I was so sleepy yesterday and I kept finding myself drawn to the idea of jamming a bunch of junk food in my face. There are a piles of cookies, chips and “health” bars around for people to snack on and I am usually pretty blind to them. Not yesterday. My brain was like “you should put Oreo cookies and peanut butter in some cereal and garnish it with crushed up potato chips!” Off the bat I would say that my tired brain is a traitor and has the pallet of a teenage stoner… but with a more empathetic look I see that I was missing home, feeling pissy from a lack of sleep and craving connection. It is true that our food cravings illustrate our emotional state. When we forget this and simply reach to fulfill a craving it can be an act of self abandonment. And this is where a viscous cycles begins. It is important to stop and check in. Ask ourselves “is my true desire Funyuns or am I feeling frustrated about something? Anxious maybe?” Asking ourselves questions like this does more than help us become aware of what we are feeling and avoid ungodly amounts if sodium or sugar. It teaches us that we will show up for ourselves. That we can be trusted to care about our own feelings rather than mute them or numb out when things get challenging. If we fail to stop and show ourselves this kind of care and attention it sets the bar for how we will allow others to treat us. It stands to reason that if we comfort ourselves with junk we will learn to recognize junk from others as care as well. That’s not what we are here for. We don’t want that superficial shit that comes with an expiration date. We want to be nurtured, mind, body and soul. Raise your hand if you would like to be more aware of what your cravings are trying to draw your attention to. Raise your other hand if you want a better coping mechanism than snacks that need full marketing teams to convince you that they are a good idea. Ok, you can put your arms down.. let’s do this!

Sweets: Generally speaks to sadness or depression. You want to feel better and sugar is a quick fix. It boosts your serotonin and dopamine levels but, not for long. Consider what has you feeling down. Get some exercise. Nothing happens if nothing moves, right? Call up that friend that always makes you laugh. If you still want a snack have some raw chocolate. It is the good kind of dope.

Salty and Crunchy: We are looking at stress, anxiety, frustration and anger. Do some deep belly breathing. Meditate. Journal. Answer this question: Have I been speaking up for myself enough? Have some roasted nuts or an apple with some almond butter.. or carrots with your favorite hummus.

Chewy: Oh man.. this used to be my thing! I ate gummy candy like it was going out of style. I even ate those gummy vitamins to justify my problem. I was very depressed at the time and hell bent on thinking my way out of it. I am here to say without a doubt that craving chewy food is a sign of having a lot of stuff on your mind, in other words a lot to chew on. I know, it makes me roll my eyes too but, it’s true! Have some dried fruit or nuts and go meditate. Turn your head off for a sec and watch it on the dried fruit. It is deceivingly high in sugar.

Binging: I want to be clear here, binging and over eating can be caused by nutrient deficiencies and I will revisit this in detail but today we are talking about our emotional body. If you find yourself over eating or binging you may be feeling lonely. The urge to feel full may speak to a lack of connection. You could be experiencing abandonment issues and to make it worse, as I mentioned earlier we often abandon ourselves. This is often coping. This is often a trauma response. Ask yourself what you are really hungry for. The answer is most likely something emotional or spiritual. Foster a loving relationship with yourself. Reach out for help. Know that you are not alone. So many people experience this. I have. Everyone has trauma. More on this to come.

Day 201: Succo-t-hash? Sweet Potatoes, corn, scallions, serranos and arugula with an egg on top. Cantaloupe and bloobs on the side. Oh and a bite of kimchi too, for obvious reasons.