Nine years ago, I spent a great deal of time in prayer. I was sick and wanted answers, and the ones I received were not always what I wanted to hear. God had always been my heavenly "Daddy", but during that time - of all times- he exercised what we parents refer to as tough love. And one area of my life that was especially messed-up and in need of a parent's guidance was my relationship with food. I realized that I did not control what I ate. Food controlled me. I ate for comfort, and, when I was upset, I ate a lot of what I liked - mainly salty, fried, and fatty foods. I often overate, in general, and then felt guilty afterwards. God showed me that, not only could I not control my eating habits, but that this lack of control had spilled into other areas of my life as well. (Believe it or not, we are already up to steps 4 and 5 here - taking a moral inventory of ourselves, and admitting to God and to someone else the nature of our wrongs).
I remember when I first shared these things with my husband, he said something like, "Your diet isn't that bad! You eat a lot of healthy things." And he was right - I did. When he was around. Dinners were pretty well-rounded, always including a meat, a starch, and a vegetable. I ate the "really bad" stuff when I was either alone or out with my then very young children. Also, since we both needed to revamp our diet, he thought nothing of the chicken fried steak, fish 'n chips, or eggs Benedict I often ordered at restaurants, because I had turned him on to them as well (See steps 8 and 9 below for how I dealt with this).
Step 6 is the point where we are ready to make a change - with God's help. I knew that, without Him, I would never be able to do it. I prayed something along the lines of ,"God, I am addicted to food and am drawn to everything that I know is not good for me. Please help me to sincerely desire what my body needs. I can not do this on my own and so I relinquish control of my diet over to You." I probably prayed this type of prayer about a dozen times before it finally "took", by the way. You need to be persistent, you need to really mean it, and it doesn't hurt to be desperate!
When I rededicated my life to Christ through what some Orthodox Christians would call the baptism of tears, the Christian radio stations that my brother played and that used to make me nervous suddenly soothed me and I found myself drawn to the likes of Petra, John Michael Talbot, and Keith Green. The same thing happened when I finally relinquished control of my diet to God. Suddenly the "healthy" recipes I had ignored in my cooking magazines became the staples in my diet, until I abandoned the old magazines altogether for Cooking Light and Light 'n Tasty (now called Healthy Cooking).
Steps 8 and 9 ask that you make a list of people you have harmed and that you make amends, the thinking being that if we free our conscience, we are much less likely to escape back into our addiction. This, I have found, is a life-long process. We often inadvertently hurt those we love and are close to. There is wisdom in the phrase "never let the sun go down on your anger." Tied in with that is step 10 - continue to take personal inventory and admit when we're wrong.
Step 11 - We need to learn to live a new life with a new code of ethics, something God will give us the power to carry out. Like an alcoholic who is finally dry, I have not had a french fry in over 9 years. I no longer crave them, but I do not want to set myself up for temptation either. It's just not worth it. The same holds true for just about any deep fried food, as well as buttery or full-fat creamy dishes. They are things that a person with a tendency for breast cancer is better off avoiding. (See my post on the anti-cancer diet). I began to actually crave things my body needed. And, after reaching my goal, I began to "allow" myself the low-fat desserts I have featured in some of my posts.
The final step is to help others who suffer from the same addictions that we suffer from. I suppose this is why God gave me the desire to turn over my CPA and study nutrition instead. I really believe the 12-Step Program is divinely inspired! When I worked at the clinic that hired me when I received my certification, I loved helping people change their eating habits and achieve their goals, whether it was to lose weight, lower their cholesterol or blood pressure, or to just eat healthier. But, as I mentioned before, the clinic did not survive the economy. Now, I am enjoying this Blog as a means of reaching out to people. And it really warms my heart that there are people out there reading it (and even sometimes taking the advice in here to heart!).
Will the 12 Step Approach to better eating work for everyone? I guess you need to ask, "Does every person who goes to AA end up sober?" Will it work for you? Well, you first have to face up to the first 3 steps: 1.) Admit that you have an addiction and that you can't control it; 2.) Recognize that there is a higher power that can give you strength; and 3.) Decide to turn your will and your life over to the care of that higher power (or to God, as we understand Him).
Until next time, happy and healthy eating!
No comments:
Post a Comment