The Daily Grind of a Work @ Home Mom...

I eat my feelings.

And I bet I'm not the only one who does. Matter of fact, isn't most of the food industry reaping billions per year preying on people just like me? Oh, it's been a tough day, I deserve a big, fattening, delicious, nutrient-deficient meal that I'll regret in an hour. I wrote the book on this topic.

Kids are annoying me? Ice cream.

Work day is not going as planned? Sushi lunch (and I don't mean thinly sliced, fat-free sashimi).

Guy in the left lane taking his time while I'm rushing somewhere totally unsafely? Steak!

Oh, my love-hate relationship with food seems to haunt me day in and day out. Just so happens, my good friend, Susan, is a health coach and every morning, she wakes with the birds to post some food-related fact on her Facebook page. There's almost never a morning when I can't relate to what she's talking about, because she has a way of speaking to her followers rather than AT them that helps make her tips and factoids resonate. Like, she speaks in a way that makes you believe she too has these problems and overcomes them or was once in the shoes of an average (or below average body), while in truth, she's 11 feet tall and slim and beautiful as a rose.And she's nice to boot which is just annoying.

But I digress.

This morning, I awoke to this visual that hit me over the head. Check it out:

OHMYGOD this is me! It's sooooooo me. I want to do better in my habits, but I feel like it goes deeper than just wanting chocolate. It's like, I MUST HAVE THE CHOCOLATE, I'M A SLAVE TO THE CHOCOLATE and that's not really normal.

I'm going to print this and spend some time thinking about it. In the meantime, if you live in the Boston area and want to engage with a fantastic health coach, click on Susan's name and giver her a call. She's awesome. And no, she doesn't even know I'm writing this.

Why Facebook is a lie

I love Facebook. I'm the first to admit that I visit the site every day and have it downloaded on my iPhone. I'm what you might call an "avid" user. I know this. I love that it enables me to create a virtual memory box and that if I want to take a stroll down memory I need do nothing other than "flip" through my old albums. I enjoy keeping up with old friends, reconnecting with people I've had no contact with for years (yep - sometimes that's a good thing!) and I even like scrolling through your pics from time to time to see what you're up to. But not in a weird, stalkerish way, obv.

And even as I enjoy all of this and more, in the back of my mind, I also know that most of what I see on Facebook is a lie.

And I know that you know it too.

I'll see pictures of happy couples with captions like, "my bestest guy", twenty five minutes after hearing that he's confided that he's unhappy in his marriage and that she doesn't know how to tell him, but she wants more sex. I see mothers-in-law in your pics, locked in loving embraces with what appear to be doting daughters-in-law, while you told me last week that she's the devil's spawn. Disneyworld pics posted on the walls of folks who owe more than they have, ski trip images, relationship statuses, 'likes' of products you've never done more than take sponsorship money from. And it goes on.

Everyone does it. We're all on a quest to prove to the world how happy we are, how much we have accomplished, how perfect our children are. On my worst days I'll still take pics of my kids, maybe include myself, frolicking in the playground like I don't have a care in the world. Imagine if we actually used social sites to reach out when we needed a boost?

I have one FB "friend" who actually does update her status when she's down. It sometimes comes across as slightly desperate and somewhat sad (which I guess is why most people don't do this) but it sure is more honest than tossing an arm around the boyfriend you can't stand and making it your profile pic. Within minutes, I see heart-warming, spirit-boosting comments pop up like weeds in spring. So maybe there is something to it.

This is not eye-opening stuff here, but it was precipitated by a conversation I have regularly with one of my bff's in which we privately assess what's what based on what we're seeing on FB. It's actually a fun conversation, but sometimes it pisses me off because I know that half of what you're putting out there is bullshit. And that makes me question the value of social media communication altogether.

Last week I saw this posted on a friend's wall and it pretty much summed up everything I've been thinking:

And you know you have too.