The next few days, the Give-Back Diet is all about LOVE, especially on this 40th day.  Loving in new ways, such as not “treating” yourself to binge foods.  Loving your successes, rather than over-thinking your failures.  Loving others, and giving them some help.  Loving moving and using your body in loving and playful ways.  Above all, this program is about loving yourself and that little likeness of God inside you.

Today, lets focus on foods you really love and cannot do without, let me go as far as to say, you really can’t do without these so much they might be called “binge” foods.  What is it you really crave, and have to have every day?  Is this food, or category of food you get compulsive with (in other words cannot stop eating)?

For me, back when I weighed 400 pounds, my binge food was ice-cream.  I had to have it every day, and lots and lots of it.  Also, it was sweets and desserts: candy, cookies, pie and cake, preferably chocolate.  Honestly, even though I have been relieved of compulsive overeating by the grace of God, I still am highly attracted to carbohydrates and sugary things.  It’s a big problem for me, and I know it is for my clients, and lots of people in general.

I had to learn to accept this compulsion, and come to admit that I couldn’t control it myself.  I had to surrender the sugar and ice-cream to God, and ask for His help to be relieved of the bingeing.  In other words, I had to learn a new kind of love connected with ice-cream and desserts: the love of God.  I had come to realize that there wasn’t enough of these binge foods in the world to satisfy me, so I had to give them to God and accept His love in return.  That’s the REAL SWEETNESS.

ACTION PLAN:

— Please identify and then surrender your binge foods, and/or compulsive foods.  Best would be to write them in a post (anonymously, if you like).

— Do what I did after I admitted them, tell someone, and then ask God for help to recover from their power over you.

— Realize that binge foods and compulsive overeating really isn’t entirely your fault.  There’s a fairly recent study that identified that our brain’s wiring gets reprogrammed when we eat too much sugar and fat.  It’s a real physical addiction that’s going on.  No wonder it’s uncontrollable.  Take a look at an article I wrote about it awhile back here.

Most of all, even though you may have a sugar, fat or salt problem, do your best to not feel bad about it.  Just keep on praying to God, and showering the problem with love and glorious surrender.  Then, feel the love from God, and the freedom that grace always provides time and time again.

HERE’S A LIST OF EVERY DAY OF THE “GIVE-BACK DIET.”  START TODAY!