A New Creation!

A few months ago, my dear friend Laura invited me to join her and a group of women working through the Bible Study, "Freedom from Emotional Eating" by Barb Raveling. I was so excited! However, life at that time was more than crazy! I was doing two Bible studies, Granddaddy was sick, still fighting adoptions in Liberia, etc, etc. A few weeks into it, I felt God tell me to lay it down for now. However, in the past few weeks, I have definitely sensed that this is the area God wants me working on now!

I am realizing how much my affair with food interferes in every area of my life! So in an act of obedience, I started the Bible study again this morning. The first thing to do is set boundaries. It is very crucial for me that this not be a "diet"! This is about getting food off the throne that belongs to God! But she uses the example of an affair between a married woman and man to illustrate how important boundaries are. So I prayed through some boundaries and believe I have some good ones that God has given me. I found myself running from one in particular because it is the foundation of my issue! Funny how we do that!

So my boundaries are:

1. No eating off kids' plates
2. Ne second helping
3. Eat for nourishment not for comfort or taste (exceptions are social occasions and vacations where I will still do my best to make choices that nourish my body not just my palette, but don't want it to become a legalistic issue either)
4. No eating after getting up from the dinner table - I am a bad night time snacker and that is usually when my biggest emotional eating occurs. No longer! I am a new creation that doesn't need night time snacking because God is meeting my every need!

She also talks about exercise and time with God. Of course, time with God is vital! It is the key! If I am going to remove food from the throne, then God must be at the top of my priority list and spending time in prayer and Bible study is just the simple basic for that. Exercise has been a challenge for lately. I actually love to exercise, but with the depression and the addition of a baby, finding the time and motivation have been non-existent. I will continue to have my daily time with God as a non-negotiable. I am adding to that some physical activity every day - even if it is just a walk around the block or yard work. I bought a Dancing with the Stars DVD that I am going to use today! I am excited about that! I LOVE to dance, but don't know how, so this should kill two birds with one stone..teach me to dance, and get this body moving! Plus, as Barb p0ints out, the more you exercise, the more motivated you are to stay in your boundaries and the better I feel emotionally!

So here we go...day one of the New Me! Watch out world! This battle is behind me and nothing will stop me now!