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/

The Splurges!

John 13: 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love to one another.

Well, this says to love one another, but I applied it through my taking pride in myself when I used to lose some weight. I would be so proud for the weight loss, I figured I would treat myself to some special splurge and it was always for some type of food, not clothes, not things, but food. This is part of the evidence that food had become a false god in my life, because I had turned to it for comfort in times of stress, joy, and fear instead of turning to my Lord and Savior.

Of course, after these splurges, I used to go right back into my old eating patterns and eventually gained the weight back, plus more than what I started with. It wasn't until Christ allowed me to see the importance food had in my life, that I was willing to put my food, body and eating into His capable hands. It took me months of these personal insights that Christ would allow me and I finally gave up!

I told Christ that I was giving up and that if He ever wanted me to be thin, He'd have to take care of it...and you know what? He did! It was that very same day that He took the urge to eat large quantities of food, sweet foods, and high carb foods away from me. They no longer were important to me and no longer called my name. Actually, I didn't do anything in and of myself, I just gave up trying to be in control and turned that control over to Christ and that's when it happened. If it can happen to me, it can happen to you. No diet pills, exercise (although it's good for you), no special diets, but Christ showed me amounts of food that were healthy for me. 

I've gotten sloppy with my food program and my relationship with Christ, at times, but once I put the focus back on my relationship with Christ, the sloppy eating seemed to disappear. As long as I was honest with myself and my Lord, He's kept off the vast majority of the original 80 pounds for over 30 years! He can do this for you, as well!!!

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

Blaming Everyone Else for My Weight

1 Thessalonians 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 13To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

When I used to be very heavy, I used to blame everyone else for my weight. It was my mother-in-law's fault I was heavy, because she cooked lots of starchy foods when we visited. It was my first husband's fault, because he never appreciated me enough. It was the fault of society for being so weight conscious that they ostracized me. It was the fault of this and that and the next thing, but never me.

During the time just before Christ allowed me to lose the 80 pounds 30 years ago, He allowed me to see how important food and the desire to have a thin body had become to me. Christ allowed me to see that food had become a false god in my life, because I was turning to it instead of to my Lord and Savior in times of stress, loneliness, fear, etc.

He also showed me that I was blaming everyone else, including Him for my being overweight. I figured that since He can do miracles, He could just take my excess weight away and my whole life would be wonderful. Well, it wasn't until Christ allowed me to see myself as I really am, faults and all, that He allowed me to lose the weight. It wasn't because I was a better Christian than anyone else, it was because I finally got to the point where I turned my food, body, and eating over to Christ's very capable hands and stopped trying to control everything in my life. Additionally, I had to stop blaming everything in my life and look in the mirror. When I did, it was easier to finally turn the control over. I have been truly blessed and if Christ can do this for me, He most certainly can do this for you, as well, if you let Him!!!

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

Treating All People Regardless of Their Faith With Love and Respect

Isaiah 45: 5-6.I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me: that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none beside Me.  I am the LORD, and there is none else.

Upon talking with a good friend, we had a discussion about God. Although I don't know her faith, she shared that she was raised that all beliefs in God are one in the same. Although our faith perspective wasn't the same, we were able to discuss these differences of faith with love and respect and tolerance of one another. 

Having read the Bible multiple times, I try to live by the verse above as well as the following verse: Mark 12: 29 And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 

There was a time that I would have over eaten because I was worried that I might have offended my friend. After prayerful consideration, I decided to write a post about how Jesus wants us to have love with respect and tolerance of one another even if others have different faiths than we do.

 It's difficult for me to hear so much hate against people of other religions and cultures. I'm of the mindset that those who have hate in their hearts are often those who speak the loudest. Often those who are supportive of others regardless of their ethnicity, faith, life style choices, skin color, sexual preference, or socioeconomic status are more reserved and the vast majority don't hear this in the media. They rarely see compassion and tolerance in the news. The vast majority of what we hear is hate and negativity. Is that the legacy we want for our children and grandchildren? Do we only want them hearing about hating those who are different than ourselves? If we profess to be Christian, are we loving our neighbors as ourselves? 

The Third Part of an Alternate Snack Plan When We Go Visit My Dad

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the might hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time; 7 Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.

We go visit my dad every week in a nice veteran's home. He is there, because of his frequent falls and his frequent bouts of pneumonia, since his doctor said he needed skilled nursing 24/7. Because the veteran's home is an hour away, we generally stay the night at a reasonable local hotel and visit him again the next day. The thing is, continued eating out was making it so my pants didn't fit well, nor did it blend in well with our goal to eat in a more healthy manner as we age. 

After being prayerful about this, we made several changes. The changes with our dinners is two posts prior to this and our changes with lunch is the post before this one. This post is going to focus more on the changes we made with snacks.

At first, I thought I was making wise snack choices. I would bring a large bag of organic lightly salted popcorn with only 130 calories per 3 cups. If that's all you ate, it wouldn't be bad at all, but that wasn't the case. It turned out that I was eating most of the bag while I was watching the TV in the hotel. The accumulated salt in several 3 cup servings was more than I should have and even though it had reasonable calories, it was adding up by eating most of the bag and my pants weren't fitting very well.

After being prayerful about changes we need to make, we decided to bring apples to snack on the way up to see Dad and the way back home. We also pack cottage cheese and fruit cocktail in it's own juice for an evening snack, since I needed more calcium due to Osteoporosis. Sometimes, we bring our own cut up fruit. It just depends on what we have handy and our timing. These changes helped us to feel full and not be doing mindless eating while we went to go see Dad each week. Since we all have situations where we have to eat elsewhere, maybe some of these changes may be worth contemplating. 

The Second Part of Alternate Lunch Plan When We Go to Visit My Dad

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Hebrew 13:5 

It might seem strange that I'm dedicating a few of my blog posts, (the previous one, this one, and the next one) to an alternate eating plan when I go to visit my dad. My dad has Parkinson's Disease and his doctors said that he needed to be in a skilled nursing facility 24/7 due to his falls and frequent bouts of pneumonia. Now, my dad lives in a very nice veteran's home an hour away, so we most often spend the night and see him again the next day.This is real life, and sometimes we have situations that happen where we have to be away from home and I thought these blogs may be helpful.

Since I was gaining weight by going out to eat every week when we went to visit my dad, I was trying to be prayerful of changes that should be made. Last week's post focused on the dinner changes we've made. This week focuses on the lunch changes we've made. 

We decided to pack a PB & J sandwich for each of us, so that we can have it for lunch. The main reason for this is that we don't have to worry about keeping it refrigerated, although we do keep it in the fridge in our hotel room over night. I tend to get clogged when I eat peanut butter very often, so I ended up switching to an AB &J sandwich. That is an Almond Butter and Jelly sandwich. We use light bread, so that two slices have the same calorie value as one regular slice. We also use Polaner All Fruit Spread, so we don't have any added sugar or artificial sugars. Also, we bring along an apple to eat with lunch. This plan adaptation works well for us. It not only keeps us healthy, but it is gentle on the pocketbook, as well.

The First Part of the Alternate Eating Plan When We Visit Dad

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 

My husband and I would go to see my dad each week at the Veteran's Home. We were really happy he was there, because they took really good care of him and he liked being around other veteran's who were also wheelchair bound. I think it helped him with grieving the loss of his mobility, because of having Parkinson's Disease.

Anyway, each week when we went up, we went out to dinner before going to our hotel room. Now, I enjoy going out to dinner, but going out to dinner that frequently takes a toll on your weight. My pants were getting too tight and I really wasn't sure what to do.

I was prayerful about all of this and the first part of the alternate plan was to bring my own food for dinner. At first, I didn't think that was so practical, but it has really worked out well. I have an insulated carrier. Before we leave home, put a pack of frozen vegetables in the bottom of the carrier to keep the rest of the food cold. I pack lettuce for our salad in a small BPA free container. I have started freezing leftovers of our meals. That way, I know they are healthy and the left overs don't go to waste. I usually pack some cottage cheese along with some fruit cocktail in it's own juice, because I need additional calcium with having Osteoporosis. 

We purchased 2 stoneware plates and bowls to heat the food and to eat on and some basic silverware at a local thrift shop.  This works out really well. Not only has it been healthier, but it's more economical. My husband and I really look forward to our meals in the hotel room rather than going out each week.

Lunch Out Was a Big Deal

These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 

My husband and I were doing an errand which caused us to be out of town. He had packed himself a lunch, but I hadn't known it. If I had, I would have packed one for myself, as well. I knew we were going to be gone the whole day, so skipping lunch was not a good idea for me. 

I prayerfully contemplated all of this while we were driving out of town. I could remember the times where I had tried it and had become irritable, because I had low blood sugar. Christ wants peace in our lives, not tribulation, so eating lunch was a big deal.


I told my husband that I needed to stop and eat lunch, so that I didn't become low blood sugar. He was gracious about it and took me to lunch, so I could get the food I needed for my body. I don't know why it's so difficult for me to ask for what I need, but I know that it's important. It's just something I have to keep turning over to Christ's capable hands, just like my food, body, and eating.  These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Food Judgment Hypocrite

Matthew 7: 1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

 I know someone who recently lost a considerable amount of weight. I have heard this person criticize other people for being heavy, not eating healthy foods, not eating healthy portions, etc.  It infuriates me when I hear this person criticizing others, when that person ate that same way not that long ago. It frustrates me that this person has no empathy for those who are struggling like they did not that long ago.

Although I've tried to share my insight unsuccessfully, I realize that I am being a Food Judgment Hypocrite. I'm judging this person when they are judging others. I realize I have to stand back and pray for Christ to handle this one, because I get to ensnared when I try to. Matthew 7: 1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Open to Adjustments

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. 1 Corinthians 14:33 

Although this isn't what this is verse is talking about, I am applying it to my eating. After finding my pants had become unbearably tight, I could no longer convince myself in believing that I was bloated. I had to honestly admit that my eating had gotten sloppy and I had gained some of the weight back that God had allowed me to lose over 30 years ago. There's also the other implication, if my food was being sloppy, then my relationship with Christ was being sloppy, as well.

My husband was excited that we were going to be eating breakfast at a bowling alley, but I wasn't. I was trying harder to turn my food, body, and eating over into Christ's all capable hands. While I'm writing this, I realize that no amount of my trying harder ever led to the 80+ pounds that Christ allowed me to lose. It was being open to letting Christ be in control of my eating, food, and body while turning my stress over into His very capable hands.

Here's an example of things that I knew I shouldn't eat: a stack of pancakes, a big egg and meat breakfast with biscuits and gravy, or a big egg breakfast smothered with gravy. I was having a difficult time as I frantically tried to find something on their menu that would work for me. Then, I saw an egg sandwich. Once Christ had me realize this was an option, I felt a calm come over me. I ordered the egg sandwich and asked them if they would just make me the egg and one piece of wheat toast and they did. Not only did it only cost us $2.50, it kept me within my eating program. I have to be open to adjustments when eating out for God is not the author of confusion, but peace! For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. 1 Corinthians 14:33

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