1. The author describes her powerlessness when she's faced with the vicious cycle of failed attempts to eat healthlier. My experience?
There is a powerlessness I feel when I'm stuck in the sugar/sleep cycle... I am sleepy, so my resistance is low, and I crave sugar, that makes me sleepy.
2. Reason for wanting to eat differently -- losing weight, fitting into favortie pair of jeans, an important event. What are your reasons? Are they enough? Lysa writes, "I had to see the purpose of my struggle as something more than wearing smaller sizes and getting compliments from others...It had to be about something more than just me."
My main reason for wanting to eat healthier is so that I can have more enrgy, feel rested without having to use my CPAP, and stop sleeping and eating my way through life. When my family commens that I'm sleeping all the time, I know I'm missing out on so much of life, and I hate that. I want to have victory over this struggle, and to share my experience with the world - that is my gift.
3. Lysa writes,"I had to get honest enough to admit it: I relied on food more than I relied on God. I craved food more than I craved God." When have you turned to food for the following reasons -
Comfort - when the MC commented about the next song being for the older among us -- I headed for the chocolate! If I had been relying on God, I couldn've laughed it off.
Reward - Mother's Day lunch -- Relying on God would've helped me choose a walk with my family instead.
Joy - I don't think I've really turned to food for joy -- during the Easter breakfast I enjoyed conversation rather than food -- I want that perspective back!!
Stress - The stress of a busy schedule sometimes leads me to eat lots of things throughout the day rather than actual meals, and this has caused me to overeat. Relying on God to carry me through even when I'm busy would help me to wait and evaluate whether I really need more food or not.
Sadness - I have often hidden my feelings of sadness about the relationship with my parents... food is a poor substitute for real healing. I am seeking counsel and praying about what to do -- accept the sadness and greive, confront and hope that the relationship is restored/revivied, or other possibilities.
Happiness -- the celbration meals have been situations in the past, but rarely is it just because of happiness that I eat.
4. Cravings can be a prompt to pray. How has prayer helped or failed to help in your previous food battles?
The key to using prayer to help fight this battle is mindfulness. We must be award of the attacks as we face them, or before we know it, we are falling again. In the past the bondage has been broken, but I've fallen again -- I know it will help in the future -- I just have to turn to prayer soon enough, rather than after!
5. Brick by brick, or craving by craving, Lysa dismantled the tower of impossibility and used the same bricks to build a walkway of prayer, paving the path to victory...it takes time and careful work...
Yes, consitency can be so HARD! But with God, all things are possible. I would like to start a streak of staying within my calorie goals -- and once a streak is started, it can be hard to break, especially when you reach that tipping point and start to see results! I look forward to it -- today could be the first -- God help me!
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