I Had No Idea

Your Food is Fooling You by Kessler

I've never connected with the idea of "emotional eating" and never have considered myself an emotional eater. I always thought it meant eating a tub of ice cream when feeling depressed (though I'm sure I've done that in the past!) but I don't think that's the entire picture.

In the past, I used to attack my plate, quickly gulping down my food uncontrollably for every meal as if I hadn't eaten in days. The delicious meal gripped me and I felt ravenous to consume, chew, swallow and shovel more in. It's been a long time since that was my habit of eating. I haven't really struggled too much with binge eating recently...except for the past two days.

I started asking myself...why do I do this? What happens? Why all of a sudden do I feel out of control and could eat the entire house? Why do I struggle with wanting more helpings of certain foods and with others I'm satisfied with one portion. WHY DO I NEVER want more of my yummy salad? I love my salad, it tastes soooo good, I love the crunchy sunflower seeds and the moosh of the craisins in my mouth...but I never lose control and want to eat seconds or thirds (like I do with some meals). I never dream about it all day, wanting more, More, MORE! WHY?

In the past, I've held a belief that some foods stimulate something internally (like a trigger) and this big scary monster builds up and wants to eat pounds and pounds of it. So my way to cope is to simply avoid these foods since they aren't vital to my health and nutrition requirements. For some reason, I have a very difficult time with these:

GA! These must have some kind of powerful drug in them that makes them irresistible! It would be nearly impossible for a bag to last more than 24 hours in my home (sick). I haven't had them in at least a year and don't struggle passing by them in the store anymore. They are off limits because I feel so gross after I eat them. It's really almost laughable they have a "nutrition" label. They really aren't FOOD! But now I know WHY, because this book tells me there's a very good reason I react this way to these sugary+fatty+salty crunchy triangles!

I have completely enjoyed reading this book by David A. Kessler, MD "Your Food is Fooling You" and would highly recommend it to anyone who struggles with controlling themselves around processed foods (yeah, cause who wants MORE salad!?! Do you ever really crave ANOTHER apple?!) It is the "teen" version of "The End of Overeating", which is a thick book that sat on my nightstand until the library demanded it back. But this thin paperback version is awesomely readable!

He has put words and expressions to my suspicions and I feel really empowered knowing that my hunches about some of my favorite (non)foods (especially from restaurants) are valid! I read this book to my children and we now joke about some of the products that are out there masquerading as food, but that's really not a joke! More and more I'm choosing foods that nourish my body-ME!-that's so exciting!