Downswing in Economy, Upswing in Eating Habits
Written by Rivka
Okay, now that we've elected an historic president, and we see hope again, and one huge stress item has been checked off the list, I can ask people to fess up: How much more have you been eating since the stock market took a nose dive in the beginning of October and you watched your savings vanish, or your home go on the chopping block, or you lost your job, or you're worried that you will lose your job, or you don't know if you can afford college next semester, or...or...or?
Stress Eating makes us feel like crap in short order - a delicious bite with a fast aftertaste. So let's at least enjoy the human condition aspect of it: We all do it, and it's wild to see what food we run to because stress eating doesn't mean you're eating more salad. We run for the comfort foods-at least if we can feel like a kid, and I think that's part of it, we won't worry about the stock market. My 7 year old doesn't let a plunging Dow affect the way she organizes and categories her Starbust before she eats them, saving her favorite lemon ones for last. Watching her, it is my desire to escape to that place of oblivion, where how many lemons come are in the pack and how long I can make them last takes front and center of my thoughts. She's like a zen master.
Brownies. For me, a good brownie is a world unto itself (no nuts, I can't deal with nuts in any dessert item, though alone I can snarf curried cashews by the pound) I have eaten more brownies in the last month than in the previous two years.
French fries. I can hear seagulls call and smell the sea, feel the beach breeze blowing my hair with every dunk into the ketchup. For the five minutes it takes me to snarf them, I don't think about the fact that I won't be able to afford that beach house rental this year. I have said no to the side order of fries at lunchtime without a second thought for years. Now I order them.
I actually pulled into a Dunkin' Donuts last week. I don't even like donuts that much once I start in on one. Four days I go I never wanted one more in life. When I was done with the classic jelly donut, all I could think was that I should have gone to the bakery nearby that has my favorite brownies instead. Talk about a stress monkey.
Peppermint stick ice cream. This is what I have been shoveling in while I watch Bloomberg TV (which I've been watching around the clock, something I haven't done since post-9/11. As a financial journalist by training, I do believe that if you follow the money trail you will understand everything going on, behind the scenes, and in front. I analyze politics by watching Bloomberg. As a kid, Howard Johnson's peppermint stick ice cream was my favorite, including the ritual of going to the restaurant and eating it out of those silvery ice cream dishes with the long thin spoon.
Oh, the massive amounts of red wine. Not a childhood memory, I assure you, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention it. Not a la carte, of course; accompanying really good cheese and crackers.
Fried chicken. I love fried chicken as a rule, but there's been a lot of it. Fried chicken and fries for dinner, then the extra piece or two with email time at night.
Wow, this is a longer list than I thought. French bread. Long sandwiches with French bread. I love that you can size your sandwich instantly with a loaf of French bread. That's the other thing: roast beef sandwiches on French bread, mayo on one side mustard on the other. This was my favorite food as a teenager, half the time with brie instead of the mayo.
I'm sure there's more that I'm simply blocking out. Oh yeah, there was the apple pie incident in bed. The pie, my daughter and myself propped up in my bed, two spoons, each with a good book. She's been telling me this is a great thing to do since she could talk. Like I don't know that.
Normally, I don't eat at night except for carrots or some other very restrained sort of thing. There are exceptions, but not a lot. And I haven't eaten past full on sugar in bed right before falling asleep on your average workday for a while.
What has crept into your diet and habits since the stress struck? Come on, it's fun. I'll make a chart of the Top 10 foods people run to. Maybe we'll all get recession proof stock tips out of it. Kraft replaced AIG on the Dow. Hmm. Coincidence? I don't think so. I've single-handedly added to their bottom line.