Jessie: Serving time in book jail on the coast of Maine
You know those times when you start to think about your health? Your allergies never seem to stop flaring? Your energy is flagging? A friend receives a shattering diagnosis? Lately, Ive been thinking a lot about all of those things. Unfortunately, becoming healthier isn’t something I can subcontract. So, for the past couple months I’ve been making some hard choices and cutting out things from my diet I suspect aren’t in my best interest.
I feel like it’s been, on balance, a good decision but there are things that I miss. Especially now that my deadline is looming and the craving for comfort food is like a gong in my head. I’ve managed to muffle it with walks on the beach and glasses of water but every now and again I’m plagued by the desire for freshly baked bread. Or a cheese plate. Champagne bubbles. A reuben heaping with sauerkraut. Buttered popcorn.
Lately, I’ve come up with another sort of solution. I’ve been giving my characters meals filled with all those things I’ve been avoiding. Glasses of milk, slices of cake. Fudge and taffy. The strange thing is how much vicarious pleasure I am taking in their meals. It’s the perfect solution. As I imagine and describe the treats I am giving them I feel like I ate them myself. After a good morning at the desk I’m happy with a salad for lunch. Sweet potatoes taste as good a fries from the Pier when I’ve spent the afternoon allowing my protagonist to have her fill.
Will it always work? Probably not. But for now, I’ll take comfort food any way I can get it.
Readers, do you have any comfort foods you turn to during times of stress? Writers, do your characters eat more or less healthily than you do?