(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...