This week Texas experienced an insane and unforeseeable crisis. We in Houston experienced 2 cold fronts, back to back. The first brought snow to at least 95% of the state, the second was some rain and freezing weather.

Like many people, I am a stress eater. My go to is chips. Fried and salty potato chips. I could quite literally eat an entire bag in one sitting when I’m stressing. When I lived in Louisiana (I lived there for 18 years), I would buy snacks for a hurricane. Snacks included Chips, crackers, cheese, nuts etc. Basically party food.

With winter storm Uri and Viola on our doorsteps, I shopped on Wednesday (2/10/21) and bought blue berries, black berries, Ezekiel bread and some fresh veggies. Not a chip in sight. Sunday I cooked a huge pot of spicy lentil soup. I defrosted some corn chowder and cooked a pot of oatmeal. After that I figured if anything bad happened, I would be OK.

This got me thinking about how I cope with stress and eating. I found myself going through the pantry a few times to find chips or nuts. I do have walnuts for breakfast, but those did not do what I needed. I would think about making some fries in the oven, but that isn’t what I wanted either.

I actually survived the entire week without the usual storm food. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and realized, that chips are my crutch. When my mind is in crisis mode, savoring and tasting salt from chips makes me happy. I also realized, it makes me happy for a few moments and have to go back and get more. Instead, I would munch on blueberries, black berries or even kiwi fruit. I did have some marmite that I would eat on provita crackers and that made me happy as well as filled me.

Long story short. Working through a crisis using food is not a good thing. We all know this, but how do we combat it. My way of doing it is to just not buy it. If it is there, I will eat it. NO, I lie. I will absolutely shovel it into my mouth. After I’ve eaten (shoveled) it, I feel like utter crap and end up regretting it. Changing coping mechanisms is key. I’m still working on ways to cope, but honestly, one step at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and I did not gain weight in a day. It all takes time and we are all works in progress.

One thing I realize, changing one crutch for another doesn’t help. It comes down to addiction. I am addicted to salty, savory food. It is my go to when I need comfort. I’m now on the hunt for another way to deal with crisis.

I know I can do without savoury. I just have to make sure I do this all the time.