SimplyMom: The Parable of the Pound Cake

Posted by Mary

File this one under Body Wise - or unwise, as the case may be. I had been doing pretty well on my diet. That is to say, I have been trying my best to make better choices when I eat, to choose healthy snacks and not eat past a certain time of day (which, I admit, flucuates depending on whim, hunger, and the arrival of the ice cream truck).

But yesterday I learned something about myself and my eating habits. It was a revelation, if you will, and I'd like to share it with you. Yesterday morning I didn't go into work because my sitter is, of all things, in DisneyWorld. Son number one had an early class, so I was waiting for him to return to watch Baby Sister for a couple of hours so I could go to the office. (Isn't juggling amazing, ladies?) As I was waiting for his return, I was working on some edits of a huge cover story for a health magazine. I was on deadline with this, and the edits were painful (every change seemed to weaken the original story), so I was already really stressed.

And then, the computers went down. Yes, I said computers - with an S. In our house we have two desktops and two laptops. All four went down at once - were thrown offline for some unknown (at least to me) reason. I tried all four, and I couldn't for the life of me get any of them to respond properly. I mean, was it asking too much to have one (out of four, mind you) work when a deadline is looming, I'm stressed to the max and time is ticking away?

Believe me, I tried everything. Nothing was working, and I started getting really really snappy with Baby Girl, who started crying that I was going to get fired. Yeah, that helped. Anyway, I turned to hush her when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the pound cake on the kitchen counter. And I did what any stressed out emotional eater would have done at that moment - I started slicing, then devouring, pound cake.

Now, I didn't eat the whole pound cake. But I probably finished off a half pound before I stopped myself and realized what I was doing. I was stressed, so I was eating. Now, there are numerous things I could have done to relieve my emotions - I could have prayed, I could have exercised, I could have taken ten deep breaths or called a friend. I could have taken a walk (which is what I did in my teenage days) or taken a nap (Baby Girl willing, of course.) But I choose to eat.

Now, this was like a light in the wilderness to me. All along I thought I could become more body wise if I made better choices when I was eating, but apparently my problem is a little deeper-rooted than that. The truth is, I need to examine why I'm eating - and what I'm not doing that I should be. I mean, I should be turning to God, my family and my friends for comfort and help in times of stress. But I've replaced those things with food, which is not only disrespectful but also downright unhealthy.

What am I goign to do with this revelation? Good question. But it's something I'll probably integrate into future BodyWise entries - so stay tuned!

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SimplyMom: The Parable of the Pound Cake

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