Stress seems to be the triggering factor for me and a near miss for a cooked food stumble. Their seems to be a connection between the stomach and the emotions. I'm still all raw so alls well that ends well but I have noticed this connection between stress and having to come off "auto pilot" and take a temporary hands on the controls approach to eating. One thing about this pull is that it is diminishing as time continues. With each passing month I spend more of my time on "auto pilot" so that now I rarely have to go on manual control. I find that when stress causes my stomach to tighten up in a knot is when I feel an urge to eat "comfort foods" which I know to be unhealthy choices. Does anyone else experience a food - stress connection ?

I hear you EZ. Opinion:

-There is certainly a connection. Keep in mind though that you can't FIGHT stress. You can only spend more time/attention on finding out and pursuing what your REAL dreams and passions are. There is no CURE for not doing so....and not accepting the fears / anxieties / uncertainties that result as the ticket-price of entry into YOUR dreams.

-It is difficult/impossible to micro-manage alter stressful eating habits.....or eating disorders....by changing the frequency or content of the diet....that is only the logistical part....and it is much more important to address the strategy of proper goal-setting and core emotional stability that give rise to stable eating habits. In the mean time, people that simply throw all the junk food out of the house....will usually find a way to go back to junk food. It's compulsive.....in absence of higher-order decisions....do you follow? What do you think?

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

food addiction is an emotional addiction - at least for me it is! I stress eat, happy eat, sad eat.. you're doing great if you stayed the course. You're an inspiration to those of us just starting down this path.

Big time EZ. I think just what you are doing, bringing awareness to the situation ("oh, i notice my stomach feels tight, i am feeling a bit stressed, and i notice i am wanting to eat something i really would rather not. Interesting." is the key. figuring out what your emotional triggers are (some big ones for me are trying to get somewhere in a hurry in my car -- i'm always running late, or when i feel overwhelmed as a single parent) and coming up with creative ways to address those triggers.

breathing into the area of the body where stress is showing up really helps me. also negotiating with myself in some way to give myself some space and time (15 minutes, a few hours, the next day) to let any cravings subside ("you can have it tomorrow morning for breakfast if you still want it" or "you can have it if you still want it after you eat two apples". and like you, i find that i have to resort to these jedi mind tricks less and less often.

maui_butterfly -- Thats a great post with some ideas that I am going to try out A.S.A.P. Thanks for another nugget. :=)

Food-stress connection.?
Most definately.
I have turned to comfort foods(mostly in the bread and cheese family)during lonely depressing times.
Thank God I am finding out that lettuce leaves can be a comfort food.Not for the taste necessarily, but for the fact that you can eat them and it actually might help the depression.
Brian



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2008 10:51PM by Raw1228.

I had and still have this problem all my life.it is so compulsive that I can't stop eating,or trying to feel my emptness.
I just caught myself with carob and flax crackers and I this time I could stop and think if I was hungry or it was an "empt feeling" thing. It was the first time I could do that.After 1 minut I could stop eating.
It is one of the hardest thing on my life.

I heard that we have 3 bodies,physical,emotional and spiritual body.
The emotional; body is the one that wants the food,the comfort. Deep inside we were left without love and it made us look for food (drogs....) as a confort,and as a "friend" ,as a substitute for love.

Quote

Posted by: cy (IP Logged)
Date: April 10, 2008 05:15PM

The emotional; body is the one that wants the food,the comfort. Deep inside we were left without love and it made us look for food (drogs....) as a confort,and as a "friend" ,as a substitute for love.

What if you gave yourself permission to love yourself so much that it filled that void ?

cy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I heard that we have 3 bodies,physical,emotional
> and spiritual body.
> The emotional; body is the one that wants the
> food,the comfort. Deep inside we were left without
> love and it made us look for food (drogs....) as a
> confort,and as a "friend" ,as a substitute for
> love.

i hear you cy. thinking of it this way helps: we are never without love, only the awareness of love. love is what we ARE, seeking to become aware of ourselves as that. its a process, definitely. but deep inside, you are NOT empty, you are full beyond measure.

since raw foods i have experienced myself as love. coincidence, maybe. which came first, i don't know. when a love song i like comes on the radio or my ipod, i find myself singing it outloud to MYSELF: i want you, i need you, i'll always love you, you're the one for me! its fun! there are moments when i lose awareness of myself as love, when i feel lonely, sad, anxious, etc. but i find i am stringing more and more of the aware moments together.

EZ Rider



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2008 03:42AM by la_veronique.

"What if you gave yourself permission to love yourself so much that it filled that void ?"

Every now and again when my awareness peaks at that level, sometimes I want to cry. There's still a little bit of the old me that can't believe it/doesn't want to deserve it for whatever reason, but there's also the new me who knows that's all there really is. It is a process, sometimes, love and forgiveness, for those who have forgotten.

I had a powerful realization the other day that left me in tears. We can abuse the earth and our bodies as much as we want, commit whatever horrible atrocities we feel like, throw around greed, hate, and destruction--but all the earth and ourselves ever have to give in return is love. We can drink ourselves nearly to death with alcohol, and the body will just keep fighting to heal until it literally has NO resources left to fight. Cities will regrow into forests. It's all just forgiveness and love, and it's our home.

I know for me, personally, the bit of the old me that has a hard time accepting that has a lot of guilt and shame in regards to previous abuses. That's when I really get to feel the power of self-forgiveness...

I live in constant stress because of my environment. I live in a beautiful home, but my mom is a junk collector and keeps the house a huge mess. I clean and organize the house all day long when she's on vacation, but then she just comes home and messes it up immediately, even when I ask nicely 'please don't put your stuff on the kitchen table and on the couch in the family room - I have just spent eight hours cleaning and I appreciate you keeping it clean.'
Nothing works - she just left for vacation today and left her stuff EVERYWHERE. I need to move out before I have a nervous breakdown.

I keep my room clean...that helps. I sleep well in a clean room, and it's also where I meditate and do yoga.

There are so many contributors to stress. Over-exercising, under-exercising, messiness, poor digestion, toxins, etc. I feel best when I'm getting about 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity 5 days per week, eating raw, avoiding coffee, clean room, laundry done, no homework, no money issues...and unfortunately, I'm less stressed when I have the house to myself, including my cats being away.

Thanks Maui-Butterfly,I'm going to think on myself full beyond measure of so much love.In fact I'll do my pink circle meditation exercise like this: a pink ball full of love getting inside of my head filling me up with love and compation.
That will be wonderful and I'll give myself a permission to feel love EZ.
(I saw a BBC program once talking about a child's mind.The baby was so in love with the mom that he only did what she said or did.If she smiled to sombody he would smile,if not he wouldn't smile.He didn't need anything,even milk,only her as his lover,the love of his life that was himself in a mirror.Just beautiful.)

Hempola,my sister is like that,like your mom.I was completly crazy when I lived with her.I think that she was trying to tell me that she was in the house and that I wouldn't forget her,and also her mind was so confused that she couldn't clean up anything outside nor inside.

The less I try to control, the less stress I feel.