Crossing the Line

One figure I read said 65% of women have food issues, with 10% moving into the extreme categories of anorexia and bulimia. 35% of females are obese. On both ends of the bell curve it is obvious women struggle with food. Women in the middle of the bell curve struggle too. In my observation, women are all over the place. Some patterns are more common and truthfully, food is just the victim. The culprit is  a wrong thought pattern. Wrong thinking about food. I can honesty say that my thinking had not always been healthy or right. I have erred on both sides of the fence. And it has very little to do with food.

Do you know how many women don’t eat? This can look like skipping meals, under eating, purging and ceasing from eating.  Sometimes, our life or areas of our life are out of our control. Food is controllable. I know from whence I speak. Whatever motivation puts the brain into the mode…weight control, body image, refusing a reward, pride, punishment…its control. Here is the horrible problem with not eating enough: we destroy muscle tissue when we don’t give it nourishment. So, if you yo-yo weight, your muscle to body fat ratio gets worse and with less muscle tissue it becomes harder and harder to loose weight. If you are thin, eventually you become “skinny fat” which is thin with no muscle. It is physically a problem, but mentally so hard to overcome.  It is a stronghold in our lives that needs to be recognized and then battled. Winning and victory takes a fight.  Spiritually attacking wrong thinking will carry over into the area and to our food. Look at wrong beliefs and go after them…you will eventually see how some of this carries over into food.

Speak truthfully to yourself-
here is some of my wrong thought patterns that send me across the line and the truth that stops them:

There are more but I don’t need to share all my secrets. 🙂

Some women struggle with overeating. We are taught to eat for comfort. It is a soother when days are hard. It was an eye opener to me to realize how much comfort I took in my food. Sometimes I would eat to release the dopamine in my brain- the same chemical that gives drug addicts their high. I didn’t call it that. I just ate until I felt that happy feeling. I have had to remind myself that it is not my last meal, just a meal.

So what is normal? Good question. It’s ok to eat. It’s ok to have pleasure in our food. If it’s your all consuming thought- red flag!!!! If you feel hunger pains regularly- red flag!!! If you feel stuffed after your meals- red flag!!! If you have to lie down after meals- red flag!! If you want to throw up- red flag!! If you have to unbutton your skirt- red flag!!! If you are not hungry again in 2-3 hours- red flag!!  You should wake up hungry and be hungry every 2-3 hours throughout the day. You should have enough water that your urine is light. You should have bowel movements several times a day. You should not have hungry breath. Put food in place. Your weight will balance out if you are eating right. I have found and I have observed, if your food is a struggle, it’s not your food. It’s you thinking. Take a look. Take a look before you cross the line.