I have this problem. It has plagued me most of my life, although I haven't always viewed it as a problem. But I am an emotional eater. I will eat for any and every emotion, joy, sorrow, and especially boredom.
For the last year, accept for the last few weeks, I have conquered this problem. My victory has enable me to lose approximately 100 lbs. However, I still seem to make stupid mistakes especially, in the past few weeks.
I don't understand. I get ready to eat. I think mmm, I want ice cream, Mexican food, chicken fried steak, or whatever and I decide to give in. Not just once or not just a little but a full on 7 bowls of salsa old fashioned gorging. The really funny thing is that I have been eating good long enough that I know eating like that is going to hurt me. I know I will feel sick for days after eating like that. I know I will see the weight gain on the scale I know I still have 40 more lbs to lose. I know I don't want to be that emotional eater any more. But I do it anyway or at least I have been doing it anyway.
Temptation is a funny thing. In itself it is powerless it only has the power we allow it to have over us. What is true of my vises with food is true of all of us in the temptations we face. You say I don't want this anymore, but then temptation rises and you choose to give in. Afterward you look back and feel sick, guilty, and weak. The result is usually that you just give in easier next time because you have already been defeated.
But the bible says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you." If you resist the devil, resist temptation, then he will flee from you. For a year I have practiced resisting the temptation to eat poorly. Sure I had treats but I made good choices and didn't allow myself to eat emotionally (which is my real problem). The more you practice resisting temptation the easier it is. "resist the devil and he will flee from you."
It is possible to fall back into temptation, to stop practicing resistance, however the answer is the same as it was the first time. Resist, it gets easier from there.
So if you have been giving in to temptation. Offer up stubborn resistance it sternly say no. Resist and you can over come.
(Inspired by my ice-cream belly ache and a renewed desire to get my diet back on track.)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
