(Tee hee - did you see how I used a play on words with "comfort food" and pictures of my little Comfort eating? Isn't that great? I'm just so witty sometimes I scare myself. Ahem. Anyway...)
Ah, yes. Comfort food. My best friend and my worst enemy. Too much of a good thing is, well, a lot of something good, which is good right? It feels that way at the moment but eventually it catches up with me, I am finding, which is not - um - good.
Moderation in all things. Moderation is the name of the game. Often, when I am unsure exactly what a word means I go to the synonyms to clarify. Here are a bunch of synonyms for moderation:
- balance
- calmness
- composure
- constraint
- patience
- poise
- quiet
- restraint
- sobriety
- steadiness
- toleration
Hmmm...interesting, especially in connection with comfort food because, I am trying to achieve a sense of balance, quiet, restraint, self toleration etc. when I turn to food for comfort. Can I use food to achieve this?
Just for fun, lets look at some of the antonymns of moderation:
- indulgence
- intensity
- outrageousness
- severity
- unlimitedness
- violence
- wildness
Violence? Really? Can eating be a violent thing we do to ourselves? I've heard of this before actually. Let us suppose over doing it on the kraft dinner, cookies, Haagen Daz or whatever food you go to for comfort, is an act of violence on yourself. Haagen Daz is not the evil here - it's the outrageousness of the indulgence which is the evil. Too much of a good thing is violent. Hmmm, when I consider it in these terms everything changes.
When I turn to food for comfort it is usually because I am lacking something - I'm bored or sad or worried or mad. Sometimes I am celebrating too. If I turn to food in moderation to comfort myself, can I assume I will experience a sense of quiet, calmness or balance? That is the hope, isn't it? Why do we get up in arms about comfort food as an enemy. It isn't. Food is our friend. It is unrestrained appetite which is our enemy.
I don't know, maybe I'm way off here. I think I need to study the topic more but the pictures are cute so at least this blog entry has that in it's favor.
Leave a comment if you have any insights on the topic of moderation and food...
It's very hard to eat in moderation when you have a craving that is soooooo strong. Plus once you've eaten 3/4 of the Haagen-Daas, you might as well finish it off, right?
I have found that the better I eat nutritionally, the fewer cravings I have. It's one of those circular things that if I eat better, I usually feel better and have better energy, which means I can cope with emotional upsets more easily, and in fact don't have the emotional upsets as deeply. (Steady blood sugar is a goooood thing.) The less "drama", the better I can sleep; the better I can sleep, the more energy I have to keep the kitchen clean (enough); if the kitchen is clean (enough), preparing a good meal is so much easier. Oh, and you have to have the good food in the house in the first place. That's where using food storage and preparedness practices help. I always have decent food in the house.
I think you're totally going in the right direction. I often think too much comfort or processed food is a form of self-medication. We're trying to make ourselves feel better here, right? But it's not really the right "medicine" for the hurt, but more in the order of a tall stiff drink helping the loneliness and dread. Helps in the moment. . . . but not in the long run.
Mercy. For ourselves. And others.
Love,
Cat
Posted by: Cat Charissage | September 14, 2011 at 08:23 PM