.com.
44. Go folkdancing, square dancing, or line dancing.
45. Polish your shoes.
46. Take a nap. Most people don't get enough sleep.
47. Learn three words in the foreign language of a friend or co-worker.
48. Take photographs.
49. Make plans for the future with a friend. If you are lonely, sometimes it helps to know you will see a friend.
50. Contact the American Diabetes Association or Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and volunteer!

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