At our local pool, I watched a toddler walk in the pool. Even in the shallow pool, the girl bobbed around up to her neck in water. Still, she splashed around with no fear.
Then, without warning, she lost her footing and capsized. She floundered for a moment or two until her father scooped her out of the water. He cradled her as she sputtered and coughed.
And I recognized that feeling of going under, because so many times in the past, I've been minding my own business, splashing along through life, and suddenly, I lose my footing and find myself flailing.
But it isn't water that knocks me off my feet. It's food. Just like water tips over a buoyant toddler, food can submerge me and when I surface again, to my dismay, I realize I've been drowning in Ben & Jerry's ice cream and salt and vinegar potato chips. And my pants don't fit anymore.
Once, when my daughter was two years old, she sank like a rock to the bottom of the pool within arm's reach of me. I could see her wide-open blue eyes under the water, but she couldn't seem to plant her feet on the bottom of the pool or reach for air. She was discombobulated, disoriented, lost in two feet of water for those seconds it took me to reach her and pull her up.
And that has happened to me before. I swandive dip my toes into a batter of cookie dough, slide right in over my head and by the time I right myself and struggle to shore, I've been through the entire refrigerator, the pantry and a hidden stash of chocolate candy leftover from Halloween. Once I'm up to my neck in food, finding my balance and direction is tricky.
If you are drowning in food, grab a life-preserver. Hang on for dear life--you're safe now--and kick to shore. Touch the ground with your toes. Breathe deeply. Make a plan. Find support.
And by all means, stay out of food up to your neck . . . because one minute, you're breathing air and all is well, and the next minute you're inhaling cream-filled chocolate eclairs.
Then, without warning, she lost her footing and capsized. She floundered for a moment or two until her father scooped her out of the water. He cradled her as she sputtered and coughed.
And I recognized that feeling of going under, because so many times in the past, I've been minding my own business, splashing along through life, and suddenly, I lose my footing and find myself flailing.
But it isn't water that knocks me off my feet. It's food. Just like water tips over a buoyant toddler, food can submerge me and when I surface again, to my dismay, I realize I've been drowning in Ben & Jerry's ice cream and salt and vinegar potato chips. And my pants don't fit anymore.
Once, when my daughter was two years old, she sank like a rock to the bottom of the pool within arm's reach of me. I could see her wide-open blue eyes under the water, but she couldn't seem to plant her feet on the bottom of the pool or reach for air. She was discombobulated, disoriented, lost in two feet of water for those seconds it took me to reach her and pull her up.
And that has happened to me before. I swandive dip my toes into a batter of cookie dough, slide right in over my head and by the time I right myself and struggle to shore, I've been through the entire refrigerator, the pantry and a hidden stash of chocolate candy leftover from Halloween. Once I'm up to my neck in food, finding my balance and direction is tricky.
If you are drowning in food, grab a life-preserver. Hang on for dear life--you're safe now--and kick to shore. Touch the ground with your toes. Breathe deeply. Make a plan. Find support.
And by all means, stay out of food up to your neck . . . because one minute, you're breathing air and all is well, and the next minute you're inhaling cream-filled chocolate eclairs.
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