If You're Feeling This Emotion, You're More Likely To Eat A Ton Of Junk Food

You know how you're supposed to only eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full?

Yeah, that's really f*cking hard.

Because, truthfully, there's a lot of incredible-tasting food out there. Not only that, but also what we eat and how much of it we eat are largely dictated by our moods.

While I'm not a stress eater or a sad eater, I definitely eat when I'm procrastinating. If I have a daunting task ahead of me, like organizing my closet, I'll convince myself the only way I can get through it is if I have a snack first.

I also eat when I'm bored, and according to new research, that's a recipe for disaster because people are more likely to eat unhealthy foods when life isn't particularly interesting.

Researchers at the University of Central Lancashire conducted two studies to come to this conclusion. In the first, they asked 52 participants about their food preferences and then sent them to work on a boring task (copying the same letter over and over again).

Participants were more likely to want unhealthy foods after completing the boring task than before doing so.

In the second study, 45 participants were handed either healthy or unhealthy snacks, and then each was given either a boring or funny video to watch. If a participant was watching a boring video, her or she was more likely to prefer junk food over healthy food.

So, what can you do to prevent yourself from stuffing an entire cheeseburger in your mouth every time boredom strikes? Try waiting 15 minutes before heading to the kitchen and raiding the fridge.

By the time the 15 minutes pass, more likely than not, your craving will be gone because you won't be quite as bored anymore.

Skeptical? Hey, it's worth a try. You don't want to be in a constant state of sugar crashing just because you're a little bored!