Snowmaggedon 2011

We have had record breaking cold weather here in Dallas; today marks the 4th snow/ice day in a row that the kids have been out of school and businesses are shut.  It was charming day 1, and surprising and exciting day 2.  By yesterday, when my company said “come back to work,” you’d have thought it was Christmas day.  Until that commute.  Oh my gosh.  2 hours there and 3 hours back.  So this morning, when I woke to around 6” of snow, I made the wise decision that even if my fellow coworkers can get there, I’m not going to put myself and Masher in that dangerous driving situation.  Sick day, here I am!

Now that you’re up on the weather report, the reason I lay that back story is because I am fascinated by all the profile statuses on FB that involve food.  People are so bored and so antsy, and they are ending up in the kitchen.  One dear friend posted her menu for the entire week, and it sounded like a week at the State Fair food.  And that got me to thinking that maybe it was time to talk about the headgames we play that make such a huge impact on our health.  You may not be able to relate to any of this at all, so if you’ve never eaten out of any reason besides hunger, stop now.  You’re a freak and you don’t need me at all...  

Do you know Proust?  In another life, I studied French at UT.  One of the harder things I had to do was read lots of French literature, in French.   One story has lingered to this day, so I guess my college education (or one of my degrees, anyway) wasn’t a complete waste, right?  It is the story of the madeleine, where he eats a bite of the delicious cake and “involuntary memories” come flooding back to him.

Duh.  Food, folks, is about as emotionally charged as it gets.  We eat when we’red happy, sad, tired, angry, bored, depressed, anxious, lonely...what’d I leave out?  Oh.  HUNGRY.  Then add the double whammy that the smell, taste, sight or even thought of food calls forth a rush of memories from the past, and our emotions are given absolute rule over our actions.  

How do you change this?  First--you call yourself on it.  With your food journal in your hand, write down what you’re feeling when you’re eating.  (If you even KNOW what the emotion is...if you don’t, write that down too.)  Your food journal might look like, “ate a dozen Hershey’s Kisses in front of the tv.  NO idea why.  They were good. At least they’re little.”  What do you think the emotion was?  Lonely, perhaps?  Bored with reruns?  Tired as heck from chores, so the chocolate was a reward?

Second, you remember that your feelings won’t kill you...actions might, but feelings don’t.  In other words, we eat to keep from feeling these emotions.  Mostly because they might make us squirm.  They might make us look at something that needs changing up.  Next thing you know, you’ll have to be doing something about it, and then what?  So we choose a bag of fritos instead, which makes us squirmy too (guilt is probably THE most powerful emotion) but we don’t think about that until tomorrow, Scarlett.

Last, you put detours in place.  Detours like hot bubble baths.  Phone-a-friend.  Journaling.  Watching a really great movie.  Reading a fabulous book.  The point is, if you don’t have something READY, you’ll find yourself in the kitchen whipping up a batch of cookie dough.  So right this minute, do some orderly thinking and come up with a detour plan.  Say it in your head over and over.  Mine looks like this, “today, when I get so stir crazy from being shut inside all day, I am going to dust off Disney, starting with Little Mermaid.”  Ahhhh...now that’s a plan!