What's Eating You?

After talking with a close friend the other day about her struggles with weight and resulting depression, it left me pondering something. ..

Why do we use food as comfort when life gets tough? We have all had experiences of overeating and then feeling horrible afterward. If these instances are few and far between, then okay. But when it becomes frequent bouts of emotional overeating, then there's a problem.

It's a vicious cycle of eating and sadness. And it does nothing to get to the real problem of what's actually eating you.

When you have a problem with balance and control in your life, it's typically not about the food or even your hunger and appetite. The food is masking the pain of something else that you are dealing with.

And to be fair, we often also use food as a way to show love and celebrate...especially black folks. My first thoughts when I was thinking about what I wanted to do for my birthday was to celebrate with food - Sol Azteca Mexican with friends on Friday, Cheesecake Factory with family on Saturday, and mama's Sunday dinner on Sunday (wow, it looks worse in writing). It's just a part of our culture. However, I will say that I think celebratory eating clearly does not have the same negative impact on your life as emotional overeating does.

In regard to my friend, I wish her the best. She is more beautiful than she realizes and I hope that at some point she can come to terms with her issues and get down to the healthy weight that she so strongly desires.

As for myself, my goal is to be healthy and able to maintain a reasonable weight. I still have about 20 pounds of extra weight since having my daughter...and I'm working on it.