One, not ten

I am an emotional eater. I feel like I am at an addiction group where you stand up and say, "Hi, I'm Mali and I'm a ____________." The truth is I bake as a stress reliever and consume inordinate amounts of sugary foods to handle my emotions. Coincidence? I don't think so.

So last week, I had an AHA moment. I only need one cookie not ten. It takes only one cookie to satisfy the sugar need and the other nine are pure emotion. I created a mantra— "Only one is needed." So far this is working. It also helps to bake my cookies using healthy ingredients and dates as the sweetener. This week they are mini oatmeal chocolate chip hazelnut cookies. Delicious! However one day this week, the one cookie was a giant GF vegan cookie. Even though this one cookie was probably 5-6 times the size of my mini cookies at home, I didn't beat myself up for consuming it. Instead, I made having this cookie an experience and relished every bite. Thankfully, I don't live near the bakery where I bought it otherwise, I would be in big trouble (and need a longer belt).

The other food people eat when they are emotional is salty food. I'm guilty of this too. Don't get me started on the sweet and salty combo like chocolate-covered potato chips. The production and consumption of these should be outlawed. And of course, you can't eat just one chip. I decided to keep my emotional eating to sugary foods. Now and then a slice of good chocolate cake is needed. Downing a giant bag of corn chips is never needed. And for me, salted popcorn doesn't do the trick especially if there is no butter on it.

In addition to sugary and/or salty foods, most of us have that one food that is emotional comfort (and poisonous to our weight loss plans). For me, it is peanut butter. No jar is safe from a spoon in my hand. As a kid, my mother used to make peanut butter for my sister and I. This stuff was so good. Now there are so many "healthier" peanut butter options that buying it isn't so unhealthy. Every year for the holidays, I bake a friend a batch of peanut butter swirl brownies. I buy the Whole Foods Brand peanut butter with no added sugar and salt. The rest of the jar could disappear in minutes or if my willpower kicks in, it could disappear in days. Justin's has peanut butter in single-serve packets. One is enough to add to two protein shakes or mix in a batch of mini oatmeal cookies. No more buying peanut butter by the jar for me!

The point of this rambling is that most of us have emotional triggers that send us to raid the refrigerator or pantry. Tuning into my mind and body has allowed me to understand these triggers and deal with them in a constructive way. Already, I see the scale going down since I created the mantra. The emotion I feel is happiness.