Eating is NOT a hobby!

According to dictionary.com, a hobby is "an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation".

Is eating your hobby?

If you eat because you're bored, then eating is a hobby. If you eat because you don't have anything else to do, then eating is a hobby. If you eat because it relaxes you, then eating is a hobby. If you eat because you love eating, then eating is a hobby.

Here's the dictionary.com definition for eating: "to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment". Sounds a lot different than the definition for hobby, doesn't it? How many times do we actually eat primarily for nourishment? Probably not often, especially in today's society when food is easily available just about anywhere.

So here's my suggestion: find a real hobby. Using eating as a hobby can lead to weight gain, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, and complicate a host of other medical conditions. If your hobby is something active, like walking, line dancing, karate, or frisbee then you get additional health benefits from exercise.

Or your hobby could exercise your mind: crossword puzzles, reading, sudoku. A hobby can make us feel good about helping others: volunteering at the library, coaching Little League, knitting mittens for the homeless shelter. Hobbies are wonderful ways to spend our free time. Eating, on the other hand, is a basic survival mechanism. It's not a hobby.