Not to re-hash old topics… but let’s talk about hotdogs. To be fair… the good folks at my new downtown Los Angeles favorite gastro-awesome-place Wurstkuche would probably prefer my reference towards their gastro-offerings as ‘gourmet and exotic sausages’, which, in reality is true. But hey… call ‘em what you will - if it walks like a duck (shaped like a hotdog) and talks like a duck (nestled in a delicious hot-dog bun) = well, then I’m gonna call it a hotdog - (they also serve a delicious duck and jalapeno ‘hotdog’ – so my logic is sound – thank you very much).

But let’s delve further into this hotdog obsession. More specifically into the fiasco that happened last night, leaving my stomach distended and my eyes crazy puffy with French fry induced salt-overload. Let’s take into account that, before I coerced my friend into joining me at Wurstkuche at 9pm, I had already been nibbling steadily at a package of prociutto and a ball of soft buratta cheese… and delicious LaBrea Bakery bread… and a garlic and arugula salad… and some bites (lots of bites) of French Vanilla ice-cream left over from a birthday party we threw for a friend in October – needless to say… that certainly should have qualified as dinner. I was also in stress-mode. My to-do list was overflowing, my house was a wreck, I was prepping to feed 16+ friends for T-day and worrying whether or not I would fit into my dress for the following weeks movie shoot, and I was way, way behind on my deadlines (*tremendous fluttering of lashes meant strictly to charm my editors out of their rage*). My solution: to gorge myself on the things I love best (hotdogs), hoping to fill the void in my time-management-challenged soul.



Which brings me to the topic at hand – (‘Geez, Corrie… could your tangent have been any longer?’ – Yes. It could have. Count your blessings.) I would like to talk about ‘emotional eating’.

In the November 17th issue of Women’s Day, Registered Dietician and respected Nutrition specialist Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN took a look at the unhealthy ‘emotional eating’ habits that effect so many of us – and, mercifully, how to stop them in their tracks.

When I was a kid, my Dad was of the ‘eat everything on your plate” - theory. (Hi, Dad!) And while this was certainly not unusual, I have very vivid memories of hiding – or handing to Buffy (our awesome 'under-the-table' dog) – food that we just could not finish as little people who knew when we were hungry and when we were not. It was a challenge and eventually grew into numerous horror stories that are told around the dinner table to this day (We will not mention the details of ‘the Mushy Bread Incident’ as to not embarrass said father. – Love you, Dad!) What it also grew into was an inability to realize when I was actually hungry and when I wasn’t – which, in my humble estimation, was a precursor to my equating lonely, sad, elated, anxious and any number or the bevy of schitzophrenic emotional changes I go through in an hour, with being hungry.



Don’t try to deny it… you’ve been there. The answer to a bad break-up is a pint of Ben and Jerry’s? A salve to sooth the embarrassment of being called out in a full-scale board meeting is a million happy hour finger foods? Your kid asks ‘where babies come from’ and your response is to eat each and every French-fry off his plate (true story – sorry Noah’s Mommy.) As adults the majority of us seem to get into this weird pattern of soothing the savage internal beast by feeding the external (that would be our faces) with anything tasty, but that in and of itself is a bad habit – and since habits are meant to be broken… well, let’s look at Joy Bauer’s tips on how to do so.

In the Women’s Day article Bauer gives us three poignant questions to ask ourselves before we rock that proverbial ‘bag o’ chips’ – and gosh darn it, they seem to work – (I tried them – even over the holiday and was successful!)

1.) Are ya’ really hungry? By rating your hunger on a scale from 1 – 5, you can eradicate any confusion as to whether your sexiness really needs the full-on caloric assault of an entire bag of salt-n-vinegar chips or if your emotional oral-fixation is just kickin’ in for yet-another visit to the ol’ crazy train.

2.) Have you had enough to drink? (Okay, people… put down the cocktails… that was not an excuse to double up on the alcohol intake of the season.) If your Royal Sexiness (aka. Your body.) is super thirsty (for H2O) you might convince yourself that you’re hungry. You’re not. It’s just that you’ve deprived yourself of the aqua. Rock a glass of that clear elixir that spawns from your sink (or preferably from your Brita dispenser) and then wait 20 min. If you’re still ‘hungry’ after that… then proceed to the aforementioned bag-o-chips.

3.) Will I truly savor this food? And this is my biggest challenge and conquest. Lately I’ve been trying to only eat the things that truly, truly appeal to me. I love eating. No… seriously… I L-O-V-E food. I love trying to new restaurants and new dishes. New wines. New tasting menus. I love it! But so often I find myself just eating to eat – I rocked some leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes last night just to have something to put in my face. It’s not even about stimulating my tastebuds or adding nutrients to my body...sometimes it’s just something to do. Which is silly. Food is to be enjoyed and savored. If you take a moment to ask yourself this vital question you’re communicating with what you really need and you’ll probably find that you’re body is not playing mind games with you. It’s hungry… or it’s not. Ahh… finally… a mutually beneficial and honest relationship.

Dr. Bauer has lots of tips on how to ‘set yourself up for success’ in conquering ‘emotional eating’, all of which are worthy of noting – especially in this season of Christmas cocktails and holiday caloric warfare, but the bottom line is: you are in control of what you put into your face. Recognize your power. Realize, going into a party, that you might encounter challenges. And then conquer said challenges. Be the power-hungry party animal that you are – you are in charge. Own it.



'til Next Time!