Stopping the Binge

Monday was a day to get up early and get Cinderella to her gardening class.  I’ll have to admit that her little garden plot looks better than anything I have growing around the house.

My running has shifted to evenings now that our running group is meeting.  We meet at 7:00 pm, so I have also shifted all of my meals.  I cannot eat a meal more than three hours before running.  Breakfast has now become brunch.  Lunch and dinner are now “linner,” and I eat a very late supper somewhere around 8:30 or 9:00 pm.

Since Cinderella had her class and we often don’t get back until after lunch, I fixed my breakfast and took it with me.  I waited as long as I could stand to eat it, but I woke up hungry Monday morning–most likely because I went to bed hungry Sunday night.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home to get groceries.  The refrigerator was completely empty after going out of town the week before, so it was a big haul.  And, of course, I let Cinderella talk me into buying a few things I normally wouldn’t.

I was starting to get hungry again by the time we got home right after noon.  I knew this was bad news since my next meal wasn’t scheduled until 4:00 pm.  Cinderella opened the treats I let her pick out–a few chocolate covered raisins from the bulk section of the store and a bag of Pirate’s Booty we found in the clearance section.

I was curious about our unexpected purchases, so I gave them a taste.  And then I mindlessly ate another, and another, and another.  I was putting food away in more ways than one.

Then my mind said, “STOP!  What are you doing?  You’d be better off eating a whole other meal instead of binging on this junk!”  I immediately stopped and fixed myself a healthy snack that would hold me over until 4:00.

This, my friends, is monumental!  Why?  Because never before has my mind reacted in such a way.  Never before have I been mindlessly stuffing my pie hole only to have my brain wake up and yell, “STOP!”

What do I think precipitated this?  I have only made one change to my eating habits.  I am following a food plan, planning all of my meals ahead of time, and weighing my food.  This sounds like a lot of work, but it’s really not.  This has taken a load off of my mind as far as thinking about food, what I’m going to eat, when, was it the right amount, etc.  I have been eating three meals a day, so I think that eating outside of this framework made red flags start popping up.

We have to have food to survive.  It’s everywhere, and marketers are intentionally manufacturing foods that are addictive and appeal to all of our senses.  We can give up certain foods, but we can’t give up eating all together to break the addiction.  It’s easy to see why controlling our food intake (at least in this country) may be one of the most difficult hurdles for a large portion of the population.

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
I Corinthians 10:31

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