Raw Comfort

We all have our "comfort foods"....the foods we turn to when we need some kind of comfort in our lives. It can be to ease some emotional upset, to warm the body on a chilly day, or to celebrate some occasion. There are any number of events in our lives that will have us seeking out foods that may not be good for us, but serve to temporarily make us feel better.

I learned to use food to stuff my emotions and comfort me from a variety of hurts at a very young age. When I was 3 I watched my mother buy jelly doughnuts to make a bad day better. From that, a pattern was established that lasted a lifetime. It was always at odds with my interest in good health and nutrition, and ruined more diets than I can count. When I was about 13 I began to realize that eating a whole bag of potato chips or a hot fudge sundae was not something I should be doing. While I was able to cut out those two things, I found other foods I felt were better to binge on. It led to a more personal quest of foods I liked that still served the same purpose. Breads, starches in general, and fats were my favorites. They had to match the mood somehow by color, texture, and flavor. I could spend hours discussing all the foods I made rationalizations for that were "better" for me than what my mom was eating, but none of them gave me better health or real comfort.

Dealing with the reasons why I needed to eat these foods didn't come for a long time. When I did finally start to examine all the reasons I wanted to eat comfort food, the list was overwhelming. I had lots of issues in my life that I had been working on for a long time, but eating comfort food was always my first stop. I could eat if I was sad, lonely, upset, depressed, or even bored. Then, of course eating to celebrate any and all happy occasions was a given. It seems my answer to everything in life was to eat and it had to be just the right things...my comfort foods.

I remember talking with a woman a long time ago who had lost a lot of weight. She made the comment that food was just fuel for the body. WHAT?!!! How could you just eliminate such pleasure from your life? It opened my eyes to the fact that I was at one extreme and she was at another. Surely there was a way to reconcile good health with enjoyable foods. But how could I accomplish that when I needed to find a way to take care of myself emotionally?


Thankfully eating raw has stopped the madness. The emotions are much more calm and my health is improving. I still need ways to comfort myself periodically and still look to food to do it. You will notice days that I eat way too many fats and I know it has slowed down my weight loss, but at least now things are finally under control. When I get cold I grab a cup of hot tea, or a blanket, or go take a hot bath. When feelings arise I notice them and allow myself to feel them. I have volumes of journals filled with my emotions. My life is finally turning around and I am so grateful. It has taken me a lifetime to learn how to deal with life and maintain my health, but I have arrived.

Today I ate:
Breakfast: Muesli with walnuts and almonds, sunflower and chia seeds, dried apricots, banana, apple and almond milk.
Lunch: The last of the raw lasagna.
Supper: Corn chowder with corn, sunchokes, green pepper, onion, carrots and cashews.

The Search for Comfort

It has been a cold, rainy day here today and I have been looking for ways to stay warm all day. The smell of ham leftovers in the house remind me of how I used to make bean soup after Easter. On a day like today, that would have been a welcome comfort food. But I don't eat like that any more and any thoughts of eating meat are very repulsive to me now.

I have been at a loss when desiring food for warmth or comfort and it makes me realize just how much I used food to insulate myself from everything. I think I was a classic compulsive overeater and I still see the telltale signs. I am just using raw foods now, which is still healthier, but hasn't dealt with the real issues. Perhaps in time some of the drive to eat for comfort will diminish, but right now I am just grateful I don't have cravings for a lot of the junk I used to eat. I will find other ways to deal with being cold or having memories that I used to stuff down.

On Monday I ate:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with banana, orange, spinach and collards.
Lunch: Crudites with leftover Springtime Herb Dip.
Supper: Citrus Avocado Salad with romaine lettuce, celery, grapefruit, orange, avocado, and a dressing of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, agave nectar and olive oil.

On Tuesday I ate:
Breakfast: A couple of lettuce wraps with romaine lettuce, cucumber, carrots and sprouts.
Lunch: Citrus Avocado Salad again.
Supper: Corn chowder with corn, green onion, chives, cashews, sea salt, red bell pepper and shallots.

Did my Body Flex both days.