Emotional and Stress-Eating

If you’re still having trouble saying ‘no’ to things you don’t really want to do (then eating to cope with the feelings you’re squashing), try saying ‘yes’ to something. That something is your liver.

Firstly, come on a wee diversion…

In another lifetime, I was given the job of squiring around some Middle Eastern gents here for work. When they visited some colleagues who welcomed them with a hookah (a water pipe for smoking tobacco), they invited me to join them. It could have been an advantage for me to do that but I’m no smoker so I said, “No thanks, I love my lungs.” They thought that was hilarious and they repeated my line to anyone who offered me a hookah.

Sometimes you just have to have a line – to say to someone else or to yourself.

Back to your liver.

It’s a hugely important organ – it performs more than 500 vital functions for your body. It’s also one of your organs that is likely to be put under a lot of pressure from emotional eating.

Think of it as the uber-efficient office manager who knows how to get things done, makes sure everyone is where they need to be at the right time with all the right resources, and co-ordinates all the jobs, including birthdays, lunches and Christmas. She works well if you support her. If you don’t, she just quietly shoves important files into a large, black plastic bag and hides them under the stairs, which clogs up the whole organisation.

You can support your liver by eating well, sleeping well and moving well. When you’re considering how to structure your life to include those basic things, say to yourself, “I love my liver”, then do what’s best for it.

Say ‘yes’ to having a happy liver.

Photo by Olliss on Unsplash