Food for Thought: November 26th

What Am I Avoiding Now?

If I am becoming preoccupied with thoughts of food and eating, I am probably avoiding something in the present, which troubles me. We compulsive overeaters have a long history of using food to avoid facing whatever is bothering us. Abstaining may not solve the problem, but at least we do not eat ourselves into a worse situation.

Sometimes we are aware of a difficult task that needs to be done, and we think we require extra food to fortify ourselves in order to accomplish the task. Remembering that excess food incapacitates rather than strengthens is essential to our recovery. A short-term euphoria is not worth the long-term anguish, which inevitably follows loss of control.

We are learning to turn to a Power greater than ourselves when we have problems that we formerly avoided or tried to solve by eating. Whatever our perplexity, God has the answer, if we will surrender our wills and listen for His guidance.

Teach me to trust You completely.

From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation.

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The short term euphoria of a binge is never worth the long term anguish that follows loss of control. What yo-yo dieter doesn't understand THIS?

If I eat to shut my mind down, I refuse to deal with whatever thought patterns are troubling me.  I refuse to accept the reality of the present moment, and choose, instead, to stop thinking entirely.  When I come out of the food coma, I feel terrible about myself & my situation is now worse than ever!

Abstinence keeps me feeling good about ME.  It releases me from the obsession with food & roots me in reality.  Living in fantasy land fixes nothing.  While abstaining from overeating doesn't necessarily 'fix' a problem, at least it doesn't worsen it by making me loathe myself & my behavior.

For today, I will rely on God instead of my own self-will.  For today, I put abstinence on the very top of my to-do list & commit to my Food Plan to keep me on track.

For today, I will let go & let God guide me.  I can't; He can; I think I will let Him