Feel Good Eating....The Message Within The Message.

-By Mindy Irish

Have you seen the commercial where she walks up to the subway clearly dressed in cold-weather gear.  The train pulls up and she hops on with her well known Mc specialty coffee drink held tightly in hand.  She sits down, takes a sip, and clearly she's comforted by this sweet drink of her choice.  The "ahhhhhhh" look and smile on her face says it all.  Oh, and by the way, the lid's OFF her drink so the perfectly placed whip cream can rise high above the top.  Why does mine never look like that?!

She is a gorgeous, brunette, slim 20 something who skips through the commercial, ending up in the arms of her man, who's also holding a Mc drink as well.  (Insert sarcasm here) That Mc drink, it must really offer a lot of comfort and joy these days, right?  Maybe I should go get one?  That's clearly the point!!

I'm not dogging coffee drinks at all.  I've got my short list of ones that I treat myself to here and there.  I'm focusing on the "ahhhhh" and joy that the commercial is really trying to hit home.  Most of our eating comes out of comfort.  Maybe we get a hot drink to warm up or a really special (adult) one to unwind.  We choose sweets or salty foods when we're upset, down, frustrated, or anxious.  We're programed to choose our foods according to how we feel, not necessarily by what we should be eating or drinking.

A tasty treat or drink has its time and place in all of our lives and that's for each one to determine.  However, if this "ahhhhhh" feeling is needed to be fulfilled on a daily basis, we may have a (bad) habit on our hands!  If you're choosing the fully loaded caloric beverage, that habit has results that show up on our face, thighs, and midsections very quickly!

So when the time comes, go for the good feeling and  just recognize what you're doing.  Recognize that food sales are driven by feel-good food marketing campaigns.  And recognize that the 20 something babe in the commercial is NOT drinking those drinks everyday, if at all......just like people with gorgeous hair don't use Pantene like you see in the commercials!

Stop. Think. Then Eat!