Welcome back to another two weeks of quarantine life. Does anyone know what day of the week it actually is at this point? Are there any rules these days? Well no matter your political stances, your views on injecting yourself with disinfectant, or your desires to go to restaurants again… I know you’ve been munching on some great food at home. Okay, I don’t know if you personally have because let’s face it, we aren’t all chefs or looking to become a chef, but I’ve seen a lot of good food being made out there.

Meal prepping is something I only sort of do these days because I’m pretty much home all the freaking time. What’s nice is that everyone is home around dinner time these days which means that we have started to eat dinner together a bit more. The picture above is actually from Easter. It’s a pretty basic dinner with homemade mashed potatoes , a slow cooked roast, and some steamed broccoli. Man I love a good slow-cooked roast, especially one I purchased on a whim when I came back from Hawaii and was scavenging for food.

Now breakfast, what a tricky little meal this one is. I recently started doing an at home workout program because well, the gym is closed (for good reason) and my anxiety needs from quelling. Part of this at home program includes a nutrition plan. Pretty much the plan goes like this: 1) eat only the foods on a list; 2) eat those foods at certain times, paired together with certain other foods from the list; 3) if you ate all your containers and you still hungry… well I’m not actually sure what you are supposed to do here but from what I’ve seen, a lot of people doing this, just go to bed early in hopes they can sleep of the aching feeling of being hungry. To each her own I guess. For me, I’m not worrying about following a nutrition plan to shed off pounds and see abs form.

No for me, I’m just taking each day at a time and eating what makes me feel full and feel stable. The thing is, we are currently in a pandemic. A lot of people I know or see in groups like the workout plan accountability group I am in are looking for control in a time where we have little control over what is happening to us. Not wanting to “emotionally eat” or “stress eat” people are turning to diet plans. And while yes, strictly following a diet plan combined with a workout regiment will help you feel in control and keep you form emotionally eating, it’s not the only thing you should be doing right now. Listen to those cravings, lean into the reasons why you are emotionally eating, learn from the chaos of the world and your feelings of a lack of control. There is more going on here than just hoping to gain some control over your food choices… we are in some dark and stressful times… eating right now is a privilege that you shouldn’t take for granted.

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And look, I’m not saying that if you want to shed some pounds and live a healthier lifestyle that you shouldn’t wholeheartedly pursue that. All I’m trying to point out is that we all need to cut ourselves some slack these days. Deal with your underlying emotions and realize that food is not the enemy during these times. Eat well for both your body and your mind. Try new things, step out of your comfort zone. Find balance between items like these Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins pictured above and this bagged Salad with Shrimp pictured below.

Eating during these times doesn’t have to be hard and your food doesn’t have to be super clean and healthy. You can use up whatever is in your house and get creative, like the Ramen with mixed frozen veggies and an egg pictured below. Or you can order a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts to be delivered to your house. The key is to listen to your mind alongside your body. If you are hungry, figure out what foods will fill you up while still feeding your soul and mind.

And if that isn’t working for you, well just make sure to add some veggies to your comfort foods like when I made more mashed potatoes, grabbed a turkey burger patty and added a whole bunch of steamed broccoli for my dinners this past week.

All of this to say, don’t go to bed starving (if you have food in your house that you can eat) and don’t think that a diet is going to fix all your problems right now. Life is out of your control, but being kind to yourself is in your control. Eat the donuts and eat the salads. You’ll be happy you did later.