Overcoming Emotional Eating God s Way. Copyright by Kimberly Taylor. All rights reserved. Notice You do have permission to forward this special report or give it away as long as you do so in its entirety, give proper credit for the information, and share the link to the website. However, no part of this content may be copied, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Disclaimer The information in this report should be considered as general information only and should not be used to diagnose medical conditions. Please see your health care provider for diagnosis and treatment of any medical concerns you may have, and before implementing any diet, exercise or other lifestyle changes.
Getting Started Is emotional eating ruining your desire to reach and maintain a healthy weight? During or after one of your eating binges, have you ever felt Out of control? Depressed? Frustrated? Condemned? Hopeless that it will ever get better? I know the feeling. Emotional eating ruled my life for over 20 years, possibly longer. Because of it, my weight increased until it reached 240 pounds. I thought dieting would fix the problem. I tried every diet known to man, even the liquid diet that Oprah tried. I lost the weight, but I gained it back plus more. Why? It s not hard to see - my emotional eating habit remained! The diet was just a temporary band-aid over a deep wound. As soon as I felt emotions that were too painful to handle, food was waiting with open arms. But I didn t know any other way to live. One day, I had a chest pain that took my breath away. I was obese and having blood pressure problems. When I had that chest pain, my life freezeframed; instantly, I recalled that my grandmother had died at the age of 47 of a stroke. I was headed down the same path. I was only 38 years old at the time. But while I was standing in my living room, terrified of moving because I was convinced that I would have a heart attack and die, God spoke to me clearly. He said, It is not supposed to be this way. 3
In that moment, I had a choice. I could either accept that what God was saying was true or I could continue living with what I thought was true. In that silence, I made a decision. I decided to believe God. When I got courage to move, I sat down and grabbed my purse. I had a doctor s appointment card later in the week to follow-up on my blood pressure. I took out the card and wrote on the back of it, Today is the day I turn my life around. And you know what? Because I accepted God s word as true, He did turn my life around! I was expecting condemnation from Him, but instead I received true love and restoration. I lost 85 pounds, dropping from a size 22 to a size 8. I gained peace, joy, and confidence in the future. But that wasn t the best part the best part was that I discovered that God can be trusted and that His word is true. He is the Great Physician. He healed my emotional pain and comforted me during tough times. He still does. I turn to Him first whenever I am emotionally upset. I know He is the only one who can fix it. He can do the same for you. But like me, you have a decision to make now. Do you want to accept that God is the source of truth? Or do you want to continue to use yourself or others as the source of truth? To make the decision easier, think about the results you ve been getting. Are you happy with them? Imagine getting the same results over the next 5, 10, or 20 years. Does that picture thrill you or horrify you? If you are ready to do something different, and get better results then come with me as I share how to overcome emotional eating God s way. What I m showing you today while valuable is just the beginning. I have created an in-depth online video course to help you conquer binge eating for life. If you want to know more, go to https://www.udemy.com/how-to-stopbinge-eating 4
The Truth Behind Emotional Eating It is important that you understand why you emotionally overeat because then you will understand the process to overcome it. The Bible says that we are engaged in a Spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12). Many of us are in emotional pain because we allow the voice of the enemy, of the past, or negative people around us to control our thinking. If not taken captive, their voices can become our voice! Have you ever heard of the term gut feeling? In ancient times, they believed the stomach/abdomen/waist area was the seat of your emotions, so that is where the expression comes from. Excessive eating is often an effort to comfort your feelings. When you make the choice to eat for comfort instead of trusting God for comfort, this is what happens: Your choice drives your behavior Your behavior, when repeated, become your habits Your habits multiply over time Time reveals the results of your habits That last point is where the weight gain/health problems come from! But the Bible gives instructions for how to win this Spiritual battle: You must appropriate God s strength and might to make better choices and change your results in life. In Ephesians 6, it describes the armor of God. The first piece of armor is to gird your waist with truth. Gird means to secure. You must secure your emotions with the truth. Many people say that "the truth will set you free." But that is a lie because it is incomplete. The full quote is: "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32). 5
Your freedom hinges on the truth you accept and live by. The only source of truth is God s word. So ask yourself: What do you believe about yourself? Is it what God says about you? What do you believe about your ability to overcome? Is it what God says about it? What do you believe about your future? Is it what God says about your future? If not, then you need to find out what God says whenever you are faced with an emotional storm. But in order to trust his word, you must know God personally first. In order for you to be healed, you must know three things: Who God is What God can do That God is ready, willing, and able to help you To start a relationship with God personally or to renew that relationship, visit: God Loves the World http:/www.godlovestheworld.com 6
The Steps to Overcome Emotional Eating Before the Storm A lady wrote me on takebackyourtemple.com to ask for help because she was dealing with overeating issues. She made two statements that showed me what the problem is: "Food...is something that I have not been able to overcome." "Food still controls me." When I read those two things, it was clear to me that she is dealing with a mental stronghold, which is rooted in false beliefs. But praise God, strongholds are meant to be torn down! "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 NKJV)," I asked her two questions to help her uncover any fears behind the stronghold. If you are dealing with a similar situation, then you may want to ask yourself: What does my life look like when food is no longer the focus? What am I afraid will happen when food bingeing is no longer an issue? I asked her to get a pen and a piece of paper and write down the answers to those two questions, being prayerful the whole time. I advise you to do the same thing right now. It is your first step to overcoming this issue. 7
The purpose of the first question is to help you know if you can even see yourself having a healthy relationship with food. Some people have practiced their eating patterns for so long that they can't imagine living without them. The second question helps you see if there are any fears holding you back. A saying goes, "An intolerable situation will exist in your life as long as you are willing to tolerate it." In other words: As long as you can live with it, you will. That is human nature. You may be unhappy in your situation, but if you are not doing anything to change it, then you have learned to live with being unhappy. It is only when a burning desire comes alive within you and you make a decision that you want better that will you start working for better. When you value the reward, you will do the work! After writing down the answers to those questions, write down why it is important for you to develop a healthy relationship with food. This reason must be strong enough to get you through those challenging times, the ones in which you will be tempted to go back to your old ways. Whatever your reason is, remind yourself of it with each eating choice so you will be encouraged on your journey to freedom. You'll learn more specific ways to renew your mind to conquer emotional eating at: http://www.udemy.com/how-to-stop-binge-eating 8
The Steps to Overcome Emotional Eating During the Storm Your emotional eating habits have probably been with you for a long time. So the thought patterns that support them have dug into your mind. To change, you need to take back that territory. Have you ever heard of the words stimulus and response? A stimulus is a trigger, an event that influences activity. A response is the activity that you do because of that influence. Right now, your emotions are the stimulus and eating is your response. You are probably moving from stimulus to response without thinking. The solution starts with interrupting that pattern. The steps that follow are what to do when you are tempted to eat emotionally. 1. Pause. To change, you must pause between the temptation to binge and actually binging. Remember this fact: Memories drive addictive behaviors. Whenever you are tempted to binge, it is because you've learned to associate pleasure to it. You've taught yourself that it is a way for you to escape painful feelings. Those pleasure memories play in your mind without you even being aware it. Time to switch off those memories! Whenever you are emotionally upset, instead of immediately reaching for food, here is a new response: Sit down. You are going to give yourself a 10-minute retreat before you put anything in your mouth. You can set a timer if you like. Place your hands on top of your stomach, with your thumbs touching. Close your eyes. Breathe in through your nose, feeling your thumbs separate. Fill your stomach with air like a balloon. Then, breathe out through your mouth with your lips pursed, letting your stomach deflate completely so that your thumbs touch again. Do this at least 10 times, or until you become centered and calm. 9
This may be uncomfortable at first, even hard. When your emotions are raging, you want to get out pain as quickly as possible. But remember this: You are not alone. God is with you. He will strengthen you and help you during your retreat time. 2. Question. During your retreat time, you are going to ask yourself these questions after you are calmer. What thought made me upset or uncomfortable? Emotions are birthed from your thoughts and amplified by your memories. Retrace the emotion until you capture the thought. If you have pen and paper, write it down. You want to face it. Remember this with every situation there is the event itself, which is simply what happened, and then there is the meaning you assign to it. For example, you argued with your husband because he forgot your anniversary. The event was that he forgot your anniversary. But the meaning you assigned might be that it means he doesn t love you. The meaning part is what makes you have an emotional reaction. So determine what meaning made you react. Is this thought true? Consider the possibility that your thought could be wrong. It may not be, but consider the possibility. A big clue that a thought could be wrong is always and never thinking: He is always doing this to me. If there is even one example in which he didn t forget your anniversary, then that thought is wrong. Another clue to a thought that could be wrong is exaggerating your emotions. For example, I am the loneliest person in the world. It may be true that you are lonely, but the loneliest person in the world? Have you met everyone in the world to verify that you are the loneliest person? If not, then that thought could be wrong. For more strategies on emotional management, check out http://www.udemy.com/how-to-stop-binge-eating 10
What does God s word say about it? God s word is stability, your ultimate source of truth. You will need to renew your mind so that your thoughts are consistent with God s word. If you don t have one, I recommend getting a Bible that you understand. Many churches use the King James Version, but it can be hard to understand for regular study because of the 17 th century language. I recommend the New King James version or the New American Standard version. Whatever Bible version you choose, it should have a topical index at the back. Flip to the Index until you find a topic that relates to your current situation. If you have access to the Internet, you can also go to a website like Biblegateway.com and use their topical index. For example, if you are angry find scriptures related to anger and peace. If you are depressed, find scriptures related to sorrow and joy. If someone hurt you, like in the forgotten anniversary example, you will want to read what the scripture says about forgiveness. Read those scriptures and meditate on them. You might highlight them in your Bible or write them on index cards so that you can find them easily if you need them in the future. In fact, if it is an emotion that you battle a lot, then memorize the key related scriptures. As you meditate on these scriptures, ask God to show you the truth of the situation, comfort your pain, and minister to your heart. Ask him also what you should do to handle the emotion. If you need to cry and are in a place to do it, don t be ashamed. Do it. Allow yourself to feel. You won t fall apart. God will keep you safe. God gave us emotions for a reason. However, they were meant as a tool for us, not to rule us. They are signals about the beliefs you hold dear. When used properly, your emotions can tell you which beliefs to keep and which to let go of because they do not serve you any longer. 11
3. Decide. This is your decision point. Once you complete your retreat, you must decide what your response will be. Will I respond according to God s word or my will? If your body is hungry, then eat. You will probably enjoy it more because you will now eat in peace and greater enjoyment. But if you are not hungry, then you must still decide whether to eat anyway. Ask God to lead you into what to do next. His word says: No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13 God s word says that if you are tempted to eat when you are not hungry, you are able to resist the temptation. It also says that God makes a way for you to escape the temptation. While God didn t send the temptation to you, He gives you the means to handle it so that you triumph. So pray, "Lord, show me the escape route right now that you want me to take." If you decide to eat anyway, do not condemn yourself. You must be kind to yourself during this process. God himself is kind and kindness is one of the fruits of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25). God is not about condemnation, but restoration. You may feel convicted by your behavior, but with conviction comes an answer. Conviction tells you, Hey, you re going in the wrong direction. Here is a better way. Conviction carries hope. But Condemnation says, You re bad and you will always be this way. Condemnation carries hopelessness. 12
The Bible says this about the error of condemnation: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. God is about hope: - Romans 8:1 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. - Jeremiah 29:11 The good news is that even if you still decide to respond in your old way for the moment, something is different. Because you changed your response, you have changed. You ve planted a new seed. It may take time to see the results, but continue practicing the new response. Your victory is inevitable if you hold on to your hope. God is tremendously patient. One of the character traits the Bible ascribes to God is Teacher: Behold, God is exalted by His power; Who teaches like Him? No matter how many times you stumble, He will never give up on you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Will you trust Him with your emotions from now on? 13
The Bible says that God is: a Comforter a Giver a Planner a Restorer a Revealer of Secrets a Rewarder Awesome Compassionate Counselor Exalted Faithful Father Fire Glorious Good Gracious Great Holy Honorable Hope Joy Justice Kind King Knowledge Liberty Life Light Longsuffering Love Majesty Marvelous Merciful Mighty my Defense my Deliverer my Fortress my Healer my Helper my Husband my Keeper my Leader my Portion my Protector my Provider my Redeemer my Refuge my Rock my Shepherd my Shield my Stronghold my Teacher Near On my Side One One who Blesses Peace Perfect Power Proven Pure Reverence Righteous Salvation Slow to Anger Spirit Strength Support Sure the Creator Truth Understanding Upright Wisdom With Me Wonderful Worthy 14
God will show Himself strong in your circumstances; your weakness will be made perfect in His strength. I promise that if you trust God, your trust will not be misplaced. You will soon be able to testify of His healing power to others, just like I am doing right now! 15
Learn More You can end the anguish of binge eating. The 'How to Stop Binge Eating' online video course shows you how. In the course, you'll learn how to stop using food as emotional 'Novocaine' to numb painful feelings. Using cutting-edge research, the course will help you quickly recognize the emotional and physical states that put you in danger of overeating, leaving you feeling powerless and out of control. You'll also learn how to manage stress and other negative emotions, regain your confidence, and build a wellness lifestyle that helps you remain strong and centered without turning to food. Check out the details, including testimonials from others who have overcome binge eating at https://www.udemy.com/how-to-stop-binge-eating. 16