I was talking with a friend the other day and she said she doesn't eat because of emotions. This interested me because she is a woman and I've never met a woman that felt this way. So I've been thinking. What triggers cravings or just the desire to eat or drink something in general aside from true hunger. I think many of us don't realize that we eat for other reasons than hunger because we associate emotion eating with sadness and stress. Its not just sadness, depression or stress, many of us eat when we're happy, or bored. But what I realized today is that sometimes the choices we make are just a bad habit and associations we don't even realize we have.
I associate school starting and cooler weather with Autumn. I have had a habit in the past of using my time to myself to eat soothing foods and cuddle under blankets. Mix the weather and the alone time and I get pumpkin spice latte's and pumpkin scones. Now is there anything wrong with me doing this? No and yes. No - it is not wrong for me to indulge occasionally. Yes it is wrong for me to indulge because I crave it so badly that I give the yummy treats control of me. I guarantee you that I will have a pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin scone between now and Thanksgiving but I will do it when I have planned for it. When it will benefit me most, both my mind and my body. I will make adjustments in my diet and my exercise for the indulgence and I will be the deciding force for when it is right to indulge - not my tummy, not my taste buds and not my bad habits.
This was a hard step for me. My car almost pulled into the coffee shop parking lot on its own. I tortured myself for the 10 minutes it took to get to that area trying to come up with every justification possible and then I prayed. I prayed for God's forgiveness of my weakness. I recognized that my body is His temple and by taking care of it I give glory and honor to Him. I asked God to help me feel more in control of my choices and my cravings and I turned the wheel toward home and away from the coffee shop. Victory! Thank you God - you are ALWAYS there for me.
Every obstacle you overcome makes you that much stronger and that much more capable of handling the next thing that comes your way. If I can do this - You can do this!
Skinny lattes are a habit of mine as well. But you are right, you have to treat yourself sometimes. The latte without the scone isnt soo bad if you get the skinny version :-) Christy
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Gonna share some of it tonight at bootcamp. Paul writes about transforming your mind, body, spirit, everything you are, to be Christ-like. You are truly going through a transformation and it is so awesome to see. Thanks for sharing!
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