Coloring can be our best friend!

I was talking to someone that is starting out on their journey.  One of the things she is having a hard time with is moving away from how food is the center of her world, every waking moment.  This was true for me and took months before I started replacing my thoughts with food by keeping my hands busy.

Here are some that work really well for me. Share what works to keep you from eating.

Purging - I start in a corner, bin or room I have not touched in a while and start purging. Not only does it keep me busy but gives me the feeling of new beginnings. Getting rid of the old to make room for the new.

Knitting - My Grandma and Aunt were the light of my life as a child and they taught me how to knit.  Love it!

Gardening - I love flowers and growing my own fruit and veggies.

Coloring - unless you live under a rock the resurgent of coloring for adults is the BOMB!  Who didn't love coloring as a child. I just love all the adult coloring books and wonderful pens, markers they have today.  Try it you will love it!  Not only does it keep you busy but you will get lost in your fun and creativity and not give food one thought.  Here is my favorite artist for coloring books.  

Johanna Basford

Have a great weekend and keep those hands busy!

I color all the time!  It's VERY relaxing!!

It's better than my damn it doll 

There are days I'd rather have the damn it doll!

This is what I did as soon as I started seeing my nutritionist!

I emptied out one of the two freestanding pantries we have -- large family, lots of food in the house. I dedicated one of them to things I considered safe and friendly and asked that no other foods get placed in my pantry! Hah! Now I have a lovely, well-organized bariatric friendly stash of foods and drink supplies so I never have to make the excuse "I only ate a poptart because it was all I could find".

I ordered some really nice artist quality pencils and a couple of cute adult coloring books and just started coloring. I just couldn't stand to sit around and think about food and being in the kitchen. I'm so glad I did, because it's very relaxing.

Another thing I found that helps so much, during the day I'm home alone and if I'm bored I'll usually take a nap. Well that always makes me feel lousy, so I started walking anytime I feel like napping. I'm up to 2.5 miles a day about 6 days a week. Yay!

I plan to start a small raised garden once we get the back yard settled. There was poison ivy growing wild this year and I'm still battling the rash two weeks later. Ugh, I hope it's gone before surgery.

I love your list!  And not only does it keep us from eating, it gives you a great sense of accomplishment.  

It may sound silly but I love getting new pencils and markers. Reminds me when I was a kid and was thrilled with a new box of crayons

I did the same thing with the pantry.  I have my own shelf.  And no one else is allowed to touch it.

Keeping my hands busy is great. I'm crafty, so that's my angle-- for the times when my hands aren't full of baby!

I do a lot of cross-stitch, which is fun and easy to get into. I skip the fancy patterns from the craft store with kittens and angels and whatnot, and pick up unique stuff on Etsy. Right now, I'm doing a pic of Hogwarts, and one of my first projects was a rather snarky sampler.

I also quilt, though I haven't done much in the past year. I'm starting in on a wedding quilt for my little sister that I can hopefully finish in the next 2 months. When the baby is busy, I can sit down and work for 2+ hours straight without thinking of anything else!

I love this and the fact you go for the unique!  How long have you been quilting?  I am just amazed at the beautiful quilts people make from scratch.  My Grandma and Aunt use to make quilts. Post some pics of your quilts 

I made my first quilt about 10 years ago. My great-grandmother was an amazing quilter, she made probably over 500 in her lifetime!

Wedding quilt for my brother:

Baby quilt for a coworker:

Done as a "mystery challenge" where I picked out the fabrics in advance but had no idea what the final quilt would look like: