Emotional Eating

I had a little news yesterday that threw me off my balance.

It's been a long time since I've picked up food to soothe. My body sends clear messages when I need to course correct and I'm in the thick of it today. I really didn't stray far from the path, but far enough that I am congested again. Yes, dairy. Cheese. Note to self, don't go to the store when news comes that throws me off my balance. 

The thing about dairy is it's smooth and comforting in one sense, but it inflames all my respiratory tissues, from my sinuses to my lungs. So it literally gets in the way of my breathing. I've been sitting here unpacking the why of comfort food. And, truth be told, I did not go all-in. Just a little teetering too close to the edge. My inner rebel testing the boundaries.

So here's the recommended procedure. It would be good to remember in the moment. Maybe I'll post a note in my kitchen. 

Stop. Think about the feeling you think the food is going to give you. 

Think of another way to get that feeling. 

Go do that instead.

The way the program leaders say it is much more elegant than I have said it here, but this is the core of it. Still, can anything give me what cheese does? 

Of course it can. 

Especially since cheese, really, just gives me congestion. The other things I think it gives me are illusion. It certainly doesn't restore balance.

Here's the thing. Stress hormones begin to flow and we lose our heads. Thinking turns off. Impulse turns on. The trick is to stop the flow of the stress hormones. Adrenaline. Cortisol. The breath can help with that. Remembering to breathe slowly, deeply, allowing the whole body to be pulled into the breath. It's the only way I know how to do it.

The Green Wilderness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.