Wednesday, March 24, 2010

‘It’s not in here …. ‘

Yesterday I was unexpectedly house-bound with a sick toddler in tow. Needless to say, it was a day that I had a zillion things planned … one of which was to do a grocery shop while he was at school that morning. I had, as per normal, let my refrigerator and pantry sink to an embarrassingly bare level, with the goal being that on Tuesday morning I would be able to fast-track my week’s shopping because I wouldn’t have a pair of little legs or a pluthora of questions following my every move! All the best plans, and all that …. !

Within a matter of moments of calling my best friend here in Vegas, she had arrived at my door with all that an ailing toddler could want in the name of the ‘B.R.A.T’ diet (Banana, Rice, Applesauce and Toast), so as far as I could think at that point in time, we were all set to let this stomach gripe ride it’s journey.

Hilariously, the stomach gripe and toddler were the easy part. My biggest enemy was myself … aka, the wandering, slightly bored, less-than-stimulated mind, who had hoped to be doing a million things OTHER than sitting at home doing puzzles and cleaning floors! By about 11.30am after a pretty unexciting breakfast earlier in the day, I started wondering about what I would have for lunch. My son’s was sorted. BRAT or nothing. I, on the other hand, looked feverishly between fridge and cupboard until I really had to say out loud ‘no, there is nothing more exciting there. Deal with it’. This rather amusing moment (especially in hindsight!) reminded me of a great girlfriend here who, although much more adept at staying at home with her children, told me that she had recently written a note and put it on the refrigerator door. It reads something like ‘It’s Not In Here’. I love it. Suddenly I felt the need to do the same – but possibly staple it across both my pantry and refrigerator door so that neither could be opened again!!

The inter-connectedness between emotion and food has been the topic of thousands upon thousands of studies, and there are millions of people out there who are more qualified to write about it than me, but there it was, experienced first hand by Yours Truly, plain for all to see. I wasn’t hungry. I was frustrated and bored.

Thankfully, I don’t keep any deliciously decadent or nutritionally ‘naughty’ snacks in my house. I obviously know myself better than I think, and although these cupboard-scanning moments are less frequent than they could be, when the urge arrives, my senses are professionally honed into finding any ‘treat’ that might be hiding in my home!

Looking back, what I missed the most were a stock of apples (yes, plain old apples), which are my go-to when I have an attack of the ‘munchies’. I love apples. Sweet, crunchy and juicy. And apparently, I rely on them a hell of a lot more than I had thought! It just goes to show that the advice I so often give my clients ‘to surround yourself with good, easy, fresh foods so that you can make good choices when you feel like a snack’ really does help … and while no food should ever be consumed for any other reason than hunger, if emotion does push you towards the pantry, try and steer yourself to the fruit bowl! Hopefully it will yield more than mine did; a couple of slightly-passed-their-sell-by-date-lemons. 100% Useless.

No comments:

Post a Comment