Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how the Lord God has positively influenced my overeating, this doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse. Debbie

COE Support Note:

If you REALLY want to read how Christ helped me throughout this weight loss and even when I was tempted, you should read some of the 100's of previous posts on https://christianovereaterssupport.blogspot.com/

Being a Garbage Can So Things Don't Waste-

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

I hate to waste things and find that I am frugal to a fault. I mentioned in one of the healthy tips that it's better to give away left over treats rather than ending up eating them so they don't waste-something I did for many years prior to turning my eating over to God. He's made it easier for me to do this.

Since I've gained some of my weight back, I'm finding that some of my old overeating weaknesses have surfaced and I have to realize them before I can turn them back over to God. I was supposed to prepare some pie bars to take to a function. The frugal person that I am, figured that if I added extra pumpkin and eggs, I could stretch the filling and make lots more pie bars for less.

Well, sometimes I'm better with adapting recipes, but this definitely wasn't the time. The pie bars were really thin, mainly because I had poured them into several different baking dishes trying to make more from the mixture. They tasted kind of foamy/rubbery, but really had little to no taste, except that they reminded me of a custard pie of sorts, because of all the eggs.

I kept cutting the pie bars in order to try to salvage some of them to take to the function. All along, I was tasting some of the pie bars to see if they were palatable to serve to others. At a point, I decided they really weren't worthy of serving, but continued to taste the pie bars, as if I were sampling them.

At a certain point, God brought me back to reality. I was having a difficult time throwing them away. Not as much because I don't like to waste, but more because I don't like to waste money. Instead, I was eating them while I was slicing them, somehow thinking in the back of my mind that they weren't really wasting if I ate them.

The thought that was in my mind, which is often how God works in my life, was that if I counted all the pie bar slices I had sampled, I had probably eaten the equivalent of five whole pieces of good tasting pumpkin pie. Additionally, He let me know that I don't have to be a garbage can so things don't waste, including money. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6: 10

Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

These are other Blogs I Felt Led to Create:

Beat Down by Feelings of Failure-

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. Isaiah 41:10

I read this Bible verse today and really liked the message it had for me and, hopefully, for you, as well. I tried so many diets over the years, that I just didn't think I could stick to any diet or food plan. I felt beat down by failure. Sure, I had lost weight on some of the diets, but I usually gained it back and even more.

I carried that feeling of failure around with me and it had to have affected all my relationships with my family, my friends, and others. That's not who God wants me to be. He wants me (and you) to be a good example of how He works in our lives. If this is a constant feeling, I'm not letting God's light shine in me. So what does this tell me? If God doesn't want me to be acting like a failure which affects my relationships with others, He has shown me this, because He wants me to change. If He wants me to change, He knows I can't make these changes in and of myself, but He can!

When I turn these negative feelings over to God to heal and ask Him for the willingness to turn these over to Him, He always takes care of everything. It's amazing that every time I've turned things of this nature over to God, my whole life seems lighter, brighter, and much more happy. Does this take care of these issues for ever? Well, Satan likes to use things like negative self-esteem as a subtle wedge in our relationship with God. So, I need to continue to ask God to heal these negative feelings when they creep up. Debbie

Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

I Feel Like I Am Sinking in Quicksand-

Luke 6: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

 There are times of stress in my life and where I turn, determines the foundation of my house.  I have lots of options, some are healthier than others, but only one will secure the foundation of my house!

When I'm stressed, one of my common ways of dealing with it is to stay so busy I am unaware that I'm even stressed. It's often in times like this, I feel compelled to eat everything in sight, as if I have this gnawing, empty feeling down in the pit of my stomach. This method hasn't been productive for me, although I've used it quite a bit over the years.

Sometimes when I'm stressed, I will talk to friends to help me determine the best route to go. The problem is, friends have different points of view, all of which I seem to identify with. It has ended up when I ask the advice of friends, I just end up confused and even more stressed.

Sometimes, when there's a conflict with a person, I've talked to them about it. This is generally productive, although most times, they have no idea what I'm talking about. Usually, I've thought I've offended someone who is oblivious to this and I've made it more awkward by asking them about it, but it does resolve my stress.

What I find that works best is to lie down on my bed and have some quiet time with God away from TV, the household chores, and any other distractors. It gives me a chance to be open to God's direction, because He always sees the Big Picture. He always knows the best way to resolve issues that I might have eaten over, otherwise. When I am truly prayerful and listen to the still small voice of God and the instincts He gives me on the matter, I have a peace that is indescribable. My life goes so much better when I turn to God rather than turning to food, TV, being overly busy, and turning to friends, for God provides a firm foundation for me when I feel like I'm sinking in quicksand.
He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. Luke 6:48


Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

The Lifestyles of the Thin and Oblivious of Others-

1 John 4: 7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
It seems it was easier once the weight was lost, to get caught up in the lifestyles of the thin and oblivious of others. It's easier to be in a group of people who know me only at the size I am and to sit there silently as they laugh at others who are heavy. It's easier to sit there as they put others down, saying they just don't have any self-control. It's easier to look the other way, instead of drawing attention to myself, in fear of being ostracized from the thin group.

The thing is, to sit there silently feels like I am helping them laugh at me, the heavy me, that I once was, that carried my pain as a layer of fat on the outside. I don't think God wants me to do the easier thing and just blend in.

God healed my pain and had me come to terms with all my insecurities. If I sat there and did nothing, I was turning my back on all He had done for me. This realization showed me that I needed to try to be more of an example of what God wanted me to be. I can say that I don't like comments belittling others, the overweight or those with other perceived shortcomings. I can pray for those who are overweight to feel God's healing touch and have them develop a life long positive relationship with Him. I can make sure I have a welcoming smile when I cross the path of those who are overweight. No one wants to feel that others are glaring at them, because of their size. I know I didn't. It can be devastating, and we CAN make a change for others. We CAN be the person who goes and talks with the overweight person who enters the gathering that we are attending. We CAN make a change if we are open to the instincts that God gives us.

Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

These are other Blogs I Felt Led to Create:


An Eye-Opening Experience Once Again!

Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

I've been taking all that Christ has done for me through the weight loss for granted. I feel so ashamed! He took my stress and compulsion to eat sweets and large amounts of food away. They had become a false god in my life, because I turned to them instead of turning to Christ in times of stress, etc. It's been over 35 years that God has taken care of my food, body, and my eating, but I notice that my pants and my sleeves are getting tight-two of the indicators that I'm off-track with my eating and my relationship with Christ. That means, I've been fudging on my eating and fudging on my prayer time with Christ, turning all my concerns over to His very capable hands.

Tonight, I had an eye-opening experience. I was really craving something sweet and with nuts. I should have paid attention, because I rarely crave sweet things when I'm putting my vices into God's hands. Anyway, I was going to make these oatmeal cookies, that use unsweetened applesauce and honey instead of sugar. I'm hypoglycemic and can't have sugar. It throws off my blood sugar, my moods, and my interactions with others. I found the recipe and started to get out the ingredients when I realized I didn't have any unsweetened applesauce. I said a quick prayer thanking God, because He knows whether I should be eat the cookies or not, even though they don't use table sugar.

Later, I figured that I would look up a different recipe that didn't use applesauce and would just put a lot of nuts in it. Truth be told, it's probably the nuts that I was craving more than anything! God let me realize that I was putting an inordinate amount of attention on these baked items with nuts, so I decided to put the idea on the back burner and eat some watermelon in the mean time. I cut some watermelon for both my husband and myself and one of the pieces slid off the cutting board. Instead of putting it into one of the bowls or trashing it, I quickly thought that piece is mine and shoved it into my mouth! I immediately started choking. I held my hands over my head and tried to catch my breath, something that didn't happen immediately. It was pretty scary!

Not only had I been obsessed with baked items chock full of nuts, but I was been greedy when I grabbed that watermelon and quickly crammed it in my mouth! Did it matter to my husband that I ate that other piece of watermelon rather than divide it between both bowls? No! It's what was going on in my mind when I did it and God knows my thoughts! Right after this, I remembered that I ask for God to heal my food, body, and eating and my willingness to let Him heal my vices. This shows me that I have sooooooooooooooooooo much to be prayerful about. I've been taking the grace that Christ has extended to me for granted. More than gaining my weight back or reverting to old eating patterns, I don't want to let my close relationship with Christ slip through my hands. My life has been at peace even through stressful times when I've turned everything over to Christ. I don't want to go back to the way things used to be, the way I used to feel about myself, and how I reacted to others, including God. I need to be prayerful for God's forgiveness and grace in these matters. Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.


Were Nutrition Classes, Books, Diets, and Articles Helpful?-

Hebrews 9: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

For the sake of this blog post, I can take dead works in this verse a couple of ways. I can take it more literally, in that my overeating to excess is something that can actually kill me. You would think that an educated person, such as myself, wouldn't have such an issue with overeating or being tempted to overeat. Haven't I taken a college level nutrition class, read every diet book at some time or other, and read enough weight loss articles to make anyone aware of the harms of being overweight?

On the other hand, dead works are those that don't lead to eternal life. Do I continue to let myself be consumed with eating, thinking about eating, or making plans of how I won't be tempted to eat something? Every time I get caught up in this focus on food, I'm forgetting to focus on God. I am allowing food to work this very subtle wedge in my relationship with God, my family, and myself, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Sure, we can make all kinds of plans of how we are are going to do better, but I found that the plans didn't work for me. The diets didn't work for me and I tried lots of them. The articles and books didn't work for me. The only thing that has worked for me is giving up making plans and instead, asking for God to take care of all of it, because I couldn't. I had to let go of my control. Once I started putting everything, my food, worries, and other things that led me to eat, into God's very capable hands, a big burden was lifted from my shoulders and I was freed up to start focusing on doing more things that God wanted me to do on His behalf.  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9: 14

Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

These are other Blogs I Felt Led to Create:


Taking an Active Stand, Although Uncomfortable-

2 Corinthians 1: 3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

It would be easy for me to join the ranks of the thin and insensitive after losing all the weight. (Actually, thin people are not necessarily insensitive, but often many don't understand the plight of the overweight.) I could just ignore others who are dealing with the pain of being overweight and all the insecurities and issues that lead to this. I could try to remove myself from any contact with others who are dealing with these issues, but that's not what God wants from me. He wants me to be an example of how He works in my life, in my body, in my relationship with Him and others.

He wants me to comfort others, to show He has not turned His back on them and their pain. Sometimes, this pain is a means to draw us to the point of turning our lives and that pain over to God, even for us who have been long time Christians.

I don't always know how to do this. I try to stay clear of negative conversations about people who are overweight. I try to say a prayer for overweight people when I see them, asking God to have them feel His healing touch and come to have a life-long positive relationship with Him. Now, I feel He's wanting me to take a more active stand. It's a little uncomfortable and glorious at the same time.

It's difficult sharing such personal details of my life, my insecurities, lack of self-confidence, etc., especially knowing that there may be people reading these blog posts who know me. It is glorious in the thought that God would allow me to see His hand in comforting others. That He would help others through my pain, insecurities, and struggle to turn my food, eating, control, and life over to God, who can comfort us all. My prayer is that I don't allow Satan to work the subtle wedge of pride, because none of this comes from me, it is all a gift from God, "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 

Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.


The Body of a Barbie Doll

1 Timothy 6: 17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

Yes, I bought into society's view that all you have to do to be popular was to have the body of a Barbie doll and to have lots of money. Since, I had neither, where did that leave me?

I felt like like I had to strive even harder to attain both of these. The funny thing is, before I turned all my food, eating, and control over to God, the harder I tried to be thin the heavier I became. As you notice, the sentence had the word I in it. I thought God would just watch and help as tried diet after diet to have the ideal body, but that's not exactly what this blog post is about.

In similar manner, I tried to gain financial stability, which is a very elusive goal. It seems that the more I planned and schemed ways to earn more, the more the money seemed to slip through my fingers. I had trusted in riches and an ideal body and thought that these would positively change my life. I had been mistakenly focused on superficial ideals rather than focusing on God.

It wasn't until later, I realized, that all that I have is given me through God's grace. Sometimes, I have more and sometimes, I have less, but He always takes care of me. 1 Timothy 6: 17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.

Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.


These are other Blogs that I felt Led to Create:



Ashamed of My Body After Losing the Weight-

2 Corinthians 4:7 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

I spent so much of my life being overweight, even as a child. I just didn't know how to handle it after losing all my weight. I was so torn. There was a part of me that was proud of the weight loss, but there was this part of me that felt ashamed of my body. It seems like a strange thing to feel after having such a blessing from God, but I've read of others who have felt the same thing. 

I had a body riddled with stretch marks, hanging flab, and droopy breasts which altered my image of what I would look like after losing the weight. I don't think I ever wanted to be a model or anything of that nature, but I wanted to look nice in my clothes. I didn't want to feel that people were looking at me because of how overweight I was. I didn't want to worry about which dress would fit for me to wear to church. I didn't want to not be able to do things with my kids, because I was embarrassed about being with other thinner people.

It was a big thing to learn to turn my less than perfect body perceptions over to God. My weight loss was a miracle from God and I was saying, "Hey, God, I asked you to be thin, but that meant that you should take care of my body and droopy body parts, as well." What an ungrateful Christian I have been. 

God has given us, "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." He allows me to turn my body perceptions over to Him, my fears and anxieties, and my appreciation for all He has done for me. God has allowed me to come to terms with my body, to not be repulsed by its imperfections, to love the person that God wants me to be, instead of always finding flaws and short-comings in myself. Debbie

Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

These are other Blogs I Felt Led to Create:


Beating Yourself Up for Eating Far Too Much-


Romans 5: 8 But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Well, by the time you read this, Thanksgiving will be over. Are you beating yourself up for eating far too much of things that delighted you at the time? I know that I have done that all too many years to count. When I started turning my control, my eating, and my food over to God on a daily basis, I didn't have to beat myself up anymore for not living up to my expectations of what I should have done.

I always go into holidays thinking that I will stay close to the protein and veggies, only to be seduced by enticing treats and special comfort foods. God knows we are weak and are going to be tempted. He knows that our health, weight, and self-esteem are a work in progress, but He never turns His back on us the way we turn our back on ourselves, beating ourselves up because we didn't show more restraint, weren't perfect, didn't live up to our expectations and the list goes on.

I am comforted by this verse, when I look in the mirror and see a work in progress, Romans 5: But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.


Links to Other Blogs I Felt Led to Create Below: