Emotional Triggers

I think I have been an emotional eater my entire life. It has always seemed so natural to want chocolate or a special treat of some kind when I have had a bad day or I am sad. Really, it's pretty socially acceptable, especially for women. Now overeating is another matter. That is never socially acceptable and being overweight can actually trigger emotional eating in and of itself. I have gotten discouraged and gave up, thinking it is hopeless to try to loose weight so why not enjoy myself. What I wasn't stopping to think about is that I bought into a lie that said food could fill the empty spaces in my heart that only God can fill. I love how Mrs. Terkeurst refers to the Israelites in chapter 13 and how God provided mannah every day to teach them to depend on Him and Him alone. He knew food was a weakness of theirs and in His infinite wisdom knew that was a perfect teaching tool.

 

     Until I read "Made to Crave" I never really thought of overeating or eating for the wrong reasons as a spiritual issue. Maybe that is why diets have never worked permanently for me. But now I am totally open to giving God this area of my life and allowing Him to teach me His ways. I became very discouraged this weekend because after loosing 5 pounds the scale put me right back where i was when I started this study. I think I need a new scale as it's not accurate at all, but it was discouraging none the less and i wanted to quit. Then with Monday's newsletter came the encouragement I needed. This is a process. There will be peaks and valleys but permanent change isn't going to happen overnight. I will fall, and get back up multiple times before my journey is over. I so appreciate being a part of this community where everyone encouraged one another. It has helped me not give up and I hope I can also be an encouragement to all of yhou to help you also stay the course. Our prize, a deep relationship with the Lord, is well worth it!