The importance of mental health in our journeys... (Guest Author - Megan Daniels of Regain Royalty)

 

How We Deal With Emotional Eating

Hi, I’m Megan! Better known as Fatpeoplemagicruns on various social media platforms in the weight-loss surgery community. I’m from Troy, Alabama, an animal lover, a mom, and a tech nerd. I was invited to guest post on Mia’s behalf this week while she deals with the loss of a family member (hence the topic).

I had vertical sleeve gastrectomy in 2009. At my highest weight I was 525 pounds and at my lowest, I was 232 pounds. I regained 176 pounds and revamped my weight-loss journey back in March. The regain is coming off slowly but surely. I do Weight Watchers for the simplified food tracking and I run almost every day. Running is my thing. Nothing’s better than a good runner’s high. I recently started doing Canicross with my Boxer mix, whom I adopted from a local shelter.


Aside from my weight-loss journey, I’ve recently taken the reins on my mental health and was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder II, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. That’s quite the laundry list of crazy but what can you do besides fight the good fight every day and try to overcome life’s hurdles in the healthiest way possible. I just try to find inner peace in my hobbies and push through so that I can be the best mom to my four-year-old son.

Adapting recipes to be healthier versions of their guilty pleasured selves has been a hobby of mine for a while now. I find it therapeutic (and I definitely need a lot of that with all this crazy going on in my head) to take something my fat brain loves and flip it into something my skinny-to-be brain needs. I’ve had issues with emotional eating in the past since food has been a comfort for me my entire life, as it has been for many. Emotional eating after weight-loss surgery is somewhat of a taboo but it should be talked about. To counteract the tendency to emotionally eat, what I like to do are mental checks with myself. “Am I physically hungry or mentally hungry? When was the last time I ate? Do I need to drink water? What am I feeling right now?” These internal checks are my go-to when all I’m really wanting is comfort food on a bad day. I can’t say I haven’t given in to a failed mental check once or twice but that’s where the adaptation of a healthy spin on a heartwarming dish comes into play. This helps me make better nutritional choices when my mind, body, and spirit need just a little extra that day.


Earlier, I mentioned that I was diagnosed with PTSD. In 2013, I watched my mom pass away suddenly in the hospital. It was heart-wrenching as I was 7 months pregnant with my first child. My mental checks for emotional eating temporarily went out the window. While others were going days without eating, I was hitting every box of fried chicken and casserole that came through the door. One of the things found most comforting was the family meal hosted by my grandmother’s church. Ignoring food is particularly hard when it's specially made for you with love and care in difficult times. It's as if the emotions put into the food warrants us eating our own emotions. This is a good example of just how much of our society operates around food. We're told not to emotionally eat and mainstream society is always right there to shame you if you do, but making food for someone when they are grieving is considered one of the kindest things a person can do. What's a person to do in such a situation? It seems like a lose-lose situation in many aspects, but it's a great chance to use the moderation skills that we've learned before and after weight loss surgery. It may not always be the best way to cope with things, but sometimes when those mental checks fail and we know we're going to indulge, we can at least do our best to take that comfort food and make it fit our bariatric diets a bit better. Soften the nutritional blow as it were.

The best dish at the meal was the Funeral Potatoes casserole. I I’ve found a recipe with a healthy twist using skim milk and Greek yogurt. This particular recipe calls them Cheesy Potatoes but they’re essentially Funeral Potatoes . Funeral Potatoes are a traditional staple at most southern gatherings but get their name from their appearance on the buffet line of funeral wakes, and they’re comforting in times of grief.



Check out the recipe below from Create Kids Club:

Easy Cheesy Potatoes

 

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

Author: Jodi Danen, RDN | Create Kids Club

Prep Time: 10 minutes 

Cook Time: 60

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes 

Yield: 10 servings

DESCRIPTION

A delicious side dish recipe that is healthier than the traditional full fat version, yet just as tasty.

INGREDIENTS

• 30 oz. bag shredded hash browns
• 8 oz. bag shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup 1 % milk
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 3 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• green onions (optional garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients, leaving half of the cheese for later,  in a large mixing bowl
3. Spread into 9 x 13 baking pan
4. Top with the rest of the shredded cheddar cheese
5. Bake 1 hour or until lightly browned

Traditional Funeral Potatoes recipe nutrition: