Emotions are strong and we can let them control us if we aren't careful and really pay attention. It's easy today to get swept up in the day-to-day chaos and with one hiccup begins this roller coaster ride down to the nether lands, into the hole of... "comfort"? I too, have these days. This past week was quite the test of my emotions with the ice, floods and being at home all day with a 3 and a 2 year old. I had help and I was still about to lose it. Let the roller coaster begin.
I love pizza; always have. Knowing that this is my biggest nutritional downfall, I made a goal this year of no pizza. My husband and I even bet on it. As this past week was "going down", I wanted a pizza bad and I wanted to eat the whole thing. Really? I know better! I have really changed my pizza habits over the years from the heavy thick crusted, cheese loaded carb fest from a franchise to a thinner version from a local joint. Even with that though, it's ridiculous to keep going back to something I know makes me feel like crap. Not just externally, but internally too. So as I was mulling this over, why exactly was I wanting to eat that pizza? Was it anger, frustration or out of spite. Whoa, back up? Out of spite? Yes, out of spite. You can only clean, cook, launder, fuss, referee, potty train and listen to whining for so long. For someone that needs to work and fill productive with their business this is a little hard to endure. It's not my cup of tea. There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone has things that fulfill them in life and doing laundry does not do that for me. I was a hot mess and mad at the world. I didn't eat that pizza, but today, as I reflect on it, I am left with these questions. I was wantign to eat this pizza out of spite towards who? My toddlers? They don't care what mommy eats! They had no clue about the internal conversation I was having. The weather? Well, we know that we have no control over that and there's no reason to even begin to pick a battle with mother nature. Was it toward God or the higher powers of the universe? Come on now, that makes no sense either! The only person I was going to be hurting and punishing was... myself. What in the hell had I done, that was so bad, that I wanted to hurt myself? Absolutely nothing! There was no reason in this world to go for that pizza or to even think about it. The only reason I went there in my head was because most of my carb loads were emotionally driven. At the height of my pizza addiction, I was a pretty unhappy individual. So, every time I find myself in that place, that's what I think off. Crazy, isn't it? It's true though. Plus, I had told myself I wasn't going to have it. This one's very laughable, because as my husband puts it, "you can't stand for anyone to tell you what to do." This is all too true, but I had given that directive to myself. No one else told me I couldn't have it, I told myself. So, I was basically just slapping myself in the face. So much for spite!
Think about that "comfort food" and what events have surrounded your consumption patterns. Most of the reasons we go to food is because of our own bad psychology and habits. Comfort food is a complete misnomer. The immediate impact of indulging in that comfort food is only to satisfy a temporary psychological moment. If that temporary psychological moment happens more often than not, then it becomes a permanent fixture in your life. It will be a daily battle. If you do not find other ways to direct those emotions and make new patterns and habits, nothing will ever change. Also, scientists at the University of Minnesota recently did a study on "comfort foods" and if they truly have an impact on our moods. Here's an overview of the study directly from the American Physiological Association.
Objective: People seek out their own idiosyncratic comfort foods when in negative moods, and they believe that these foods rapidly improve their mood. The purpose of these studies is to investigate whether comfort foods actually provide psychological benefits, and if so, whether they improve mood better than comparison foods or no food. Methods: Participants first completed an online questionnaire to indicate their comfort foods and a variety of comparison foods. During two lab sessions a week apart from each other (and at least a week after the online questionnaire, counterbalanced in order), participants watched films that induced negative affect. In one session, participants were then served their comfort food. In the other, participants were served an equally liked noncomfort food (Study 1), a neutral food (Study 2), or no food (Studies 3 and 4). Short-term mood changes were measured so that we could seek out psychological effects of these foods, rather than biochemical effects on mood from particular food components (e.g., sugars or vitamins). Results: Comfort foods led to significant improvements in mood, but no more than other foods or no food. Conclusions: Although people believe that comfort foods provide them with mood benefits, comfort foods do not provide comfort beyond that of other foods (or no food). These results are likely not due to a floor effect because participants’ moods did not return to baseline levels. Individuals may be giving comfort food “credit” for mood effects that would have occurred even in the absence of the comfort food. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
So, you see, it really doesn't do any good to give into the cravings that arise from stress and emotions. We all have plenty of scientific data now to back up that these foods are bad for us. All you have to do is google and look at all the research out there. We also know that many of these foods can create fluctuations with our hormones, which can only compound the chronic stress and emotional responses to them. It's a cycle and it's time to stop using the words "comfort food", because in the end it's not comforting at all! The next time you're mentally headed that direction. Stop and truly ask yourself why. I promise you, there's not going to be an answer that honestly makes sense. Answer yourself truthfully and don't justify it. Take some deep breaths and reground yourself. You can begin the new patterns and be proud of yourself for not getting on that roller coaster into the bottomless, "comfort" hole.
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