How Emotional Eating Can Benefit You
Mary Balog is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and teacher, living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, working to highlight happiness and the communal significance of food. I got in touch with Mary over the phone just as she was groggy and waking up from an afternoon nap, but took no time for the positives of emotional eating to spill out of her.
“If you’re not emotionally eating, you’re just eating.” She affirms.
After working at University of Michigan for a short period of time curating meal plans for patients, she found herself wanting to make more of an impact on food mentality and culture. She then joined the ranks at Argus Farm Stop, a year-round farmers market in Ann Arbor, that makes it easier for consumers to support their local farmers on a daily basis.
What do you classify as “emotional eating”?
“Emotional eating doesn’t have to mean you are sad eating a pint of ice cream on the couch.
There are so many positive emotions that come out of cooking and eating.
I encourage people to consume desserts, if it's something they’re craving or if someone is coming over for a special celebration, because even a dessert has a purpose in the diet. It’s not all about getting nutrition and protein, it’s a source of pleasure, which is super important. We need company too. At the center of company, there is food.”
Have you seen any foods demonized that you disagree with?
“Of course, I feel like the majority of young women go through that, where they’re trying to maintain a certain body weight or look a certain way. We feel like we have to restrict ourselves, like we can only have so many carbs in a day. People have to be more forgiving of themselves, somedays you’re more tired and you’re more hungry. Understanding your life can be fluid and so can your diet. You’re not a failure if you don’t follow the same diet all the time. I ate pretty regimented probably up until I started working at Argus.”
How did working for Argus change the way you ate?
“At Argus because it changes seasonally, I had to force myself to cook with what was there and build my meals around what was available locally instead of what was around at the supermarket. I started to get more connected to my food again. When I started cooking for myself and not worrying about little things I was eating, my weight balanced out back to where I was without the stress.”
How is Argus different from other grocery stores?
“The benefit of the Argus model is that farmers don’t have to be present in order to make money, 7 days a week, year round. There are 200 or so venders available and 75% of the revenue goes back to the farmers, whereas the cafe (attached to the store) is there to support and pay staff.”
You also work with young kids as a teacher at Sprouting Chefs, has anything surprised you while working with that population?
“Any time I am teaching a class for kids or college students, I try to get them to look at, the more meaningful aspects of food, like in a roasting class, we respect all parts of the chicken, energy and resources. One time a kid yelled ‘yeah this chicken died for us!’. We have to enjoy it and create positive experiences with food from the start, especially if it’s delicious, because it’s all just shaping how kids feel towards food.”