Sunday, July 01, 2007

The Natural Man

In the past, whenever I read about "the natural man" in the scriptures, I didn't think it necessarily applied to me--at least, I couldn't think of any way it did. Well, I now realize that my eating habits were definitely in the category of natural man. It was like an addiction (and in my mind it still is). All I thought about was food, when the next meal was, what it was going to be, what dessert I could make...and it made me happy. In my mind food = happiness. One day I realized that this wasn't good. I valued food above the scriptures, above most-if not above all things. I think that I have been feeding some emotional wounds with food my whole life. I think I'm finally ready to heal the wounds and walk away from my love affair with food--at least in the way that I used to eat. No more days where all I practically ate was sweets, no more 2nd helpings when I certainly didn't need them, no more obsession about what meal was next. I want it all to just go away and I want to start over. My weight has been a life-long trial and I think I'm finally able to overcome it. I am asking you all to please support me in this. Your words of encouragement are so helpful.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

YAY! What wonderful insight. Now you really will start to make significant progress. My prayers are with you.

Love, Kathey

Trena said...

You can do it! I think that identifying the problem and actively making a logical and reasonable plan of attack is the first step in re-training yourself into better habits.

Anonymous said...

Jill,

Congratulations on your realization! To quote G.I. Joe, "now you know, and knowing is half the battle." Have you considered what you'll do when you reach your goal weight? The reason I ask is that several people have told me that SBD is great for losing weight and being a temporary solution, but none of them said that SBD would be a permanent life change that would work. Have you begun to consider what course of action follows the "diet" phase? I don't think that now is too soon. You might want to consider what happens then. You can't simply go back to what brought you to this point. My method is to simply eat until I'm confortably full, but not stuffed, and I try to avoid sugar, but that's personal because it makes my teeth hurt. I feel that if I have a craving, it's my body telling me that something it needs is in the food I want. I seem to crave fruits and meat. In that process, I don't eat chips very often, soda upsets my stomach (carbonization is a poison, not to mention sugar is bad, and sugar substitutes are worse), and I try to avoid the processing of foods (apples are better than applesauce which is better than apple juice) whenever possible. I take exception when I process them myself, because I don't chemically alter it (I'm talking about using my juicer).

I commend you for having a course of action to utilize when the going gets rough. I had to learn the same concept to apply it to my depression. I had to learn to recognize it when it was happening, so I could seek help when it was needed. I still haven't found what "caused" my depression, but I do now recognize what it feels like, what thoughts I tend to have, what behaviors and signs I exhibit, you get the idea. I try not to be too proud to reach out and ask for help. Granted, food addiction and depression (is it an addiction too?) are not the same, but they share similar feelings and traits.

Let me say that having a love affair with food isn't inherently bad. We do, after all, need food to survive. If we must eat, we might as well eat well, and enjoy it. (remember that your having a love affair with your husband is not a bad thing, but it would be if the affair was with anyone else.) So, you need to determine what foods you love that make your body feel good (not which ones make the emotions feel good) and healthy, and determine which ones you must live without, and which ones you should live without but which you'll be OK with yourself if you indulge occasionally. (I'm talking about once you reach your weight goal) For example if you swear off chocolate now, but you don't think you can give it up for life, I would never hold it over your head you ate some once a week or so. I happen to be addicted to sushi, Chinese, and Thai food, but I can't afford it as much as I'd like, but I don't feel bad when I splurge 2-3 times in a month. But we need to remember that indulging is not gorging, for my pocketbook and your weight. I think part of it is simply recognizing what we NEED and what we want.

One last point: don't starve yourself and don't deny yourself forever. Personally, that stance makes me a bitter person. Starving is almost always counter-productive, especially if it happens frequently. Starving will also make your body use muscle as energy instead of fat, while it hoards energy up and stores it as fat, so you gain fat, and burn muscle so you can't burn the fat as efficiently. It's a double whammy. If you do decide not to eat so that you don't break the rules, at least drink some water so that you stay hydrated.

Remember, you'll reach your goal. I have that faith in you. And everything will be OK. Know that I want this for you, and am sending positive thoughts out to you. Talk to you later.

KC

Maria said...

Congrats! Don't stop loving cooking, though!

Have you tried eating for your blood type? I recently read the book and wondered what you thought of it. (I'm still waiting on my records from the Ok hospital >-}

Anonymous said...

It is really great to see you talk so real. I am so proud of you and I can tell a difference in the level of your commitment. I know you can do this and I will pray often for you. I love you, Tish