Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Food, you are no friend of mine.

Do you ever get into a slump, emotionally? The past ten days have been like that for me. We've been dealing with some difficult personal issues and I've felt sad, lonely, and depressed. I'm in a rut and I know it.

Not coincidentally, my ability to resist bad food has been weak too. I keep finding myself opening the pantry door, or staring into the fridge. I've never really considered myself an emotional eater, more like a social eater. But this morning as I was contemplating throwing my calorie range out the door for the day, I realized something. FOOD IS NOT GOING TO FILL ME UP. I'm empty inside, and food will not fill that hole. It will not give me courage and faith. It will not make me feel valuable and loved. It will not bring me happiness and peace. I know that... in theory. The application is a little tricky. When did food become a coping mechanism for me?

8 comments:

  1. Oh Mindy, I feel the same way about food. I wish it were easy to just eat what our bodies need, not what our emotions need. It's such a day to day tug a war! Hang in there, I think you are wonderful!

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  2. I read your post and thought to myself, "When did I write this?" Oh, wait, it has Mindy's name on it. I know how you feel. I think many of us on here know how you feel. Chin up (and mouth closed?)!

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  3. I'm sad that you feel sad, lonely and depressed. You are not alone.

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  4. Mindy, it's been a really difficult couple of weeks for us too. And I'm totally depressed and feel as if I can't do what I have to do in this pregnancy. For me, I eat when I'm bored. Which seems like all the time. But I open my fridge and pantry and there is nothing that I want to eat. Maybe you can buy things that take a lot of preparation, so then as your preparing, you can ask yourself if you are really hungry, or just sad. I'm so excited to see you in a little more than a month!! Hang in there, I love you!

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  5. Aw, Mindy... I hope things look up for you. Ten days can seem like a very, very long time. I just went through 5 days that seemed to last forever.

    I wonder if it would be helpful if we all tracked our cycles and figured out this mood slump thing scientifically...then we could all predict the valleys and shore up our resources, Free range days, and know with certainty that the slump will pass and the energy and joie de vivre will come back and be twice as long as the slump.

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  6. Mindy- I thought the exact same thing as Dragonfly, "is this me writing this post". I am so sorry you are having such a hard time. That darn food. Why does it seem like it solves all our problems. I am getting so sick of it! Man Mindy, I just looked at your point totals. You sure are rocking this challenge for having such a hard time! Good job!

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  7. Thanks ladies. I'm going to the temple tomorrow, so hopefully things will be looking up after that. Lately, being in the temple is like recharging for me. when I leave, I feel like life is totally manageable. If I don't go often enough, I simply do not cope well. Plus, it's almost "that time of the month".

    One of the things I've learned from this blog is that EVERYONE is dealing with something. We are all working through stuff. I can't tell you how many posts I've read and thought, "Wow! I'm not the only one who is struggling!" That is very comforting to me! Thanks for being so open and honest! I think that's pretty unusual in the blog world.

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  8. I hope your trip to the temple lifts you up. It was great to talk to you this week. A big cross country hug to you! Miss you and love you!

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