We are hungry, so we eat. But what
is happening in our bodies when we are not hungry, but eat anyhow? Oftentimes,
we are craving something, and for some reason or another, food is the most
convenient thing to satisfy that craving. We think we are craving food, but in
actuality, we are craving something else.
We only seek to fill the void with food.
However, the food never fills the void. I want to introduce you to three
types of eaters who do this…
meet
my friend Shelly…
Shelly just got finished eating a
nice size lunch about 15 minutes ago. It
was fulfilling and satisfying. Shelly now decides to watch television. After a few minutes, she goes to the kitchen
and looks in the cabinets and grabs a bag of chips. She then sits back down to reads a few pages
of a book. After a few minutes, she is
up again and stands with refrigerator open, pondering what to eat. What kind of
eater is Shelly? Shelly is THE BORED
EATER. Have you ever been “the bored
eater?” Bored signifies a lack of
interest with what you are doing. When you are a bored eater, you don’t eat
because you are hungry. You eat here
because you may lack interest in something you are doing and just seek to put
something good in your mouth to offset your boredom, though the food never
really accomplishes this task. Here, you
BELIEVE your mind is not being entertained enough, so you try to offset it with
food…
Meet
Tasha…
Tasha goes to a buffet. She stuffs her plate with everything that
looks good to her including fried catfish, cheese dip and chips, hushpuppies,
and hamburger steak with gravy. She eats
as much as she can off her plate and then internally says, “I’m full.” But she thinks again, “I paid too much for
this meal! It is a buffet!” So she goes back to the buffet line and fills
her plate up again with fried chicken, French fries, fried okra, and corn on
the cob. She is full again, but
remembers that it is a buffet, and there is more food available. So Tasha goes to the carving station and gets
a few slices of turkey, some mashed potatoes and gravy, and some white
rice. When she has finished this off,
she decides she must have dessert. So
she gets a piece of red velvet cake, a small brownie, a cup of ice cream, and
some grapes in a bowl. I know you may be thinking, “no woman could possibly eat
that much food.” You would be surprised. What type of eater is Tasha? Tasha is THE GREEDY EATER. Greedy can be
defined as a selfish desire beyond reason. Have you ever been “the greedy
eater?” When you are a greedy eater, you
don’t eat because you are hungry. Here,
you eat because of an internal selfish desire; a WILL to have more. You BELIEVE
you need more because of some cost you have had to pay (whether financially or
otherwise). Here your eyes are usually determining what you eat…
Meet
Tiffany
Tiffany and her boyfriend just broke
up. She is depressed. She sulks in a bowl of ice cream. After that, she drives to McDonald’s and eats
a hamburger, medium fries, and a small chocolate shake. She goes back home and then snacks on some
cookies. What type of eater is
Tiffany? Tiffany is THE EMOTIONAL EATER. Have you ever been “the emotional
eater?” Emotional eaters are led by
their ever-changing emotions. Emotional
is defined as markedly aroused or agitated by a certain intense feeling. When you are an emotional eater, you don’t
eat because you are hungry. Matter of fact, here, you could be hungry and still
not eat. Here, your eating or not eating
is tied to a FEELING OR AN EMOTION. You believe, therefore you feel. That
feeling can be pain, depression, fear, anger, low self-image. That feeling could also be happiness, or
excitement.
In all these scenarios, there were choices to be made. These
are not terminal conditions a person is subjected to, but temporary situations
that require choices. We have choices of productive activities that can enhance
our lives more than eating food past hunger.
It is always a choice. Now, we can’t always predict when these
situations will happen to us, nor can we predict our reaction. But we can put
our minds in a stance of “I won’t use food when I’m not hungry. I will use
something else productive.” That something else could be exercising, journaling,
calling a friend, or even doing something creative or artistic with your hands.
Find a productive way to channel things. Even for the greedy eater, though
self-control is necessary, self can be directed towards conversing and
fellowshipping with those at the table versus over indulging in the food.
Honestly, our minds are better able to
handle conversational overfeeding than our bodies are able to handle force feeding
it food.
Until Next time….
-Jenelle N. Robinson
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