Switchpoints and Emotional Eating Part 1

Gordon B. Hinckley, former prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints once shared this powerful story: 

"Many years ago I worked for a railroad in the central offices in Denver... One morning I received a call from my counterpart in Newark, New Jersey. He said, 'Train number such-and-such has arrived, but it has no baggage car. Somewhere, 300 passengers have lost their baggage, and they are mad.'

"I went immediately to work to find out where it may have gone. I found it had been properly loaded and properly [moved from] ...California [to] Salt Lake City... to Denver... to Pueblo... to St. Louis. There it was to be handled by another railroad which would take it to Newark, New Jersey. But some thoughtless switchman in the St. Louis yards moved a small piece of steel just three inches, a switch point, then pulled the lever to uncouple the car. We discovered that a baggage car that belonged in Newark, New Jersey, was in fact in New Orleans, Louisiana—1,500 miles from its destination. Just the three-inch movement of the switch in the St. Louis yard by a careless employee had started it on the wrong track, and the distance from its true destination increased dramatically." Read the full article here

Last night was one of those rough nights.  I came home from a babysitting job to find the house in uproar.  More  pairs of dirty socks lying around than we have pairs of feet.  Brother 7 screaming.  Brother 4 beatboxing {read: making any purposeless noise imaginable}.  Dad frantic over homemade dinner for us plus a sick neighbor family.  Mom superhumanly switching between kneading roll dough, crafting Pinterest-inspired Valentines, and tending the little people.  And to me this translates into PRESSURE.  The pressure of unspoken expectations, unfulfilled needs, and uncontrolled surroundings.  I can't meet all those expectations.  I can't fulfill every need.  I can't control everyone and everything.  So I try to fill the gap with the source I've mentally made my cure-all: food.  But six breadsticks later, I'm realizing once again that something doesn't add up.  

Physical hunger is satisfied with physical nourishment.  Emotional hunger is satisfied with emotional nourishment.  And for so long I've been in the habit of mixing the two.  

It was such a blessing that I got the emotional nourishment I needed right after dinner last night at young adult scripture study.  We reviewed President Hinckley's story and talked about David {of Goliath and Bath-sheba fame} and the three-inch switch points that led to his tragic downfall.  And it clicked for me.  How I respond to emotional pressure will be a powerful switch point in my journey to health and fitness.  Too often I move that crucial three inches and turn to food and by the "end" of the cycle I'm so far from where I intended to be.  This turns into eating more and more food but never resolving the emotional stress:

Emotional pressure --> want to feel better --> turn to food --> eat unhealthy choices or quantities --> feel guilty, angry, depressed --> emotional pressure.

Now that I have identified this switch point, I need to find small, simple, and constructive "three-inch" alternatives to turning to food.  I'll give it some good brainstorming and experimenting and let you know what I discover.  And I'd love advice from you.  What do YOU think?