Over the last year I have put on 30 pounds, lost 20 of them, and put 18 back on! I weigh more today than I did when I was 9 months pregnant with a 7 pound baby inside of me. 😮
I thought I had a love-hate relationship with the scale. It turns out, I have a love-hate relationship with food.
In my teens thru my early 30’s it was an eating disorder. I would put on weight, and then I would just stop eating to lose it. It was a game of control, and I got really good (at the expense of my health) at just not eating.
One day I guess I finally overcame it.
Now in my late 30’s (really late 30’s… as I turn 40 this spring), I have realized how much of an emotional eating problem I have in the other direction.
A “stressful” day at the office equates to a candy bar from the vending machine … or worse yet, a Sonic run for a chocolate chip cookie dough shake.
Home is no different. Last night, as I was struggling to get my kiddo to do her math homework, I found myself breaking into the Oreos … three times! 🤦♀️
As I laid in bed last night reflecting on my day, the lightbulb 💡 went off again. I was turning towards food to solve my problems and not towards God.
**** 1 Corinthians 10:31 ****
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
****
I looked at my husband before prayer time and said, “I can’t help but think how much smoother tonight would have gone at homework time if instead of putting the kiddo in timeout, I would have put her into prayer time with me.”
Then I paused and said, “But I didn’t even go to prayer time myself. I went to the cookie jar. And 3 times that cookie jar failed me. It tasted good in the moment, but it sure didn’t give me the emotional healing or spiritual guidance I needed.”
We both laughed. 🤣 🍪
But there is power in recognizing that like so many things of this world, emotional eating is only a temporary bandaid to a larger problem. It is a ploy to fill a void of emptiness inside us that goes away when we develop a truly meaningful relationship with Christ.
So my prayer for today and the coming weeks is to turn away from emotional eating and instead to prayer when my emotions need comfort.
It’s not a matter of willpower … it’s a matter or prayer power