Mood by Food

I have a weakness for bread. Whole-grain. Rye. Unleavened. Focaccia. Suffice to say, that I'm enamoured with a multi-cultural tour around the bread-baskets of the world.

Butter? Who needs it when bread is melt-in-your-mouth fresh?

Last week, friends come over for lunch, bearing, not fishes, but loaves, or rather, variants thereof.

I over-indulged; it was a nice accompaniment to this Cream of Asparagus Soup and the other bowls and plates of comestibles that constituted a "Kaye's Lunch".

I paid the price by tossing and turning my way through that never-ending night. I know that it was directly attributable to over-indulging in carbs. It was no surprise that I was not in the best of moods the following day. Mood brought to a body nearby, courtesy of food.

There was a time when I wouldn't have drawn a correlation between the sweats and what I had consumed earlier. It simply would not have been in my awareness.

That ability to see the relationship between what I do and how I feel is strengthened by regularly practicing stress techniques. This allows for a deeper understanding and a more intuitive approach to life. Stress distracts.

Here is how it works:  

  • Awareness - if you know you are doing something that is not your highest interest, you can catch it sooner
  • Knowledge - of course, catching the behaviour doesn't make a big difference unless you understand why it's important to replace it and what to do in lieu of it
  • Practice - lots and lots of time to practice, so that the target behaviour becomes an unconscious and wanted habit

Of course, there's more at issue, like why I over-indulged in the first place. I will slice into that in a future post.

Start noticing how you feel when you consume certain foods. Does the type of food you indulge in depend upon your emotional state?

3 Replies to “Mood by Food”

  1. Awareness, Knowing, but what about discipline! Motivation? I know what you mean about overindulgence. That control is the biggie though! Good post! Have you ever checked out the SITS network? SITS stands for “The Secret Is In The Sauce”. This is a network for people, women mostly, to share comments and give others a chance catch a glimpse of their blog. I think more people should be made aware of your site! I have their button on my “Sixty Is Just The Beginning” if you’re interested.

  2. Marianna, but the joy of an epicure is instant gratification and pay the price later! While I indulge, I fully know that I shall pay the price later!

  3. Judy,
    Good question in regard to discipline. I wanted to apply the KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Sweetie – when getting people to apply stress techniques.

    Thanks for introducing me to SITS – I’ll have a look later.

    Ramana,
    I’m over-joyed! 😉

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