Bit of a funny day yesterday. One of those days where you just get so fed up by about 3:30, but you know you have to push on with your work for a little longer. These sorts of days I usually end up texting my housemate with a joke about takeaway which actually means "let's get takeaway" and then we eat ourselves into numbness from the hard day. Yesterday was no exception, but as my housemate is fully aware of my dieting efforts, I didn't want to lose face by committing. I wondered instead what it is about takeaway that makes it the only thing that will do after a rough day. I wondered if it might be the passive nature of it. Takeaway means doing nothing, just a couple of clicks then answering the door. I can even find myself ordering it on days where I have something ready to cook that only needs to be put in the oven, because it seems like less effort. After hard days I just want to get into bed and do nothing, just stare at a screen and disconnect. I established a long time ago that most of the time when I order takeaway, it's not because there's something I want food-wise, and I don't enjoy it any more than I would if I ate the dinner I have ready, I just associate it with comfort and a need after a hard day.
So, what did I do? Well, I heated through my defrosted bolognese, made a little extra pasta than I planned (whilst comfort eating is tenuous ground, I know that I'll just start eating something else if I don't feel satiated and I'm in this sort of mood), and when I ate that I felt better. Then I ran a bath, filled it with bubbles and read a book. Then I got in bed, read some more, and went to sleep. No takeaway, no binge eating, limited misery (bit dramatic but you get me). It worked basically.
So that's one takeaway avoided, now to make it a habit.