Overeaters need a reliable way to navigate through the sea of food choices. We must make decisions about when, what, and how much to eat. Most of us need to have some type of strategy or plan for eating. This plan should provide a foundation upon which to practice increasing self-control.
There are many plans to choose from. People who do not have to battle this temptation may shake their heads in wonder at all the diet books overflowing the shelves of bookstores. The different approaches can be difficult to learn and are often conflicting. The need for a nutritious variety of food makes the overeater’s problem a seemingly hopeless tangle. We can’t abstain from food as an alcoholic abstains from alcohol or a smoker abstains from cigarettes. Food is necessary to life, and there is natural satisfaction in eating.
I wanted a plan that did not deny natural body needs. Methods of self-control should work with nature, not against it. I didn’t want to place unnatural restrictions upon my body. Feelings of self-denial easily cause discouragement and rebellious attitudes. Deprivation gives rise to the development of abnormal eating patterns. Under those conditions, we become even more obsessive and compulsive about food.
In addition, I desired a plan that would be simple to remember, convenient, satisfying, and healthful. I wanted to follow this plan yet be able to eat the evening family meal. Eventually I realized that I yearned to find an eating plan that would help me actually feel like a normal eater rather than an overeater. I wanted this plan to be adaptable to periods of noticeable weight loss. I often wondered, “Am I asking too much?”
Immediately following Part III, I will discuss the plan I devised for myself. In actuality, this plan is a set of habits that proved helpful to me in normalizing my eating patterns. It is based upon my observations about my own experiences with food. Before launching into this, I have some further comments to make regarding the necessity for spiritual strength. Once we settle on a plan for self-control, there are problems of human weakness that continue to assail us.
Like a city breached, without walls,
is one who lacks self-control.
Proverbs 25:28
