Stress is such a tough opponent and it gets tougher as we get older, especially for those of us who already have a problem with food addiction or emotional eating in general.
Stress can not only make us eat uncontrollably. It can change our metabolism in such a way that it’s even harder to lose the weight.
Here is a video I found on YouTube that has some great information about metabolism and stress. I hope you enjoy it.
Is there such a thing? That depends on who you listen to. Healthy doesn’t mean it has to be a vegetable, or taste disgusting.
After all, it’s the combining of foods from the food pyramid that creates the energy we need to get us through the day.
Miniature carrot sticks and broccoli are not healthy when served with a dip that has 13 grams of fat per serving even though it’s better than 35 grams of fat in the most popular after school snacks companies pay millions of dollars to advertise all over the place.
I was talking with a friend of mine this evening about snacks. She runs a program for children at a school in the Midwest. As part of the national effort to combat childhood obesity, some changes are being made.
She told me that in her school, they will not be allowed to give the children certain snacks that were formerly acceptable. Birthday cakes will no longer be allowed. I didn’t even want to ask about ice cream.
Chocolate milk can now be served only one day a week, and the same with juice. Popcorn can be served but with no butter or seasoning of any kind. She says the kids refuse to eat it. Gee, I wonder why.
As a former trainer of child care providers in Family Child Care Homes and Day Care Centers, I was surprised. Why the drastic changes?
And what’s this about serving only skim milk or 1% milk? Milk that has a 1% or 2% fat content should be adequate. And no cereal except shredded wheat and similar cereals?
I forgot to ask her about Cheerios, long recommended for little ones yet very high in sugar as healthy snacks go. Why not include puffed rice? It’s sweet enough without all that added sugar.
It seems like regulations go from one extreme to another. For decades, schools pushed sodas and vending machine snacks, even had contracts with the soft drink companies, and now juices are condemned as if they were in the same category.
Vegetables are healthy when prepared in healthy ways, but they aren’t the only healthy foods. There are fruits like plums and bananas; apples with peanut butter make a great snack–if peanut butter’s still allowed.
And what about mini-smoothies? Mix equal parts of apple juice, pineapple juice, orange juice and water. You can use two juices but apple juice should be in the mix.
A scoop of whey protein powder, add a banana and it’s better than a milk shake. It’s healthier too, even if you leave out the protein powder.
An amazing number of children like yogurt and their digestive systems would certainly benefit from all that friendly bacteria.
Celery sticks are very good with peanut butter or a cheese spread. Frozen peaches are a great snack as are melon cubes. There are all sorts of healthy and delicious crackers on supermarket shelves.
The truth is, with some imagination and initiative, plus a little input from your audience, you can come up with some very delicious, nutritious, and economical snacks.
Recommended for children of all ages.
In all the the articles I’ve read about food addiction and in the numerous references to food addicts, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the word “gluttony” used.
It’s a simple word that means excess in eating or drinking, according to Webster, yet somehow it doesn’t fit with the other words in the food addiction lexicon.
There is an article in the current issue of The Week about Foodies and gluttony. Talk about excess! And I thought I had it bad!
Of course, there are different kinds of foodies just like there are different kinds of food addicts so I’ll keep that in mind and try not to be too judgmental.
Somehow the idea of “spending 36 hours cooking for a single dinner party” or “extolling the virtues of poached bat and roasted guinea pig” makes me feel like a food addiction is not the worst problem I could have.
There is excess and there is excess. Overeating, emotional eating, compulsive eating–they are all examples of excess, and yet they are not vulgar.
That’s an important distinction if you’re thinking about how your food addiction is affecting your life and how you feel about yourself.
I believe that it comes down to who you are spiritually when you do the things you do, and that includes eating.
Somehow, gluttony seems vulgar and food addiction does not.
Go figure.
There are many things you can do to help a food addict. Here are are my top five favorites.
1. Look them in the eye. Food addicts are invisible to those around them. Even if they have grown larger in size and take up more space, to most of society, they are invisible.Being acknowledged is important to everyone.
2. Listen when they speak. When a person speaks to you, don’t mentally plan your monologue so you’ll be ready when it’s your turn to talk. Active listening is a form of respect, and we all want that, don’t we?
3. Be courteous. Hold the door, offer to carry something when the person’s arms are full. Demonstrate kindness. Your actions tell people who you are.
4. Ask questions if you have them. Be honest. Listen to the answers without passing judgment.
5. Send a card or a flower on a special occasion like a birthday or at a sad time. There are cards for everything, physical cards, not e-cards. Physical cards which can be purchased for as little as 99 cents say you care without overstating your intentions and embarrassing you both.
You might think, “Well, how the heck does that help?”. It’s an easy question to answer.
Self-worth, self-esteem–however you want to label it–is so important. No matter how high an opinion we have of ourselves, or how many times we find the hero in ourselves, it is vital to be acknowledged by others.
Not for fame or acceptance, but for validation that we matter, that someone cared enough to be kind, that we are valued. Acts of kindness have become acts of convenience.
Sending a card through snail mail is expensive and a waste of time, right? Wrong, In fact, it is quite the opposite. Those few moments, collected and pieced together in an effort to tell someone they are not alone are precious.
I cannot count the many times I have revisited cards I received decades ago. I remember the time and place and all the wonderful feelings those words ignited in my heart.
Help need not be delivered in the form of advice. Food addicts get plenty of that.
The inspiration that comes from being acknowledged fills your heart so completely that, even if only for a brief time, you don’t feel like you’re starving anymore.