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THE ESSENCE OF BOREDOM by William L. Mikulas and Stephen J. Vodanovich defines boredom as “a state of relatively low arousal and dissatisfaction, which is attributed to an inadequately stimulating situation.”
Boredom is fine until you start looking for unhealthy distractions to fill the time, such as sugary snacks.
And if you’re a sucker for snacks as much as this little lady, then it’s probably a good idea to get clued up on why you eat when you’re bored and how to help yourself in those situations.
Identifying your boredom
A recent study by Wren Kitchens revealed that of the 2,000 people surveyed, over half of them said they ate to stave off boredom.
According to Thomas Goetz of the University of Konstanz in Germany, there are five types of boredom:
Indifferent: Relaxed, slightly tired but cheerful resulting in blissfully devouring a bag of chips while watching the in-flight entertainment.
Calibrating: A slight restlessness using food to settle yourself. Perhaps you’re a nervous flyer and are looking for a distraction.
Searching: Actively seeking an alternative to your current behavior.
Reactant: The feeling of being unhappy and trapped, very likely to occur on airports and planes, resulting in overeating.
Apathetic: Bouts of lack of feeling and emotion, leading to binge eating to try to feel in control.
These types of boredom eating can easily happen in transit when you’re looking for a quick fix to satisfy hunger and replace tediousness with something tasty.
In the long run, this snacking can lead to “counter-intentional habits” which make you lose sight of the end goal, such as eating unhealthy food when you’re trying to lose weight.
The survey also found 18 to 24-year-olds were more likely to turn to the fridge in times of mind-numbing boredom.
Although, there isn’t a readily available fridge on an aircraft unless you flying first class.
So what do flyers do instead? Order excessive amounts of tiny pretzels and munch through the mostly bland, unidentifiable “food” passed out by cabin crew.
It doesn’t have to be this way
Once you’ve identified your boredom, you can subdue feelings of cravings and temptation with methods of distraction that don’t entail unhealthy food.
However, we fully understand the need to eat on long-haul flights because we can’t all survive a 14-hour flight on Scotch-on-the-rocks.
But remember, food is difficult to digest 40,000-feet in the air, which is why over-indulgement leaves you feeling like an inflated beach-ball when you get off the plane.
The best food to snack on when flying are non-carby, low in salt, non-fatty and non-carbonated foods and drinks.
Here are some wholly nutritional and super tasty traveling snack ideas from Travel Junkie Diary to get your trip off to a flying start.
Homemade popcorn
No oil, salt, sugar or syrup, just straight up plain popcorn.
With only 30 calories per cup and high in fiber, it is a healthy and satisfying snack.
If you make a large batch, you can take some in your hand luggage and store the rest away in your checked luggage.
Oat bars
Oat or muesli bars are easy to make and can be changed to suit your taste.
Simply combine 1/2 cup oats with 1/3 cup honey, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, one teaspoon vanilla extract and a large egg, then bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.
If you fancy something a little sweet, dip the baked bars in chocolate or yogurt then refrigerate.
These bars are best eaten within three to five days.
Nuts
Just a good ol’ bowl of nuts.
Whether it is macadamias and almonds or walnuts and pistachios, nuts are a brilliant source of protein.
Nuts can also reduce your chance of getting blood clots which you’re at an increased risk of when flying.
Falafel and hummus
A post shared by BreakingNaanBlog (@breakingnaanblog) on
Once relegated to a Mediterranean vacation food, falafel and hummus have taken the world by storm.
Not only are they the perfect combination, they’re also a tasty and nutritional snack.
Fruit and veg
While the thought of a pre-flight McMuffin or chocolate-stuffed croissant may be more tempting than a handful of grapes, your body won’t thank you.
Carrot sticks, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, grapes, sliced apples, and satsumas travel well and will stay fresh in resealable bags.
They’re also naturally packed full of flavor, not like plane meals brimming with sodium.
The post These snacks will save you from boredom eating when traveling appeared first on Travel Wire Asia.
Source: travelwireasia.com