Hmm...triple chocolate layer cake or sugar free jello?

I can’t believe how much I rely on food to satisfy my emotional cravings!  A very close friend of ours passed away recently.  He was an amazing guy and I really miss him. 

After the memorial service, the church ladies had prepared a lovely luncheon and if you’re a church goer you know that nobody cooks or bakes like the church ladies!  I bee-lined it right to the Nanaimo Bars adjacent to the Double Fudge Chocolate Brownies.  I felt an instant calm as I savoured the first bite.   

Not automatically reaching for “comfort food” is torture.  I can’t just whip up a batch of my soft, gooey, chocolate chip cookies or my decadent Irish Cream fudge.  Just eating a few of those warm cookies fresh out of the oven could melt away a day of stress or lighten my mood.  I’ve found that choking down dry popcorn or eating low fat yogurt topped with ten little peanuts just doesn’t cut it!

According to the doctors at MayoClinic.com, “Emotional eating is eating as a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness.”  They continue, “In fact, your emotions may become so tied to your eating habits that you automatically reach for a sweet treat whenever you’re angry or stressed without stopping to think about what you’re doing.

My emotions must be cemented to my eating habits.  Which in turn are cemented to my hips!  So I need to adopt a few “calorie free” ways to face my stress and emotions. Anyone have any suggestions?  I’d love to hear from you.  See you next Tuesday!

This one’s for you RJ.

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All the pre-Christmas chaos makes me crazy!  I don’t know about you but I think holiday stress bends your brain.  You get caught up in the frenzy of it all – especially the shopping.  And I can’t even blame my old friend perimenopause for turning me into a bit of a she-monster!
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Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone and our American friends are about to celebrate their festive holiday.  I missed talking about Thanksgiving in October so I thought it appropriate to share my family’s holiday frivolity with you now.
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