Why do we eat?

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I think the answer is pretty straight forward – to fuel our bodies. Right?

Yeah, but it’s not that simple. Right?

For me, at least, that’s right.

Something changed after we had our baby. Alex had been working nights for at least a year and he’d been working screw ball hours for a couple of years before that. And I was used to it. It wasn’t easy – it actually really sucked. Often we saw each other for a grand total of half an hour between when I got home from work and Alex had to leave. Some days, when it was really busy or we had an evening event at work, I wouldn’t see Alex at all.

Sometime in the fall I realized that my eating patterns had changed. Increased might be a better word for it. I was snacking all evening and after a lot of thought, it was most likely due to a combination of boredom and loneliness. We had company once or twice a week (aunties and friends for a baby fix), but it was rare, very rare, for me to leave the house. I also think maybe it was a leftover habit from breastfeeding. Eating in the evening was a necessity when I was breastfeeding, but it didn’t stop completely when I the breastfeeding stopped.

I had to really think about why I was eating and what I was eating. I made some conscious changes – I’d have a glass of water or cup of tea first before I would eat anything and then if I was still absolutely hungry, I’d have a piece of fruit.

The interesting thing is since Alex’s schedule changed at the beginning of the month, I’ve noticed I don’t want to eat anything after dinner anymore – just a piece of fruit when I come home from Aquafit, but nothing else. So I guess it was boredom and loneliness.

I guess it’s a good question to contemplate every once in a while…Why do you eat?