's motd Sat 1/22/2011

[Guest guest]

FEEDING YOUR

EMOTIONS

Saturday, 22 January 2011

Feeding yourself is not just about

putting food in your mouth. See, when you eat, you're

often also feeding your emotions. Now

everyone reading this message has emotions, they're

simply a part of being human. But when our emotions

run negative, many of us end up running to food

to soothe them. And which negative emotions am I

talking about? Well, they all come from living our

lives. In fact, let's go over some of the emotions

that may push us to food.

One of the biggest culprits is stress.

When you're stressed out, you're usually not thinking

straight. You've tried to handle too many things at

the same time and well, it can lead to your eating

more food in an effort to cope. Sometimes we believe

that food has the answer to so many of our problems.

But when you're facing stress, you need to first, calm

down. And you can do that by finding yourself

a quiet spot, sitting down, closing your eyes, taking

some deep breaths and...relax.

Another emotion that may push us to food is boredom.

Oh, you're sitting around the house, not doing

anything. But it doesn't have to be that way. There's

plenty you can do to add some spark and fun to your

day. But when a lot of people get bored, they head

straight for the kitchen to find something to snack

on. (As if food is going to relieve their boredom.)

But you and I know that food does not get

rid of the boredom. If you find yourself getting

bored, you should get up and...get out! Get

that body of yours moving because movement will help move

that boredom out of your way!

And of course, we can't leave out

that emotion called sadness. Maybe someone

you love is very sick or you've even suffered a loss

in your family. Whatever the reason, your heart is

broken and you're feeling down. Some people think

that food can mend a broken heart. It can't. When

you're sad, you have to face the source of your

sadness and...not feed it.

Another emotion that often pushes us to food is loneliness.

(Boredom's "cousin.") You're home alone, the phone's

not ringing, no one has sent you and E-mail or text

message and you truly feel, well, lonesome. There's

nothing you want to see on television and in fact, the

only think that can break your loneliness spell is a

pizza heating up in your oven. Don't! If

you're lonely, do something about it! You shouldn't

stay home and cuddle up with a giant pizza! Call

someone up, get out of the house, make an effort to

make or meet some friends. What better way to break

that bout of loneliness?

Listen, all of us have to face

these emotions while we're here on this earth. Like I

said before, emotions are part of life. But when you

try to eat your way through negative emotions, you're

very often not paying attention to what you're eating

or how much. This is thoughtless eating

and it can really get you into big trouble.

In the future, before feeding an emotion...stop!

Take a minute and do a hunger "reality check." If you

really think about it, you'll probably realize that

you aren't really hungry at all. Talk yourself out

of the food and into dealing with the

emotional issues facing you, whatever they may be.

Remember, food is not going to solve the problem.

And what really helps you stay on

program and keeps you believing in yourself is the

support you get from others in your life. I

have a wonderful Clubhouse here on my web site

and with this link, you can check it out. I

promise, as a member of my Clubhouse, you'll meet and

make lots of supportive new friends who can help you

deal with those emotions of yours without turning to

food.

Face your emotions today...don't feed

them!

Love,