Here’s another of these nice pieces of advice you can find on many websites and in many books related to weight loss, yet that only take their full meaning once you’ve experienced them and finally understands what they really mean: “keep your hands busy”.
Said meaning hit me with full strength yesterday, as I was alone in my room, struggling with a desperate desire to eat “something sweet”. A plate of chocolate, a bun, a piece of cake… anything would have fit me in that moment. I wasn’t hungry at all, we had eaten barely one hour ago, it was just this - a stupid craving. I was slowly reaching the point when I’d be ready to go out and walk to the grocery store nearby in order to satisfy this craving, and this even though my boyfriend was home and would have noticed my “weakness”. Then my eyes, wandering everywhere in search of something to eat, noticed my current canvas work on its frame, and stopped there.
I was looking for something to do, and this was just perfect. Watching TV, whether in the living room of by popping a DVD in my PC, is a dangerous activity, for I can easily eat while doing it. Same goes for reading, which usually isn’t what will keep my mind off the thought of food (on the contrary: when I’m really hungry, I actually very much appreciate good food with a good book). Needle works, on the other hand, are a whole other business. You just cannot eat while performing them. Focused on putting the needle through the right place, on choosing the right thread color, on completing a pattern, simply keep my hands too busy for me to go on looking for food.
The craving sure didn’t go away at first, for sure; however, it tended to always be quickly replaced by thoughts of “wait, there’s a small pattern I haven’t filled here”, “where did I put my dark blue thread? I need it NOW!” or “how can I close this thread properly so that it doesn’t look awful on both sides of the canvas”. Before I had even realized it, two hours had gone by, and I wasn’t craving sweets and chocolate anymore.
So now, I think I definitely must keep canvas works in mind for when I’m semi-bored and can’t find any other activity that will keep me off snacking. All in all, it’s a good thing - and I have a nice piece of work to show off at the end.
- Kery
July 19th, 2005 at 18:13
So true. For me doing computer stuff or painting my nails helps.
ps. new site…used to be onlyonebody.blogspot.com