Smith - Eat your feelings: the Food Mood Girls guide to transforming your emotional eating

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To my adorable pup, Winnie Cooper.
May your mood be ever improved from eating
all the scraps off the kitchen floor during the creation of this book.

You are not alone.

What started as just another Tuesday morning in September, with my normal morning meditation routine, turned into stress city by midafternoon. Between coaching students, answering emails, and dealing with the daily tasks of being a human, I had had enough adulting for one day. However, since it was only noon and I still had a million things on my to-do list, I had no choice but to trudge forward.

At about two p.m., I was mentally spent, stressed, and feeling blue. The second I sat back in my chair to take a break, I felt an urge come upon me.

I needed chocolateand I needed it immediately.

I ventured downstairs to see what kind of confections I could find in my pantry. As soon as I passed my dining room, before I even made it to the kitchen, I saw my husband look up at me with what I only remember as a questioning look. It was as if he knew what I was about to do.

Instead of hiding it, I looked over and said, Yes, Im eating my feelings right now, and proceeded to walk into the kitchen to grab a dose of dark chocolate.

As I made my way out of the kitchen, I caught another glimpse of him before I hit the stairs to go back to my office and casually mumbled, Dont judge me.

The words dont judge me used to echo in my subconscious after I ate something I didnt think I should be eating. I carried guilt into every food I felt like I shouldnt have and typically felt worse after eating anything I labeled as bad. Sure, I felt good temporarily. After a candy bar, I felt like I could conquer the world. An hour later, though, I felt dead to the world. This roller-coaster relationship with food could only last so long before something needed to change.

The way I eat my feelings now is much different from how I ate my feelings when I was growing up. I used to use bad food as a reward system. If I went to the gym, I deserved a pizza, and when I started to write, if I wrote two thousand words, I would get some chocolate. I sometimes would pretend I was competing at the Olympics, except the game was normal life tasks and the prize was Sour Patch gummies, the holy grail of food rewards.

It wasnt until I stopped and actually listened to what my body was telling me that I realized that what we eat greatly impacts how we feeland also how we feel can impact what we eat. Most times a piece of kale will not be able to fix a heartbreak, just like chocolate is not the answer to all your problems at work. (Sorry if you are just finding this out!) Sometimes we need nourishment beyond food and should incorporate what I call lifestyle foods in our diet. So maybe kale wont fix your heartache, but a listening ear might help start the healing process. I learned that if you allow yourself to dig just a little bit deeper and learn to feel your feelings rather than stuff them, you can actually find out what you are lacking that food cant possibly solve.

Once you get to know your body, you will begin to understand that you can truly eat your feelings for the benefit of your body and mindand not just as a temporary mood stabilizer that usually results in a worse mood later on.

Instead of looking at food as good or bad, you will instead learn to simply nourish your body with foods that make you feel good. Sometimes its healthy greens and proteins and other times you might just want that chocolate brownie.

So when I say eat your feelings, what I mean is that if you are feeling sad, stressed, exhausted, hangry, or bored, you can find comfort in dishes you love and tend to gravitate toward or crave. But instead of processed ingredients, you can make them with mood-boosting ingredients that will nourish you physically.

Its okay to feel sad and gravitate toward something like ice cream. This book gives you the opportunity to do thatand simultaneously improve your mood.

If you are reading this, you are a miracle. That puts you right up there with the Pyramids of Giza, Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal, and cheese. (Seriously, have you had a creamy hunk of smoked Gouda before? That is what I call miraculous.)

Your body is like a magical machine that is constantly working for you and through you. It breathes without reminders to do so. Its heart beats to keep you alive. Yes, it even digests that half-chewed candy bar you scarfed down while you were hangry. And it did it all with love, hoping for nothing but the best results in keeping you happy, healthy, and alive.

When it comes to food and your body, the Food Mood Lifestyle is one that honors your unique body. Every shape, size, and style is to be celebrated, not shamed. Its one where your mental health has more value than a carefully orchestrated Instagram photo ever will. Its about eating good and healthy food because you love your body, not because you dont.

The Food Mood Lifestyle believes that your food choices impact your mood as much as your mood impacts your food choices. More important, the Food Mood Lifestyle recognizes that food provides physical nutrients as well as emotional and spiritual nutrients. Some days, a kale juice gives your body the nutrients it needs. Other days, no food can substitute for a friend, loved one, or coworker giving you a hug or telling you that you are valued. And sometimes, you just want a damn piece of chocolate cake, without guilt and with all the love.

There is always room for pure comfort. Sometimes no matter how hard you try to re-create Grandmas apple pie, its not actually Grandmas Apple Pie. So in those moments, indulge in the real thing, without guilt and with all the love. And now when I go for that dark chocolate, its because Im listening to my body and truly eating my feelings for the benefit of my body, not for an emotional escape. I instead eat chocolate because it contains ingredients that can help physically nourish my mind and improve my mood. Your body will thank you when you give it what it needs.

The Food Mood Lifestyle does not judge. It believes that everyone is on their own unique journey and path. We need our stories, experiences, ups, and downs to take us along the path, to feel the feelings of life, and to savor the magic that is within us.