From Holiday Food Bondage to Holiday Food Freedom
In a foggy haze I can vaguely remember the feelings I experienced as the holidays approached. The dread and calorie counting started with Halloween and I would wonder how I could control the amount of candy I ate.
Next would be Thanksgiving. I remember wanting to enjoy every taste of traditional food that my family ate like turkey, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and pie. Everyone would gather around the table eating from vintage China and laughing while I sat and worried about what I was going to put in my mouth.
My mind was a rapid-fire calculator from October to December calculating all the calories and fat grams I ate over the holidays. I felt my only hope was January 1 where supernatural powers of self-control and a life made anew by the flipping of the calendar to a new year would change my eating behavior...Ha!
As I look back on those years, I feel sad that so many moments were consumed by my thoughts about what I ate and I how it was going to work them off. However, I know that nothing is wasted in the eyes of the Lord. My mess can become his message.
I now gather around the holiday tables with my family and enjoy the moments and food. I can also go through my kids’ Halloween candy and pick just the right chocolate hollering my name at that moment (don’t tell them).
How have I been able to do a 180 in my thoughts about food? Through the healing power of Jesus, and His grace that led me down a path of learning to listen to my body. Jesus promises that we are made new each day if we just ask. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says,
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
The Lord has blessed me with the knowledge of listening to my hunger and knowing my fullness. I often use a scale of 1-10 with 1 bring famished and 10 being overly full. I try to stay between a 4-6. I eat when I’m gently hungry and I generally find a comfortable stopping place where I feel content and satisfied, but not overly stuffed.
I’m not perfect, only Jesus is, so I may overeat or under-eat at times, but overall I’m able to honor my body’s signals. And, those occasional overeating and undereating moments are all signs of normal eating, I’ve come to learn. The difference now is that there’s no longer the self-placed guilt and shame in those moments. Jesus also guided me in asking questions like how am I feeling and what do I need (thanks also to Laurel Mellin).
My prayer for you is that you can gather around the table or a bucket of candy and feel freedom in trusting your internal hunger cues. May you also be able to take every thought captive and transform your mind according to Christ’s plan for your life (2 Cor 10:5).
Lord, we ask your blessing on anyone who is living in isolation because of food rules. Anoint them with the ability to start healing through honoring their hunger cues. Allow them to gather around your table to enjoy your body and blood that was so sacrificially given to us so that we may live in freedom. Amen
Amy is a Graduate Faculty Scholar at Northern Illinois University and a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She is blessed with two boys and an amazing husband. Most of all, she is a child of God. She is humbled to be a disciple who can share in the GOoD news about body, eating and movement. In Jesus name, she asks for freedom and peace for those who struggle with body and eating issues.
