This week we are hitting “Night-Time Eating” head on by creating truth cards that will help us fight the lies we believe that cause us to give in to temptation after dinner with TRUTH.
Today, I want to share with you page two in my truth card deck!
This “habit” (of eating at night) is the single BIGGEST hindrance to my confidence that I am currently at my God-given size.
After I obsessed and went nuts and dropped all the weight I did, it was clear that I had gone too far. So I am not at that LOOOOOW a weight right now. I am good with that. But what I *don’t* know is if I am where I should be. I don’t think the number matters at all. But night-time eating is sort of a bug-a-boo for me. I haven’t conquered it at all. I know that many evenings, I do “desire” eating. If I were to be obedient during this trouble time, I know that I would have confidence that no matter what my size or number or whatever, I am right where God intends for me to be.
I need to CHOOSE to surrender my “desire eating” in the evening to God. Will I?
It really boils down to WILL I OBEY GOD? Or my desires?
Will I call “foul” to God when he asks me to give evening eating over to him?
Is this one of those areas where I retain *my* (supposed) rights? Or am I truly surrendered…”Not my will, but thine be done?” No food tastes as good as obedience feels!
Is giving up food after dinner (when I am not hungry) worth what I get in return?
There truly is no sweeter sensation–no tantalizing taste-bud thrill–than loving God with my choices. The peace that I experience when I submit to his authority is just SO wonderful!
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Are these truths that you can add to your truth card deck? How is it going for you using your truth cards? What truths can you add to these that I have posted?
Do you struggle with eating after dinner? I know that many do. We aren’t typically hungry for the few hours that follow dinner time, yet we nevertheless end up eating. I have three truth cards for that as well. It helps me to read these truth cards out loud just before dinner time. It also helps me to read them out loud just after dinnertime, too. If I find I am tempted, I like to launch Barb Raveling’s “I Deserve a Donut” app (she has an I Deserve a Donut book now too for those without iPhones!) and use some of her questions to illuminate what is going on.
In any event, here are THREE truths that I can say out loud that help me to NIP EVENING EATING in the bud!
Unless I eat an early dinner (or light dinner, stopping before I reach a “5” on the hunger scale), I simply WILL NOT BE HUNGRY before bed!
Have you experienced this? Where you know that you ate plenty at dinner time, but you know you are planning…actually planning to eat anyhow? Do we want to BE CURED of this overeating and extra weight stuff? Do we really WANT to be obedient to the Lord in eating only what we need for fuel? Then the truth is, unless we eat a very early dinner or an extremely light dinner, it isn’t likely we will be hungry before bed!
I sleep better when I don’t overeat at bed-time or just before.
Have you ever had a food-fest in the evening while watching TV or a movie or playing games with the family? Or perhaps that is your computer or reading time and you just munch most of the evening? Has it affected how soundly you sleep? It does for many of us who struggle with this. When we use food for fuel, we are able to sleep peacefully!
When I don’t overeat at night, I wake up hungry for breakfast which is a good thing!
A lot of people assume that they need to eat in the morning when they wake up. Honestly, when I overeat the night before, I am not hungry until 10am or sometimes even 11am! Is this true for you?
How About You?
Do you struggle with night-time eating? Might speaking these truths out loud each morning and again in the evening before you eat after dinner actually help you? What are your strategies for emerging victorious over the temptations to eat in the evening “just because?”
Stay tuned for part 2 of night-time eating Truth Cards!
There are times when I have eaten something, even within my boundaries (Thin Within principles such as eating between hunger and satisfaction), and I will feel guilty for eating whatever that particular food was. It probably goes back to my dieting days of the food labeling (the “good”, the “bad”, and the ugly). Recently, I was tired of the guilty feelings that were attaching themselves to what I was eating, so I sat down and typed out some questions to quickly renew my mind with when the thoughts would come. These are some questions to ask yourself ad renew your mind with when you are feeling guilty about what you have eaten.
Feeling guilty about what I ate:
Why do you feel guilty?
Where is this guilt coming from (satan, diet, friend, etc)?
Did you eat the food within your boundaries? If not, what could you do different next time you are tempted to break a boundary?
What does God say about this situation?
What happens when you believe the lie? What is your habitual response?
How does God want you to respond?
What do you need to accept?
What can you thank God for in this situation?
Colossians 2:20-23 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,”which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
1 Timothy 4:4-5 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Romans 8:1 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.
Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Matthew 15:11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.
If you are familiar with Barb Raveling’s I Deserve a Donut (app and book), these types of questions may look similar. When you ask yourself these questions, the Lord will expose the lie and reveal truth. I notice when I answer these questions and meditate on these scriptures, it helps settle me down and peace returns.
There are times when I need questions to help renew my mind that are about these specific circumstances, such as feeling guilty about a particular food I have eaten. Diets teach us that there are “good” and “bad” foods, and I no longer want to be under a law that says, “taste not, touch not” (Colossians 2:21). There are no moral values attached to food.
I hope these questions are helpful to you. I have a few other sets of questions that have been helpful to me as well that I will share at another time in other posts.
Are there any other sets of questions that would be helpful to you? Let me know and maybe I could come up with some questions.
CHIRP! The purpose of smoke alarms in our home is to let us know there is smoke hot enough, born from a fire, and that we need to get out! The alarms tell us to find safety, and that our lives are endangered. Their purpose is to save lives. So when a smoke alarm’s battery runs low, it lets us know that we need to change the battery with an annoying, inconsistent, “chirp!” That little chirp means, “If you don’t take care of this now, I’m just going to get more and more obnoxious. And if you fail to change my battery, I won’t be able to help you in case of an emergency.” In reference to our Thin Within journey of finding freedom from the control of food, there are situations (“fire”) that arise (like smoke rising), that sets off the “renewing-of-the-mind” alarm saying CHIRP!–YOU NEED TO RENEW YOUR MIND!
Last week, a smoke alarm in our house was chirping at me and letting me know its battery needed to be changed. The chirping sound is not something one can easily ignore. And the longer I put off changing the battery, the more often it chirped. I believe life has these same “chirps”, letting us know something needs to change or be recharged. From this chirping episode, the Lord showed me that there are “chirps” and alarms that go off in our life telling us that we need to change something. He showed me that there are things that tell me I need to stop and renew my mind.
Some of the “alarms” could be anything that trigger overeating or disorder in our eating. Maybe it’s after a stressful day and you just want to come home, grab the cookie jar, plop your feet up on your recliner, and shovel in the cookies. Maybe it’s finding out some upsetting news and you drive to the nearest fast-food drive-thru, knowing full-well that you are going to “super-size” and try to numb yourself with food. Maybe you put your jeans on and they are a little tighter than you remember and you feel tempted to try that new diet your friends were talking about. There are hundreds of things that can trigger our own personal out-of-order eating experience.
What kind of “smoke” sets off your alarm for needing to “recharge” or to renew your mind?
You aren’t hungry, but those brownies are screaming your name!! CHIRP!
You are at a “5”, but you really want another serving of salad from the buffet. CHIRP!
You ate an entire package of Oreos. CHIRP!
You want to eat your way through your emotions. CHIRP!
You weighed yourself and you gained. CHIRP!
You know what’s so cool about renewing our mind? Because, ultimately, it’s the LORD who does the work! Even recently, the Lord has been reminding me that I am transformed through HIS work, not me behaving better or making all of the perfect choices. It’s GOD! That revelation is oh so freeing!
Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
When you hear a CHIRP!, renew your mind! Grab your Bible, your truth cards, your journal, or get up and have a dance praise fest! Or use whatever tools or ways that work for you to put on God’s truth!
How about you? What’s setting off your “renewing-of-the-mind” alarm? Are you trying to overcome by your own strength and will-power? Christ said that we can do all things through His strength! Let’s strengthen our spiritual muscles by getting into His Word! Do you need to change your “battery” by renewing your mind?
Last year, I joined a weekly Bible study at a local church. On the first day, I sat in the lecture hall and waited excitedly to receive my study book and instructions. I was (not pleasantly) surprised that the very first thing to happen was not an introduction of the leaders. Instead, the words to a song appeared on the screen in the front of the room and everyone stood to sing….without accompaniment. “Oh, this is not good”, I thought. See, I love music and I love to sing – in private! I have been self conscious of my singing voice since I was a child. And I really thought that I would not like this aspect of the Bible study – at all. In addition to my lack of confidence in singing, I also was not a huge fan of praise music. I enjoyed the music during Sunday worship, but I would choose almost any other kind of music or talk radio while driving.
Well, within a month, God had changed my heart so much about music that it is now one of my favorite things about my time in the Bible study. I started downloading the songs I liked and I began to listen to praise music in the car. The Bible study leader’s favorite song that year was “The Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns. This song became my anthem as I participated in the Renewing of the Mind study with Heidi last March.
Per her recommendation, I created a Renewing of the Mind playlist on my phone/ipod that continues to grow. I have found that the melodies and words get stuck not only in my head, but in my heart as well. I listen to my list as I prepare meals, exercise, drive, and sometimes as I get ready for the day.
Is it strange to think of music as a way to renew our minds? Here’s how I see it. Much of Christian music is based on scripture. When I am listening to the words or singing along:
1) I am praying God’s Word to Him. We are told “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
2) My mind is hearing the Truth of God’s Word, learning about His character, and absorbing how He relates to His people.
3) The words of scripture, the Truth, are settling in my heart. I am marinating in and meditating on His Word. “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. “(Psalm 119:11)
4) I can use the Truths from music during a time of temptation. It is sometimes easier to call up the Truth in music than something I have memorized without music. Think about all of the things in school you learned set to a tune – the alphabet, continents song, my daughter learned about igneous rock set to the Addams family song! In temptation, I use many tools – Truth cards, the Bible, prayer, getting on my knees, TW scripture cards, and music.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. “(2 Cor 10:1)
5) It is a form of worship. Think of singing songs about and to God as a “God List” set to music. Again, it reminds us of God’s character and His relationship with us.
How About You?
I’d love to see us share the songs that we enjoy and the ones that help us in our journey with the Lord.
Your favorites may include gospel, hymnals, Southern gospel, current praise, or even secular music that speaks to you of God. I’ll start. ☺
Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns,
I Have a Song, Christ in Me, really anything by Shannon Wexelberg
Whom Shall I Fear, Our God, The Name of Jesus by Chris Tomlin
True Things, Your Hands, All I Need (many others) by JJ Heller (folksy)
In Christ Alone feat Kristian Stanfill
Born Again by Third Day
Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone, You are Holy by Michael Smith
