Did You Have a “Hurricane Food Frenzy”?

Did the recent threat of the hurricane send any of you into a food frenzy?  If so, you aren’t alone! I’ve still been hearing stories from my friends, clients and co-workers about how Hurricane Irene sent them into a food frenzy. Sitting at home … waiting for the storm to hit. Not much else to do besides eat and drink!  Many people experienced out of control feelings with their eating and are just starting to get back on track. 

New Yorkers took Mayor Bloomberg’s hurricane warnings seriously. Of course, the hurricane preparation included stocking up on food and water.  I witnessed this “panic” as I did a last minute grocery shopping a day prior to the storm. The shelves in the Food Emporium on the upper east side were pretty much empty. The last  minute shoppers were frantically filling their carts with almost any food in sight … foods they wouldn’t normally eat!  (pic is of empty shelves in Food Emporium)

Here are some Hurricane food stories:
Jonathon: Consumed multiple boxes of cereal, peanut butter, chips, pretzels (as well as purchased $100 worth of hurricane disaster supplies on the internet during the storm … in case another storm hits!) He was struggling to get back on track with his eating a week after this food filled weekend.

Anne (a nutritionist I work with … name changed of course!) In preparation for the hurricane, her husband asked her to pick up a case of orange soda and “a lot of candy bars”. She picked up a few six packs of diet coke for herself.  She reports this is very unusual behavior and said  “I would have been mortified if anyone I knew saw me buying these foods!” (pic: fourthgradenothing.com)

Amy: (another nutritionist) Canned mac and cheese, canned soups as well as a case of water.

Leon: Stocked up on a lot of  bread, cheese, milk, cereal and meats. His home lost power for 5 days and said his wife was strongly discouraging him from opening the refrigerator (as he was trying to get  food) so the “food wouldn’t go bad”.  Huh???

Alba: Bought loaves of fresh bread, a jar of peanut butter and Nutella. She has since eaten the whole jar. These indulgences have caused her to feel out of control – so she started a juice cleanse on Monday. (pic: thatsfit.com )

Lisa: Packed a large cooler filled with ice and stocked up on salami, meats, and cheese. She said she rarely eats these kinds of foods. She also bought peanut butter, bread and extra boxes of cereal. All the food has since been consumed. She also said this weekend of indulgences have made her feel out of control with eating.

Kathy: Lost power so she spent 5 days at the Four Seasons hotel eating delicious but (likely) non-dietetic food. She is trying her best to get back on track with her healthy eating plan!

So it seems that the threat of the hurricane cause many of us to deviate from our usual eating and drinking patterns.  But it’s time to get back on track! 

Lastly, some of you may be wondering what I did in preparation. Embarrassing to say … not much! I didn’t even have size D batteries for my flashlight as all the stores were sold out.  So what did I buy?  3 cans of flip top Pregresso soups and 2 cans of tuna. I filled a few sports bottles with water and got my candles ready!

On a serious note, my thoughts are with those people who experienced damage from the  hurricane.