Days later, our hearts remain raw and reeling. The tears continue. We can’t escape the images of the horror of the events in Newtown. Online and on TV, each picture of a town in turmoil more heart wrenching than the last.
Yes, we are a health and fitness website, but how do we talk of miles to run when we are paralyzed in grief, unable to move? How do we speak of healthy holiday eating strategies, when we are all sick to our stomachs?
Have you been cloaked in a blanket of heaviness ever since Friday? I have. And has that heaviness led you to be staring into the fridge ready to grab anything and everything, regardless of whether you just ate an hour ago? Has it led you to refill that vanilla vodka on the rocks? Or work your way to the bottom of a bag of potato chips? I have been fighting the urge to do each one of those things with minimal success. Sadness= comfort food. My brain is trained to equate the two.
There is a common expression among Weight Watcher members. “If hunger is not the problem, food is not the solution.” I suspect we are all feeling a bit vulnerable these days. Take extra care of you. Be extra KIND to you, extra forgiving. Chances are strong you will feel worse if you turn to binging as your outlet, as a way of channeling your sorrow. I guarantee it will not lessen. And you will have added a new layer to your cloak: guilt.
So what to do then? Emotional eating is not the answer. Don’t eat your emotions. Cry, yell, scream them. But do not eat them. Get outside for a walk. Donate to a charity supporting the victims of Newtown. Call a friend. Write a letter. Dust off your journal. Chew gum. Turn your face toward the sun. Read a book. Plan something – anything, one tiny thing you can look forward to – for tomorrow.
We know you all join everyone here at The Sisterhood in praying for the victims in Newtown and for their loved ones, and for the survivors. They are forever changed. We are all forever changed.
Tags: #emotionaleating, #healing, #sandyhook, #schoolshooting, newtown
Category: The Sisterhood