“How many of us are gorging on Big Macs or worse because those foods, cheap and readily available, are filling a hole that everyday access to stunning beauty might more amply fill?” Washington Post Columnist Jennifer LaRue Huget
There are many reason why we (emotional eaters) turn to food.
Do you ever use food because you feel “empty”? Are you consciously or unconsciously using food because your day-to-day life lacks beauty, or love, connection to friends, a significant other, or to a higher power? Do you turn to food because you feel there’s never enough peace of mind, time…or money to do what you want to do?
If you habitually try to fill those voids with food, you might find value in this exercise:
Identify where you feel “a lack” in your life and make a list. Create some time to brainstorm; deliberately find alternative, healthier, more interesting and fulfilling ways to address those voids.
Here are two examples from my life…
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Your posts are always so illuminating Ellen! Thanks for sharing your own experiences. This makes me think of two voids in my life. The first is fun!! It’s so easy to let the ’shoulds’ and errand lists control my free time, but recently I’ve been making an effort to set up time to get together with girlfriends. It’s less about what we do and more about just connecting and laughing together.
The other void I recognized recently is music. I love music of all sorts. So I decided to try listening to a favorite CD while setting my daily intentions. It’s a piano soloist and I was reminded how much I love to play the piano myself. Since then I’ve been making a concerted effort to play most days and it has really opened a new channel of enjoyment and spirituality for me.
In both cases, these two things are now on my self-care list so I don’t forget to make time for them!!
I’m so with you, Meg! Fun, girlfriends, laughter…three of the most important ways I nourish myself! When they’re lacking, I begin to feel a void and a longing…
I am reader- I LOVE to read. For my birthday my husband bought me a Kindle and I am reading even more. Recently my husband’s schedule changed and I was going to have to spend 1/2 hour every morning sitting in my car waiting for my carpool to arrive. After stressing a bit I realized this challenge was actually an opportunity to fill a void- the parking lot for carpool backs up to the parking lot to my gym. Now I got in and walk the treadmill slowly (3 mph) and read the Kindle at the same time. I’ve found some great personal enhancement books that way and it is a great way to start the day!