Food -- The Substitute

Food...ever notice how many things food stands in for?

One of the reasons that we use food as a convenient substitute for sleep, sex, love, time to relax, or time to be creative is that it is easier to eat something than it is to tackle the bigger issues in our lives. It's easier to eat or drink something with caffeine than it is to find time to take a nap or get enough sleep that we don't need one. It is easier to eat when we are lonely and want love or intimacy than it is to find a partner who will give us those things. Food is by far easier than finding time to relax. And yet, eating to fulfill our need for sleep, intimacy, relaxation, or time to follow our creative muse leaves us unsatisfied and emotionally empty because our basest of needs have not been met, only covered up for a time with too much food.

One of the things that it is important for us as we follow an intuitive eating approach is how food is standing in for other things...and how we can give ourselves the things we really want and need so that we will not need to use food to satisfy needs that it was never intended to satisfy.