A Splash of Color! Eat With Your Eyes...

They say you eat with your eyes first - so why not make your food as visually pleasing as possible?

I know that many of you will say it's because you don't have time for all that. 

Well, I am here to challenge you to make a little time for it and really - it takes more thought then it does time.

My water - just a bit of lemon to make it more appealing.  You could add any fruit really. How about sliced oranges or berries?

 I was at Trader Joe's and wanted to pick up some plum or grape tomatoes and then saw these Mini Heirloom Tomatoes.  Of course I had to pick these!

 Not only is color important, but size and texture can make your food even tastier.  Yes, it's true!

 Berries of different color, size and texture are perfect to add to your water, salad or as a side dish.

My mom is Korean and has always been very picky about the presentation of food.  She would often say that she didn't like a food if it was ugly.  It used to make me laugh, but now I know what she means.  We went out to a Mexican restaurant once and she received her plate and it was all browns and white and neutral in color due to the beans, white cheese and rice, etc.  It was all melted into one form on the plate.  She was like "What is THIS? Yuck!" and we were all so embarrassed.  We had the same thing and it TASTED great.  But she never ate any of it.  Said it made her lose her appetite.  

Well, that may have been a bit extreme on her part - but I now know that it only takes a little more effort to make a nice presentation. 

I am learning on Whole30 that I have to change the way I look at food.  It is a fuel for my body.  It will either make me MORE HEALTHY or LESS HEALTHY - but this does not mean that I can't enjoy it.  It doesn't mean that I can't have a healthy passion for what I cook and how I prepare my meals.  I am fighting some serious EMOTIONAL TIES to food.  But I don't want to break up with food.  It's a necessity.  I might as well enjoy it.  I think part of it is that I am a very visual person.  There are some people that could eat some chicken breast, side of cauliflower and mashed potatoes and be totally okay with it.  Personally, I felt like crying just typing that out. So bland and monochromatic. Okay, too far? Ha! Not for me! Throw some broccoli and red peppers on that plate!

So.  Add some color to your plates. Think about how you are going to plate your food and see if you can take a simple meal and make it look super special, just by adding a pretty plate or a handful of colorful mixed greens or by slicing the meat a certain way.

Are you a visual person? Does what the appearance of your food matter to you?

Emotional/Stress eating...

I remember reading a quiz type thing in a magazine once where you could answer the questions and determine whether you had a food addiction or not...
One of the questions were, "Are you an emotional eater?"
Well, goodness. I don't know, I thought.  I eat when I'm happy, when I'm sad, nervous, when I'm upset, ...
You get the idea.  Any and every emotion warrants a good reason to eat as far as I was concerned.
So I answered, YES.

Well, although I have been physically feeling better, it just hit me after I had a tearful meltdown today, that I've been in a slump these last few days.  I may be slightly depressed.
Okay. The doctor flat out told me that I was depressed. Pfft. What does he know?
You see, I never thought I had a problem with depression because I've seen depressed people.
They are a sad case.  I'm not like that. I've got it together. Silver lining and all that good stuff.
Alright. Maybe my depression looks a little different from others and that's a whole other issue
that I'm dealing with - but here's the thing - today, I am feeling down.
Now, please - you do not need to text or call or whatever,
because frankly, I will probably deny this whole post and say I'm all better and Isssssokaayy...
but, I started to eyeball that cake I mentioned in the previous post.
You know, the moist red velvet bunt cake that's on my counter?  Oh, yes - THIS ONE! Yikes!

I promptly made some bacon and eggs and had some coffee with some sugar-free pumpkin spice creamer.
Obviously, the creamer is a huge NO as far as being primal or paleo, I know that.
Stop looking at me. It's my one thing - okay and an occasional diet soda. I know, it's poison. Anyway...
And then my thoughts started wandering to that package of ramen noodles that's in the pantry...
RAMEN NOODLES people!!
Then it hit me.  I am in a slump and I am starting to want stuff that, FIRST OF ALL is just crap and second of all I don't even normally like.
I had to get a hold of myself.  I started thinking about how I felt and how normally, I would have gone ahead and had the cake and then made the ramen and who knows where I would have gone from there?
That grossed me out.  I didn't want that junk.
So I am going to do the stair running I had planned, then jump in the shower and put on makeup and finish writing out the final details for Naomi's little get-together with her friends.  Then I am going to be in my art room making some orders that came in. Stay busy. Stay active. Do something pleasant.

I am an emotional eater. Once the junk is gone, it will not return to this house - so temptation shouldn't be a problem.  Glad though, that I STOPPED and thought about what I was about to do.  I actually pictured myself eating all of that and then imagined how I would feel afterward. Nope. Not worth it.

Crisis averted THIS TIME.  Are you an emotional eater? Do you give in to it? How do you fight it? Let me know!