Food for Thought: July 9th

Tension or Hunger?

How often have we eaten because of tension, rather than hunger? Accepting our need for three measured meals a day with nothing in between establishes a sensible pattern, which satisfies our need for nourishment. When we are tense, we can find ways of relaxing which do not harm our body by making it fat.

Learning to relax the stomach muscles helps get rid of tension hunger. Often when we have eaten too fast because of tension, our stomach continues to send hunger signals after the meal. There has not been enough time for the digestive process to register satisfaction. We can consciously relax the muscles so that the feeling of emptiness will go away.

The best cure for tension is a growing faith in our Higher Power. If we are willing to trust Him in the little things of each day, as well as the big events of our life, we will be able to relax and cultivate serenity.

Dissolve my tension and feed my hunger, I pray.

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

************************************************

 I rarely ate from hunger...........since I always treated hunger as an emergency, I'd ward it off.....overeating to make SURE I wouldn't get hungry, and if I DID, I'd overeat in a panicked response. I've always been an emotional eater........feeding my mind instead of my body.  Since the mind has no shut-off valve to indicate fullness, I'd never FEEL full, no matter how much I ate. To this day, I have to ask myself if I'm wanting to eat because of a physical need for fuel or because of an emotional need to relieve boredom or stress or frustration. 

My Food Plan dictates when and what I'm going to eat every day. In that way, it doesn't matter if I'm physically hungry or emotionally hungry..........the 'fuelings' are designed to feed my body only. I never eat food that's overly delicious, because otherwise, I will want more more and MORE.  I keep things super simple and pretty plain.......some would call my choice of food boring. Thank God for boring.........boring keeps the food addiction at bay and not running my LIFE! When I eat in this manner, I am practicing my version of abstinence and staying calm and centered.

Marianne Williamson, in her book A Course in Weight Loss, suggests we write the following statement out in longhand 30x.........."Dear God, please feed my hunger & restore my right mind."  Then, when we're ready to eat the wallpaper off the walls as a way to soothe our frazzled minds, we can recall that statement and ask God to relieve our 'hunger' and restore our right minds.  Because compulsive eating is insanity, period.

For today, I ask that God feed my hunger and restore my right mind; dissolve my tension and replace it with faith and serenity.