In the spirit of Transparent Tuesday I thought I would start off sharing a few of my weaknesses. Some may appear to be more serious than others but they are all things that I struggle with. Most of them will not be immediately evident to you and that is why I am sharing them. Sometimes it helps to know that others struggle with similar vices.
The thing that I would like to expose today is that I have an addiction. It is destroying my body and causing everyday life to be more difficult with every passing day. I want to stop but is has such a hold on me that every time I think I am free I stumble. It has stolen my energy and made it hard to enjoy many things that I once loved.
I am addicted to food. Now before you start laughing, I am completely serious. This is not me being cute about how much I like to eat but an actual struggle that I desire to get control over. I am easily 60 lbs. overweight and unable to do many things I used to. I crave it all day even when I am not hungry in the slightest. I am currently trying to eat small, frequent portion of food throughout the day and all that does is make me think about food all day.
At my job I sit in front of a computer all day and that also make me want to snack all the time. At one point I had food stashed in every drawer and cabinet at my desk. I felt like my desk was a concessions stand and had to make lite of it to not be embarrassed by it.
I am out of shape and I eat unhealthy which makes it difficult to exercise. You can see my dilemma. When you hear some of my other weaknesses you will see why all of this is working against me. If you think of it, keep me in prayer. Jesus and I are going to defeat this thing this year. Although I think he looks great just the way he is. 😉
No laughing here; I understand.
I guess we’ll have to find another place to eat on Saturdays.
James,
I share your struggle man. Food has always been a challenge for me. Press on.
Brian Jones
Thanks for the support. I know I can do it but it is going to be long road to change my habits.
@Brian – Since you commented I might as well add that I really enjoy your blog and your book “Second Guessing God”. It has already gone through several hands. I have been meaning to blog about it but I have been trying to get the book back first. I guess that’s a good problem to have.
you are definitely not alone James when it comes to this issue. My wife and I are really trying to deal with this issue by trying eat food with less preservatives and less sodium. We try to cook more often and we get chicken and meat from Seasons Harvest. this issue is a very serious and i will be glad to admit that it is a problem for me. I used to be thinner but now I am going to the gym and thinking of the right kind of exercises to do to help myself. changing habits is hard but can be done. The biggest one for me right now is drinking less sodas.
If you can’t get rid of the snacks in your desk, may I make a suggestion (along with reasoning)?
Most everyone in my department has a “snack drawer” in their desks, which when I was student teaching I enjoyed raiding. When I started teaching I liked the idea of a snack drawer, but in my trying to get healthy, I decided to make it more difficult to get the junk food snacks by refusing to keep them in my desk. If you open my “snack drawer” you will find organic granola, whole wheat crackers, a few fruit cups, and a note telling me why I should eat the snacks in my drawer if I am hungry but if I am not hungry I need to close the drawer and find something else to do. Food is not something to eat because you are bored, so if I am bored and am wanting to eat–I need to do something to be not bored.
I’m really trying to work on the getting healthy thing and am quite passionate about it–so if you ever want some advice or whatever, just let me know.