Sometimes nourishment isn't about food

[Lisa Newton]

Yesterday, over at Jody's blog, The Delightfully Healthy Blog, she made an excellent observation, "Sometimes nourishment isn't about food."

Her post, Knitting as Nourishment, reflects using knitting, instead of food, as a form of relaxation and stress relief. It's definitely worth a look.

What do you use instead of food for stress relief? How do you relax?

Let's share some ideas................

[Susana]

I used to knit a while ago... Jody is right! It relaxed my stress. It is good to do a manual task to relax. I don't knit anymore but cook instead. Of course I taste what I cook but don't eat the whole thing. Doing something creative makes me feel better. If I have the time, being outdoors, especially going to the coast to see the sea is a stress relief for me.

[Susana]

I forgot to post my blog address:

http://spanish-steps.blogspot.com/

[Salubrious-fervor]

I like to make cards, sew take photos collages, I like to blog too!

www.dayeseye.typepad.com crafty goodness

http://www.salubrious-fervor.blogspot.com weight loss blog

[Diana Young, RD, LD/N, CDE]

A quote from Barbara Sher:
Put us in a nourishing environment, even late in a hard life, and we burst into bloom.

I meditate for nourishment.

[Amy]

I think the topic of emotional eating deserves much more attention than it gets. I think so many healthcare practitioners are so focused on clinical data--weight, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugars, etc--that we forget we are treating a human being. Of course it is so important to address these areas, but we need to step back and look at the person as a whole. Writing off a person as 'noncompliant' is not fair when there are so many underlying issues that affect a person's health.

I think it's great that you are all finding alternatives to food to help cope with stress! This is a subject near and dear to my heart and has had a tremendous affect on my life. I'm starting to get very interested in practicing mindfulness, hoping it will help me feel more balanced and centered. There are a few books that I'm reading now on that subject that are speaking right to me (If you're interested I will share them with you.) I want to spread the word on the importance of nurturing our emotional selves in healthy ways. Let's keep this going!

[Lisa Newton]

I totally agree. Many people have so many issues with food, and I think most of them originate at the emotional level, which is why breaking free and living a healthy lifestyle takes a lot of thought.

Discovering what other people are doing generates new ideas for each of us.

And yes, I'd be very interested in your book list. Perhaps you can blog about different parts of each one that you found exceptionally good.................:)

[Diana Young, RD, LD/N, CDE]

Amy,
Please do share the list of books. I believe that our challenges with obesity stem from our emotions. And you are right, health care practitioners focus on the numbers instead of the heart and what's happening at a deeper level within a person. We at Iowa Avenue can help make positive lasting changes in healthcare today. Mark my words.
So glad you decided to join us.

[Jody]

Lisa, thank you for mentioning my blog post!

I have an exercise I do with my clients sometimes, which I call the Nourishment Menu. It's a list, created partially in our session, and (hopefully) continued, of things other than eating that that individual finds satisfying. A lot of lists include meditating, calling friends, painting, reading, in my case, of course, knitting, dancing, gardening, etc., etc. That way, when a craving comes up, for whatever reason, we already have a list of things we can do instead of stuffing food in our faces that may or may not be helpful to our bodies.

Of course, sometimes the Universe needs to nudge us to go look at the list...

Amy, I'm also interested in the books you're reading. One I particularly like is "Mindless Eating" by Brian Wansink. He's a researcher who's done some pretty mind-blowing experiments on what causes people to overeat. It turns out we're very easily led (or misled). He also has some great ideas about little things we can do to trick ourselves in the other direction.

[David]

I enjoy jacuzzi's, sauna's, and swimming as a stress reducer.

[Gabrielle Shafer]

Nourishing the soul.....SOOOO important! :-) I relax and relieve stress by painting, reading, enjoying nature, exercising, beading, and working on various artistic projects. Great post!

[Jessie MacMillan]

I'd have said I don't succumb to emotional eating, until this weekend when I ate and ate and ate. I'm not sure why I ate so much. I'm still exploring the entire idea of emotional eating and trying to figure out what else can nourish me.

I do know that trying to come to terms with fibromyalgia has made it more difficult for me to figure out what I need for nourishment.

I, too, would like to know what Amy is reading about this!

[Susanna]

Hiking really does it for me, but it is not always possible. I have found blogging here has been great. Reading also takes me to far away places.

Meditation is on my list of things to learn. After I get finished with some family business, I will be moving that up on my priority list.