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Christian Living

Health

The Brody File 12/17/11

The Struggle to Eat Right at Christmas Time

christmas cookiesBy Yonne Ortega
Guest Writer

Philippians 3:19: “Their god is their stomach.”

With Christmas teas, Christmas cookie exchanges and Christmas parties, the overeater or compulsive eater can go through the season on the roller coaster of a sugar high followed by a crash in glucose level.

If you have a problem with overeating or compulsive eating, you may find it helpful to answer these questions:
1. Do you weigh 20% or more than the medically recommended weight for your height?
2. How do you feel about your personal appearance?
3. Has a family member, a friend or a physician expressed concern about your eating habits or your physical health and appearance?
4. Do you eat to comfort yourself?
5. Do you eat to reward yourself?
6. Do you eat when you’re bored?
7. Do you hide food for yourself?
8. Do you lie to yourself and others about how much you really eat?

To break the stronghold food has on you, spend time with the Lord after you’ve answered these questions. Ask him to help you eat in moderation all the time, not just during the Christmas season.

Join a support group. There are several groups, both Christian and secular, that you can attend in the USA. You can go to First Place or Celebrate Recovery which several churches offer. You can also attend Overeaters Anonymous, Tops (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) or Weight Watchers. Some are free. Some charge a fee for materials or each meeting. You can call or check online for the times, places and fees.

You can follow the 12 steps just as recovering alcoholics and drug addicts do.

You need a sponsor or an accountability partner and a prayer partner as much as an alcoholic or a drug addict does. You will not conquer compulsive eating or overeating on your own.

You will gain confidence as you repeat Scriptural affirmations daily, such as:
1. “I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8).
2. “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word” (Psalm 119:147).
3. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Isaiah 40:29). 

This Christmas season abstain completely from your trigger foods or trigger situations as you strive to get your health back and your life in order. For you, there is no such thing as one Christmas cookie or one potato chip anymore than there is one drink for the alcoholic or one puff of marijuana for the drug addict.

Drink water. Look for the salad bar or the veggie and fruit trays at those Christmas events. 

You will find divine strength in praise and worship, Scripture memory and prayer.

One to three support group meetings weekly and daily exercise will also help you treat your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, with the care and respect that temple deserves.

“Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always” (Psalm 105:4).

 

Yvonne OrtegaYvonne Ortega is a ten-year breast cancer survivor, Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Substance Abuse Treatment Practitioner, Clinically Certified Domestic Violence Counselor, and bilingual speaker. She is the author of Finding Hope for Your Journey through Breast Cancer (Revell) and a contributing author to The Embrace of a Father (Bethany House) and Transformed (Wine Press). She has also been published in several magazines online and hard copy. She hosts “Hope for the Journey with Yvonne Ortega,” a blogtalkradio show on trauma, such as breast cancer, addiction and domestic violence at www.blogtalkradio.com/hope-for-the-journey. Check her website at http://www.yvonneortega.com/ and  her blog on addiction and domestic violence at http://www.yvonneortega.blogspot.com/.

Copyright © by Yvonne Ortega December 14, 2011

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