Emotional eating ~ erg! Why do we do it? Wellllll, because we have emotions that we don’t have the tools to cope with! Even when I have all the tools, I sometimes just get overwhelmed. Sheree Druskin and Caren Laboy of The Nutritious Moms have some great substitutes for us and really great ideas to help us move through the rough spots in life without sabbatoging ourselves with food that does not support us.

My kids are in their teen years and let me tell you, if I make it through this with my sanity in tact, I will consider myself blessed.  Not only is it painful to watch my kids maneuver around in the hormonal imbalances and emotional ups and downs, but, it brings my teen hood screaming to the surface! And these deep emotional things tend to propel me into emotional eating. The only way to move through it is with tools.  The tools help me heal myself and then become a positive mirror for them.

For a long time, those tools were all kinds of substances.

I thought that they would quell the  intensity of my feelings. They didn’t and so now I don’t. Then all of a sudden I realized that I was using food the same way that I used other things. Just trying to fill that empty hole in my soul. Sigh. The only way to fill that “hole” is with a spiritual practice. That can mean whatever you want it to mean, as long as it effects you in a positive nurturing way. Nature, self help groups, writing groups, 12 step groups, theology, yoga, empowerment seminars are just a few ways to follow a nurturing spiritual path and gathering healthy tools for life.

I walk a very deep spiritual path now ~ this path saved me from myself, from my own inner demons. There was no other answer for me, and that includes food as well.  Believe me, by the time I got to this understanding, I had tried Everything out there…xoK