My friend Tara and I took our daughters to the Tennessee Aquarium for the afternoon. Tara’s three-year-old daughter Marcie fell on a crowded ramp outside the Gentoo and Macaroni Penguin Gallery and bruised her knee.

Tara scooped Marcie up, carried her to a bench, and cradled her on her lap.

Upon examination of Marcie’s knee, Tara found no need for need for medical attention. Always a prepared mother, she reached in her handbag and pulled out a Care Bears Band-Aid. She applied it to Marcie’s knee and gave her a hug and kiss.

Marcie quickly recovered, and we continued our aquatic tour.

On the ride home, Marcie spied Golden Arches off in the distance.

“Mommy, my hurt knee needs French fries.”

Children, like adults, can find creative ways to get what they want.

Most people, when asked to identify a drug, are more likely to select a line of cocaine over a Happy Meal, yet food, as with other licit and illicit substances, can be used to medicate physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual pain.

Unlike cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, food is legal, easily accessible, affordable, and socially acceptable.

We need to eat to main health, but binging to self-medicate is a temporary faux-fix that can lead to weight gain, feelings of guilt, regret, depression, and malnutrition.

To avoid anestitizing your pain with food:

• Be honest with yourself about your relationship with food.
• Be aware of when you are eating and your motives are. An effective tool for increasing your awareness of what you are eating, and why, is s a food journal. Record the time you eat, what you eat, the amount, and how you are feeling emotionally, psychologically, physically and spiritually. Look for patterns to emerge.
• Certain medications, both prescribed and over-the-counter, can affect appetite, blood sugar, and mood. Discuss concerns with your physician or pharmacist.
• Stay hydrated so your body doesn’t mistake dehydration for hunger.
• Make healthy food choices and eat when you are physically hungry.
• If you need help, get it.

A valuable resource for research is The Something Fishy Website on Eating Disorders:

Information on Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder, Compulsive Overeating. Eating Disorders definitions, signs and symptoms, physical dangers, treatment finder, online support and much more.

Tara did not get off at the next exit and take her daughter to McDonald’s.

“Your knee is okay, Marcie. I’ll look at it again when we get home. How about let’s all sing your favorite song, ‘The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round?’”

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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