Yeaa!! I am literally jumping with excitement! I am thrilled to introduce you to our very first guest blogger: Lisa from Fat Chick Fed Up. She is a mommy of four, a wife, a follower of Christ and an inspiration! Lisa is a wonderful example of biblical beauty! She is an amazing woman and her writing touches my heart every time she hits submit on her posts. I pray that she will do the same to your heart today! Enjoy! -Stephanie
The Battle Belongs to the Lord
I used to think that I could compartmentalize my life. I thought that the things I did with my body had nothing to do with the things happening in my heart. Oh boy, was I ever wrong and in for an inevitable rude awakening. I denied for a very long time the fact that I was an emotional eater. I thought I had complete control over what I put into my mouth. I figured I could stop anytime I wanted to. The problem was, I just didn’t want to.
I never really had that light bulb, “Aha!” moment that made me come to the realization that I was an emotional eater. It was much more gradual than that for me. Unfortunately, that meant I spent years stuck in an endless cycle of emotional upheaval leading to binge eating leading to feeling awful about my binge eating leading to crash dieting leading to extreme hunger leading to binge eating leading to…well, you get the idea.
And around and around I went. Eventually, I started to connect my eating habits to my moods. PMS anyone? Enough said. Whenever something was going wrong in my life, and sometimes when things were incredibly right, I medicated and celebrated with food. Eating one of my husband’s gooey brownies was my crack, and I had to have it almost every night.
When I started to put the pieces of the puzzle together and finally realize that I was, indeed, an emotional food addict, I was stunned. I really had believed that I had it all under control and could change at any moment just by deciding to grit my teeth and try really hard. The problem with that was that when I tried that method of weight-loss, I failed. Big time. Major, epic, huge fail. I finally admitted to myself that I didn’t know how to get out of that cycle and I cried out for help in the form of my blog.
It did not take very long for me to figure out that I was not alone in my struggles with obesity and the emotional issues that were related to it. In a classic story of “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” I started to question what had come first: the obesity leading to emotional issues or the emotional issues leading to obesity?
I finally determined it was the latter and since then I have been on a journey to open up a whole huge can of worms and dig deep to discover what it really is that drives me to do the things that I do and engage in such self-destructive behaviors. As a Christian, I quickly realized that this was definitely not a journey I could walk alone.
As a Christian, I’m so glad that I don’t have to. You see, even more important than the physical difficulty of losing a large amount of weight, and yes, even more significant than the emotional/mental processes that drive my self-defeating behavior, comes the spiritual ramifications of engaging in such behaviors, and the spiritual freedom to be found by crawling out from under it. Ultimately, this battle of the bulge is a battle of the Lord’s.
Really? You mean to tell me that losing weight is a spiritual issue? Yes, that’s exactly what I mean to tell you. I have been caught for far too long in a lie that tells me that God doesn’t care about such an insignificant issue as what I eat for breakfast or how many calories I had today. I had created this itty, bitty, teeny, tiny box and in an attempt to control my life I tried to stuff a great, big, giant, wild, not-to-be-tamed God into it. I am so happy to say, though, that over the last several months that same God has been loosed in my life and the difference is absolutely amazing.
Painful, but nothing short of amazing. I’ve had to let go of some stuff. I’ve had to let go of this illusion of control-no, not just the illusion of it, but the desire for it as well. I’ve had to admit to myself and my God that my waist-line was hurting my witness. I had gotten so ashamed with how far gone I was that I was blind to needy people around me. I didn’t really think God could or even wanted to use someone as pitiful as me. I was so focused on feeling sorry for myself and my situation that I could barely see God anymore. Sure, I still believed in Him. But I was not living a surrendered life before Him.
I am so thankful that God gave me a wake-up call in the middle of a strawberry patch. I am so thankful that he has shown me that this was not the life He had for me. He died to set me free, and I absolutely intend to live in freedom. One of my favorite verses these days is found in Galatians. Paul says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5.1). Stand firm is exactly what I intend to do.
Since I have started my blog I have lost close to 40 pounds and more than 10 inches. I have gained so much more. I have gained an awesome community of readers that support and encourage me at every opportunity. I have gained energy, knowledge and passion for healthy living. I have gained a completely new perspective on life and on God and on who He is and what He wants for and from me. Most importantly, as I have surrendered this battle to Him, I have gained freedom and victory that I never knew I had.
Do you agree that weight-loss is a spiritual battle? Why or Why not?
Have you ever found victory after surrendering an area of your life to God? Share your experience in the comments!
Bio: Lisa, aka “The Chick”, is a follower of Christ, wife to one wonderful man, homeschooling mama to four beautiful blessings, former couch-sitter turned life go-getter. She and her family are in the process of making an 1100 mile move away from the only home they have ever known and she’s quite sure she packed her sanity up in storage already. She blogs about her weight-loss journey, and that of her husband, affectionately known as “The Chick Magnet”, and the rest of life’s adventures at Fat Chick Fed Up.
As always, Lisa has written a brutally honest portrait of so many of us and probably only thought she was talking to herself. I definitely see myself in emotional eating. We have so many expectations of others and then when our version of how they should act doesn't come true, we “reward” ourselves with a treat to make us “feel better”. Lisa is also right when she states that this battle started because we have a tendency to be selfish and controlling. We say we love the Lord and say we want His will in our life, but we control it just the same. I am shamed. But the good news is the God forgives and God is a God of second chances…and third, and fourth…well, you get the picture. I just wanted to say that Lisa writes beautifully and from the heart. I pray someday she will be writing to publish her insights as well as speaking at women's gatherings everywhere. She is awesome. She is beautiful. She's my baby girl!
(and no…I am not prejudice!)
Hmm, anonymous, are you my Mom? Lol-thanks mama!
Agreed! She is awesome and beautiful! And yes, I agree that it does come back to wanting to be in control. We want everything to be so perfect, but perfect is such a high standard. And God doesn't expect that of us, that is why it is by His grace that we are able to have second and third and fourth and so on chances! He wants us to strive for it, but He knows we aren't capable of it. I so often fall into the category of aiming for perfectionism that I get hard on myself for not quite making it (to my standards). This is something I am working on and it is a battle, but one worth fighting! Thank you so much again Lisa for posting over here!
Thank you for this post. I too am an emotional eater and have struggled for 30 years with my weight issue. I keep telling myself I have turned this over to God, but I keep talking it back and try to control it myself. I have not reached the point you have, but I am not giving up.
I follow your blog as well – good luck in your continued journey and may God continue to bless you and your family.
@Walkingforacure-One of the things I have been learning is my curent Bible Study (Beth Moore's Believing God) is that we have to have a present-active-participle faith. What she means by that is it's not just a one-time surrender but it's a continual surrender. I certainly have not arrived in this area of my life and I find myself, like you, laying my issues at the altar, only to pick them back up again later. But it's the process of continual surrender that draws us closer to God and His will for our life and makes each “letting go” easier and easier. I do believe that God can bring instantaneous healing to any area of our lives, but I think for many of us He doesn't give that immediate graticifcation because the process is just as important as the end in producing faith and character in us. Not sure if any of that makes sense or not, but I am definitely a work in progress. And you are too! Thanks for commenting!
@Walkingforacure- I still struggle with the control issue as well. After having my baby last year, I realized my body will never be the same. I also had a c-section that I REALLY did not want to have, but medically, it was necessary (at least that's what they tell me!) 😉 Anyway, I feel like I lost control of that situation , and deprived of something that I as a woman should have, which sort of led to me feeling like I lost control over my body and I fell deep into a negative body image hole that I just couldn't get out of until recently. It is something that I continually must surrender (as Lisa puts it so well!) because if I don't, I can easily and sometimes do still fall back into that negative image hole. Although as I continue to surrender, it is easier to let go of those negative thoughts quicker, instead of dwelling on them for so long. As Lisa says, we are all a “work in progress” and He knows our efforts! Hang in there and give it to Him, even if its a small bit at a time. He will help you!