How to Stop Overeating. Freedom with food.

In our home, we value freedom. Of course, I think most of us humans would say that we do. I really can’t imagine anyone just blatantly proclaiming that they don’t value freedom, but I’m sure there are those people out there. Freedom is being able to do what you want; That’s basically our society’s view on it. A vague one, for sure.

So, what is freedom? It’s simple enough to look it up in the dictionary. The Oxford dictionary defines it as, “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.”  I’d say that’s a pretty clear definition, but when it comes to actually determining what freedom looks like in our day-to-day life it can be a bit trickier.

For instance, a lot of kids can’t wait to be an adult so they can eat ice cream for dinner every night or stay up all night. When they’re older, they will get the freedom to make the choice of what they eat for dinner and when they go to bed, and that is pretty exciting for some kids. The catch is that for every choice we get to make, there is a desire behind it, and sometimes (a lot of the times) the desire we have does not align with the choice we ought to make. When we become adults, we realize we don’t actually want to eat ice cream every night because we don’t want the consequences of doing so.

But…well…we do want to, because, yum, but we don’t want to because of the consequences. Unfortunately, the desire is still there and strong as ever, and often it’s too strong to say no to. That, my friends, is where freedom dies.

We may have the freedom of choice, but the desire itself is what has us enslaved. I spent many years in that battle with food. Telling myself not to eat too much, or not to eat the dessert, but the desire for food was too strong to stick to any of my plans. It was a constant daily battle of wanting the results of better choices, but failing to make those better choices. Why couldn’t I be disciplined and just say no? I lived in defeat. Our relationship with food doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, the creator of our bodies did not intend for our relationship with food to be this way.

By God’s kindness, I don’t live in that daily battle with food anymore. Food serves me, I do not serve it--or more accurately, the companies that produced it. We often think of God’s kindness when it involves big things in our lives, like a new marriage, a newborn baby, or safety from catastrophic events. The reality is that God’s kindness is farther reaching than we can even imagine, and He cares about the little details of our lives, too. Maybe you’ve thought that these issues with food were too minor to bring to God, but I’m here to tell you He cares.

As a new follower of Jesus at the age of eighteen, I had already spent many years in a bad relationship with food, and to my surprise I found myself still struggling with it.

Why wasn’t Jesus enough, why am I always thinking about food, why can’t I say “enough”?!

I would often find myself in a place of regret, shame, and despair over the choices I was making, but I didn’t know what to do or how to stop. Once I learned the ‘why’ behind what felt like an inability to control what and how much I ate, things changed.

Our society’s extreme draw to food goes much further than a personal lack of self-control. What I mean by this is that it is no longer simply an issue of personal gluttony on the part of the consumer of the food. Rather, it is a greater issue of greed and selfishness by those who have ‘created’ these foods that suck us in so deeply. What we have come to know as “food” is really not food at all, they are just products (and too often byproducts) derived from real food that have been formulated to be addicting. Let me say it again, they have been formulated to be addicting, not nourishing.

Why? If the food is nourishing, then it is satisfying and we will eat less of it, which means there is less money to be made for those who are producing it. If we want to know what is good for us, then we need to start asking and listening to the One who made our bodies and desires good for us, not to an industry that only wants money from us.

When we eat the food that God has created for us to eat, enjoy, and be nourished by, our body’s response to it is satisfaction. Yes! You can actually eat food that tastes amazing and feel satisfied afterward! You don’t have to be left always wanting more. That was God’s intention, that we nourish our bodies—and we don’t even have to slack on flavor.

So, where do we start on our journey to food freedom?

1. Reevaluate your, “Why?”

If your reason is shallow, then your drive will be shallow, too. If you are looking to end your slavery to food solely to look better, then typically one of two things will happen (if not both). One, you’ll give up and give in; A reason based off of vanity alone with not be the strength you need to fully commit. Or two, you may veer toward committing to things that are not healthy in hopes of looking a certain way. Evaluate your reason, and move forward consistently reminding yourself of the importance of breaking the addiction to nourish and care for your body (and mind), rather than focusing on your appearance. If you believe it’s worth it, you can do it.

2. Commit to the idea of a lifestyle change. As you kick the bad things out of your diet, let it go for good. Then, learn how to cook or prepare the healthy version of that style of food. My husband loved soda, and come to find out, he really just loved carbonation. His craving for soda has been replaced with a love for bubbly, fermented drinks instead. Also, be ready and willing to expand your palate--don’t be a stubborn toddler, be open-minded. It will take some time to figure out and develop your new taste buds, so be patient and commit to the long run.

3. Cut out refined sugar like the plague. Refined sugar is addicting and it doesn’t have any nutrients to offer our bodies. In fact, it actually does the opposite of nourish the body. After cutting refined sugar out of your diet, you’ll come to learn that it doesn’t even make the flavor of food taste better—it just makes you want more of it. Yes, there is a difference. The good news is that God made us to like sweet things and created plenty of sweet and healthy things for us to enjoy, including sugar cane. Some of our friends and family don’t realize this, but we are not a ‘‘sugar-free’’ home. We are a ‘’refined sugar-free’’ home. We enjoy the sweet and earthy flavor of rapadura (a.k.a. panela), the sweet and cozy flavor of pure maple syrup, and our favorite and sweetest of all, that comes in a variety of tones and flavors, raw honey. Throw out that refined sugar and anything that contains it and step into the beginning of food freedom, you won’t be missing out. If you can make this step, the following steps of your health journey will become easier as you replace bad choices with good ones. 

4. Get the junk foods out of your home. Hear me now, self-control and discipline does come into play, and it starts with acknowledging the addictive nature of the foods we are eating and getting them out of our lives. We can’t just add some healthy foods to our diet and keep eating the junk and expect to be free from its grip on our appetite.

Clean out the pantry, clean out the cupboard and start fresh. If the junk food is there, it’s most likely going to be eaten, and when it gets eaten the craving for it grows stronger. So, I repeat, stock your home with healthy, whole foods. This is not about restricting your diet, this is about creating a new, clean diet that is diversely delectable. Depending on how strong your draw is, you may even need to take a break from TV or social media to avoid all those fast-food advertisements.

5. Pay attention to if and how food has been processed. Stock your home with unprocessed, whole foods. Fill your pantry with the basics to cook fresh, minimally processed meals. Pay attention to how these whole foods were produced. Read those labels. You may have a long list of ingredients in the meal you prepare, but you don’t need a long list of ingredients in the food you prepare it with.

6. Don’t do it alone if you don’t have to.

I’m not going to say that it is impossible to step into a diet free of the processed foods that make up the Standard American Diet on your own, but I will say it is a much more difficult route. If you can, find someone who will make the changes with you, and y’all can help each other press on. Or find someone who has already taken the leap who can be a wealth of knowledge and encouragement. Having someone to share recipes, meals, struggles or victories with is a great encouragement to press on. If you’re married, make a game plan to both be involved in the kitchen. Figure out what tasks are best for who according to your schedule. Through the years, mine and my husband’s roles have changed frequently to fit the season of life we’re in. Be flexible and realistic.

7. Be kind to yourself.

If you find yourself slipping and making poor choices, don’t fall into self-pity. Go back to the start and address “why” you chose to make the change towards a clean, nourishing diet. Once I stopped eating processed foods for an extended period of time, my desire to feel good after eating became stronger than the desire to eat the food that would make me feel miserable afterward.

This post should not be used as medical advice or used as a substitute for such.