Eating to create an emotion

[Mirya]

When I was younger my mother and I would bond watching movies and tv shows together and no that I am older I think that it has been engrained in me physically, psychologcaly and emotionally that when I watch tv im supposed to eat. When I get angry I want junk,when I am depressed i want junk, when I am happy i want junk. Is all connected to mom and her bad habits.

[deb79fl]

I can relate to the food/bond/mother issue. When I was in my early teens and at a healthy weight, my parents were going through one of several "rough patches". My mom's way of dealing with stress was to eat. She always had hidden foods in the house and it didn't take long before she drug me into it. We would go to the store to get the family groceries for the week and she'd almost always pick up a box of ice cream sandwiches or some sort of ice cream on a stick. Actually, usually two. Then, she'd open one and say have one, have another...we need to finish this before we get home, I don't want your dad to see the box. So, there we would sit in the parking lot and eat a whole box of ice cream. Welcome to to the world of binge eating!! Now, my mom didn't eat a lot, so she never gained weight. I was just into puberty, so I got a little heavier. Thankfully, after several episodes of this, the next time she suggested it, I said no thanks.. wasn't hungry. I had to do that several times, but, she finally stopped asking. Sad thing was, we always used food in our house to celebrate.. being Italian. We could have cake, pies, etc. in our house and I wouldn't think twice about not eating it. Now... if there is anything like that in my house, I have a hard time not eating it in one evening! So, we don't have it .. anymore.

I learned the wrong way to deal with stress.. by eating from my mom. I'm learning now how to deal with stress by not eating (off plan). Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

I've also come to realize that even though my mom taught me a lot of bad habits growing up, I have the power to stop blaming her for things that I continued to do that were harmful to me. I'm almost 47 years old and this year, I finally got a grip and knew that I had to let go of all the sh** that has been my emotional baggage that I drug into my adult life. I don't like a lot of things about my past, but, it is my past. My here, my now, that's what counts!

Life is too short, so I plan on making the best of whatever I have left... since I don't know if I'll live to be 90 or die tomorrow... no more regrets for me.

Food is a powerful tool/weapon. It is the one thing that can't be ignored, it's neccesary for survival and it's a powerful addiction. Be strong! It will get easier to stay on track! Some days you'll succeed, some days fail. But, learn from those times. Journal and remember how or why you might react to a given situation and try to handle it in a different way next time.

That's my rant on the subject!

[Dropzofjupiter29]

I am the same way when I watch tv, i think i should be munchin on somethin.

[DuchessOfDork]

My mom taught me a lot of bad habits.. always eating LOTS. My mom used to call me thin, even when I was 60lbs overweight. My parents yelled at me when I was little and didn't want to eat. If I left food on my plate I was reprimanded. They yelled at me if we went to a buffet and I only ate one plate. It's kind of weird, now that I think about it. We also at a lot of beans and rice, homemade bread, lots of sweets.. yeah. Not good habits. I never understood how come I was the fat kid, when I was on both the swim team and the soccer team. I was always exersizing but I was always fat.

Now, food has become like this thing that's always in the back of my mind. The anticipation of eating is the most exciting thing in the world. The actual eating part is boring.

[MrsBrittney]

Originally Posted by DuchessOfDork

Now, food has become like this thing that's always in the back of my mind. The anticipation of eating is the most exciting thing in the world. The actual eating part is boring.

I agree. We're an Italian family, so emotions were always met with intake. Much like the rest of the world, if anyone did something great, or just to catch up and reminse, food was involved. Whether it was a nice big dinner out because we'd gotten straight A's, a big dinner because so-n-so was in town, or movies and chips for a girls night in.. it was directly tied to food.

And on the other end of the spectrum, food was a comfort. A skinned knee? Have an ice cream. Parents fighting? Busy yourself with popcorn.

So I was happy - I was eating. And if I was sad - I was eating. I think thats how it is with a lot of us.

My husband is a perfect example of the opposite. His family is also Italian, but they celebrated with trips like camping or a day out biking. And they comforted each other with talking and support, not a meal. So he's thin and never finds the need to use food for either a great joy or a horrible sorrow.