I eat chocolate and drink lattes when I’m sad, mad, happy, and bored so I was intrigued by this cookbook from a food mood eater. Eat Your Feelings: The Food Mood Girl’s Guide to Transforming Your Emotional Eating with Recipes was full of interesting tidbits about eating based on your emotions, easy recipes, and positivity.
Again, I’m no stranger to eating for comfort or celebration and I loved that this book encouraged you to embrace your feelings. The first half of this cookbook focuses on learning why you crave certain foods when you feel sad or happy. It includes helpful charts with common cravings and what your body is really looking for. It also goes into the emotional reasons we crave brownies or french fries. Smith really encourages you to give into your cravings when you need to. Denying yourself what you really want will often make you overeat or feel empty. This book wants us to become food-mood-etarians and embrace the cravings our bodies have because it means that we need something. The first half of this book provides you with a basis of understanding your the emotional, hormonal, or other reasons that you want to eat certain foods.
While this book encourages you to love and treat yourself to what you really want, it also strikes a balance and offers healthy recipes for those common cravings. The recipes that Smith includes aren’t “swap cookies for kale” but instead use actual chocolate chips in healthier recipes. The recipes are broken up based on moods and provide a list of foods that will help you feel better. Within the mood categories, recipes are broken down further by salty, sweet, crunchy, creamy, and drink recipes. It’s super easy to find a recipe that you’re in the mood for. The overall layout of the book is well organized and appealing with inset boxes, little illustrations, and charts.
The cookbook also provides a complete guide to mood-boosting foods. It’s helpfully organized by type of produce, emotions, and cooking preparation. Smith also included a helpful primer lesson on cooking, chopping, and preparing food. These additions make this a great beginner guide for anyone who is new to cooking. Smith’s recipes are also beginner friendly and if there’s anything you don’t know how to do, you can use her guide within the book to learn.
This book is perfect for anyone who wants to improve their eating and moods but doesn’t want to give up the food that makes them happy. Eat Your Feelings is a food-positive cookbook about preparing food that you will boost you!