When you go through a breakup, the first step towards recovery and moving on is to let out all the emotions that it is giving you. Some people just cry, some drink to forget the pain, and some need food to help deal with their emotions. Here are 12 comfort foods to help those that need/want food to help process those intense emotions.
As far as comfort foods go, chili sometimes gets overlooked for the ones that are sweeter and have a lot more sugar. However, chili is one of the better comfort foods for a few different reasons.
The first being that it is always served warm. Do you feel like your soul is cold and nothing will give you warmth again? Eat some hearty chili and you will warm right up. Plus it’s very filling with all the meat, beans, and other additions that go into chili. In the end, you will feel warm, full, and ready to move on.
The second reason is the process itself if you decide to cook it yourself. Cooking the meat and then putting everything together is a good way to get your mind off of the heartache of the breakup. If the recipe is one from your family then it’s even better since you will be going back to your roots and rediscovering the person you were before the relationship ever happened.
Pizza is one of the staple comfort foods that everyone goes to when they are feeling sad, not just after a breakup. It’s filling, tasty, and available at almost any hour. Especially late at night when the emotions start to hit harder and the loneliness starts to set in.
Pizza has limitless possibilities for toppings and goes great hot, warm, or cold depending on your personal taste. It doesn’t have to be in the typical triangle shape either. Some restaurants have square pizza slices, or even bagels with sauce, cheese, and toppings to mimic the tastes of a pizza.
To further your options on this comfort food, some places allow you to choose a different sauce base than marinara. This is especially good for people who are allergic to the ingredients for marinara or simply don’t like that sauce.
No matter how you choose to build your pizza, it’s one of the comfort foods that always fill your heart and your stomach.
Pasta comes with many different names depending on the type of sauce you put on the noodles. But no matter what your preference is, it’s one of the comfort foods that will help numb the pain when you are dealing with heartache.
Many comfort foods can fill your stomach up with a small amount, and pasta is no different. The feeling of being full is a good way to distract yourself from the sadness as your body absorbs all that food, thus putting you into a food coma and making you sleepy.
You can take advantage of this feeling and sleep away while feeling satisfied with what’s in your belly.
If you’re worried about the amount of carbs that are in pasta, remember that your body still burns calories even while you sleep. When you wake up and are feeling refreshed, then you can work towards the next step to recovery and working those carbs out.
Ice cream is at the top of almost everyone’s comfort foods list. There’s something about the feeling of the cold dessert going down that helps to numb the pain. It doesn’t matter what kind of ice cream it is either as long as you like it.
Chocolate ice cream, or variations of it, usually works the best due to one amino acid naturally found in chocolate, called Tryptophan. There isn’t a lot of it in chocolate, but it is connected to producing serotonin in the brain. However, if you don’t like chocolate, then eating a tub of your favorite ice cream is the next best thing.
One of the best things about ice cream is that you can add to it if you want. There’s syrup of different flavors, sprinkles, gummies, cookie dough bites, tiny pieces of brownies, etc.
Chocolate is one of the best comfort foods, next to ice cream. Tryptophan, a chemical found in chocolate, creates serotonin which is also known as the happy chemical in your brain. The key to maintaining this is moderation.
So while you might want to shove that whole box of chocolates in your face, try to eat only a few at a time and eat some of the other comfort foods on this list to achieve a balance. Plus you will want to save those other chocolates for later when you just want a small snack and need a happy boost.
Chocolates aren’t just found in those little snack-size pieces you find in boxes. It is also found in cakes, chocolate milk, bark, milkshakes, etc. There are hundreds of recipes that have chocolate in them. So don’t be afraid to try them out. Plus the very act of baking will help you get your mind off of what happened.
The beauty of burgers is that if you order one, or five, no one will ask you why. Well, they might ask you why you’re ordering five. Anyway, burgers are a staple of the American diet so whether you’re using it as one of your comfort foods or just really want a burger, no one will ask.
You can have your burger plain, with cheese, or any other toppings you will want on it. These include tomatoes, lettuce, onions, bacon, sauce, etc. And don’t be afraid to get messy with a burger.
The beef of the burger itself provides a sense of home, since many people may have grown up eating burgers. Plus it’s a good way to pig out without worrying about the reactions of anyone else. Only you matter right now, so dig in.
And if you’re vegetarian, there are ways of getting the same type of sensation from veggie burgers too. Veggie patties are a thing that a lot of places use, along with loading a bun with lots of veggies.
Mac n’ Cheese is one of those comfort foods where you either love it or you hate it. Most people love it because of the gooey cheese and noodle combination. Some people hate it because of the texture of the food. However, there are exceptions to the texture for those that hate regular mac n’ cheese.
Some restaurants focus on mac n’ cheese alone, so the possibilities are endless. You can add barbeque sauce, pork, more cheese, tuna, peas, etc. Whatever you like, chances are it will taste good when mixed in with mac n’ cheese.
This comfort food is always served warm, so you will warm your body while the tastes warm your grieving soul.
Cake is one of the bigger comfort foods for some pretty big reasons. One of them being that it is connected in your memory to almost every birthday party you have ever had or been to. Almost everyone loves cake so it is at almost every type of celebration.
Just eating into one piece can bring back memories of happy days and special times with friends and family. Cake is also very filling so it will give you a full belly and put you into a food coma, which you can sleep and let your body go through the motions without being conscious.
Milkshakes are one of those comfort foods that you don’t really think about when you are reaching for something to make you feel better. Ice cream? Yes. But their drinkable cousins? Not so much. However, these are great comfort foods to think about next time since they don’t require a lot of preparation and let you eat ice cream much quicker.
They also will bring you back to the times when you went to the local ice cream shop with your friends when you were all in middle or high school. Back when times were easier and more simple.
Milkshakes are also great because if you’re old enough to legally drink, you can pour in some alcohol and enjoy something sweet with a kick.
This comfort food pairs very well with one of the other ones mentioned on this list: pizza. It’s cheesy, crust on the top and soft in the middle, and goes great by itself or dunked in marinara sauce. Some garlic breads even have cheese in the crust: an endless supply of cheese for your consumption.
You can never go wrong with a few pieces of garlic bread. Or ten pieces.
If donuts don’t bring you a feeling of comfort, I don’t know what will. They are sugary, sweet, deep-fried little wheels of goodness that will numb any pain you may have during your heartache.
They don’t have to be the typical whole-in-the-center kinds either! There are long johns, creme-filled, donut holes, etc. There are even many different kinds of flavors for donuts too! So whatever your favorite kind is, go grab a few of them and dig in!
Nothing brings nostalgia of great times with great people around a fire pit than smores. They are the perfect combination of toasted marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. Just one bite will make you feel all warm inside if the fire in front of you hasn’t done a good enough job warming your body outside.
Smores are a great way to excuse yourself out of the house and be with your friends who will be worrying about you as you try to exclude yourself from society for a while. You can use this opportunity to hear or tell ghost stories, tell funny moments, burn pictures of your ex. Whatever suits your fancy.
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