Emotional Eating

 By Heleen Woest

Don't let your emotions rule your life!

All of us have emotions. Some suppress their emotions to the point where it boils over. Others deny the existence of their emotions and as a result become isolated and depressed. Then their are those who are for the most part ruled by their emotions. In both instances people might give in to episodes of binge eating also known as emotional eating. I can relate because I suffered from emotional eating for many years.

Our emotions are part of our make-up. God intended for us to have emotions. In fact, He made us in His image, and we can find expressions of God's emotions throughout the Bible. So to deny that our emotions exist, or trying to live a life free of emotion, is to mess with nature and with God's plan for our lives.

Our emotions are important triggers to let us know that we are not doing alright, to warn us of imminent danger, and to help us connect with God and other humans in a more meaningful way. But we should never let our emotions rule our lives. The Bible warns us to be ruled by the Spirit of God. We are also instructed to take every thought captive, because our thoughts are directly connected to our emotions.

Many people use the excuse "Well I can not help how I feel". True, it is very difficult to change a feeling of deep sorrow, raging anger or excruciating pain. However, many times we can stop the runaway train of emotion before it pulls out of the station. It is very important to note that our emotions are usually driven by our thoughts. Almost every emotion starts out as a thought that we allow into our minds and  start "chewing" on, instead of refusing to dwell on it.

When we think about something long enough, we might soon find ourselves talking about it, all the while working ourselves into a frenzy. In the end we have an out of control emotion. This emotion can be followed by an episode of overeating, depression, defeat, backsliding or abusive behavior. Can you see that it all started with one thought?

So how do we orchestrate our lives so that it is not ruled by our emotions?

We have to keep a balance between our spirit, soul and body. It is important to put certain steps into place to keep your spirit strong  such as: Time with God, going to church, and interacting with other positive Christians. It is also important to keep your body healthy. If you have an eating disorder then the disordered behavior itself can cause you to spend too much time "thinking" and not enough time "doing". This is why you sometimes have to override emotions such as "I just can't exercise today, I am too down, too stuffed, too discouraged" These thoughts should be ignored. If you just get out there and do it, regardless of how you "feel", the feeling will soon pass. Taking care of your physical body and your spirit are important steps in overcoming food addiction.

To find out more about keeping your emotions under God's control and strengthening your spirit and body, come have a look at my program for women struggling with food addiction and eating disorders.

I know about the pain surrounding a food struggle, and I am very familiar with the pit of despair that you might find yourself in. Please note that I will never make light of your emotions, I know they are real, but I want to show you that there is a different way of living: A life free from emotional eating!

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