COUNSELING
Life can get overwhelming at times. Occasionally, we get caught in a situation and need help to get through it. Counseling is simply professional guidance in navigating and resolving personal, social, or psychological problems and difficulties.
One of the many benefits of professional counselors is they are bound by law to keep what is shared confidential. This enables the counselee to build a trust with the counselor, and when that trust is established, it enables one to get to the root of issues that are causing havoc in one’s life.
Dr. Sovine, who counseled Kurt and me, is a licensed marriage and family therapist. He is highly skilled at listening and then providing tangible recommendations to untangle the messes we present—and his solutions work.
For example, after children came along, Kurt and I struggled with disagreements in front of them, and we knew it was not appropriate or beneficial for them to be listening to our arguments. Dr. Sovine established some clearly defined rules:
1. Absolutely no arguing in front of the children.
2. Never use the bedroom as a place to settle disagreements. (He wanted us to reserve that special room for times of relaxation, refreshment, and intimacy, not marital strife.)
3. Save the laundry list of unresolved issues for him to referee in his office and learn how to find agreeable resolutions.
The tension immediately lifted, and our home became peaceful. With time, Dr. Sovine taught us how to communicate effectively and work through disagreements in a healthy way on our own, without needing his help.
A marriage and home filled with arguments and strife is not conducive to emotional well-being—or to peaceful mealtimes. Being upset is not health-promoting. Although we should never allow our eating decisions to be dictated and controlled by our emotions, if we can significantly reduce emotionally charged triggers, it is extremely helpful.
Even when the biological addiction to food is removed, one can still eat for emotional reasons. These may include numbing psychological and emotional pain, escaping problems instead of finding solutions, escaping responsibilities; and as a sleep aid, to regulate moods, to sedate, or myriads of other reasons that are unrelated to the body’s needs for nutrition.
We cannot eliminate all stress and tension from our lives, but we can significantly minimize overcommitments so that we can make time for self-care. A skilled therapist is able to ask the hard questions to pinpoint areas that are out of balance.
For example, years ago, all five of our children were at home. They were ages eleven, nine, eight, four, and a nursing infant. Between the older children’s school, extracurricular activities, sports, recitals, friends, doctor and dental appointments, laundry, and feeding and clothing all of them, I rarely had a free moment to myself.
I was physically drained, spiritually depleted, and emotionally frazzled—and something had to change.
The busyness, chronic sleep deprivation, and lack of time to recharge led to increased emotional eating. I would use food to unwind from the day’s stress. After bath times, brushing teeth, and tucking everyone into bed at night, I would seek out the day’s leftovers to eat: crusty cheese baked onto the sides of the pan I used to bake lasagna; burnt and chewy roast beef stuck on the bottom of a slow cooker; and bowls of the children’s untouched, soggy salads swimming in ranch dressing.
One time, I managed to pull together a birthday party for one of the children and nearly a dozen of her friends (in the midst of nursing the infant). It took every ounce of energy I could muster. That evening, I hit an all-time low and gorged on the leftover pieces of birthday cake and melted ice cream that had been tossed into the trash can.
These unrestrained indulgences became my epicenter of calm. I would get a hit from consuming the high-fat foods, processed carbs and sweets...and then crash on the sofa. My sleep-deprived body was desperately starving for rest, as I continued to starve myself to obesity.
Dr. Sovine opened my eyes to the damage I was doing to myself and helped me devise a practical plan to remedy it. An important part of that plan was enlisting help from Kurt so I could get extra sleep and replenishment on the weekends.
Dr. Sovine also encouraged me to participate in creative sublimation—an activity that would release my pent-up stress in a healthy way. I had developed painting skills years earlier but had suppressed them when children came along. Dr. Sovine said that I had lost myself to my marriage and the demands of rearing a family, which contributed to my out-of-control eating. I resurrected my easel, brushes, and paints and stepped into the creative flow again. He held me to this plan of action until noticeable improvements were achieved. And gradually, I became alive again!
Sometimes, a tangible plan of action from a skilled and trustworthy counselor is necessary to defuse the stresses of life.
Professional counseling is also beneficial for busting lies that create strongholds of deception in one’s mind.
I am strongly opposed to animal cruelty and only mention the following story to illustrate a point.
When an elephant is a baby, its trainer ties a heavy chain around its leg. That chain is then tethered to a metal stake in the ground, and when the baby tries to break away, the chain cuts into its skin. The wound causes the babe to hurt worse if it repeats the action by inflicting even more pain. When that happens, the baby elephant finally realizes that it is useless to try to escape, so it quits trying altogether.
By the time the baby elephant grows into an adult, its mind is psychologically tethered to that chain. The elephant can then be tied to a simple hemp rope that is tethered to a wooden stake in the ground, and because of the helplessness it had been accustomed to, it will not attempt to escape.
Due to numerous factors, including the verbal abuse I suffered in childhood, I believed a lot of lies about myself. Those lies damaged and severely handicapped my self-image, self-worth, and confidence.
Even experiencing repeated failures became a false belief system for me. If I couldn’t do something right, I would throw in the towel and not do it at all. This “all or nothing” perfectionist mentality was not conducive to success at anything, let alone losing weight.
I was like the baby elephant. I had believed many lies, and Dr. Sovine helped me bust free from all of them. A changed mind leads to a transformed life!
EATING DISORDERS
Eating disorders are serious psychological disorders that entail destructive and potentially life-threatening relationships with food. The symptoms may include everything from severely restricting calories (anorexia) to consuming an abnormally large quantity of food in a short period of time—and typically in secret—on a regular basis (binge eating).
After a binge, some may purge the discomfort by self-induced vomiting or very restrictive dieting (bulimia). Others may use laxatives or exercise obsessively in order to prevent weight gain. Many may gain an unhealthy amount of weight in a relatively short period of time—and just keep gaining with each bingeing episode—resulting in obesity-related diseases.
June Hunt, author of Overeating: Freedom from Food Fixation, states: “‘Bulimia’ comes from a Greek word meaning, ‘great hunger.’ This constant and abnormal appetite of a bulimic is an emotional hunger that no amount of food can fill. They binge in an effort to fill their inner needs and then purge to get rid of the guilt for eating too much, as well as to maintain or lose more weight.”14
Additionally, overeating blunts the dopamine reward response, encouraging the vicious cycle of more overeating. Dopamine is a neurochemical that regulates motivation and pleasure related to certain stimuli, such as highly palatable foods. Overeating these foods causes a greater desire for them.15
In the United States alone, more than twenty million women and ten million men suffer from a significant eating disorder some time in their lives.16 There are many unreported cases, so that number is actually much higher. It’s common to keep eating disorders hidden from others due to the shame and embarrassment of being exposed. I hid my disordered eating for years—even though my fluctuating weight gains and losses were evident.
The disorder depends on the way in which an individual is wired. For instance, he or she may be more prone to bouts of depression, anxiety and/or compulsiveness. A part of the disorder is influenced by his or her surroundings, whether the pressure to be thin is extremely important and emphasized a lot. Also, those who suffer with eating disorders are usually experiencing a tremendous amount of unresolved psychological and emotional pain. It takes psychotherapy, along with treating the medical and nutritional needs of the individual, in order to stabilize and recover.
Not only are eating disorders damaging and self-destructive, they lead to a high rate of suicide as well. If you are struggling with an eating disorder, I encourage you to seek professional counseling.
For me, the combination of Dr. Sovine working with me to release years of pent-up emotional pain that I had buried deep within me—followed by adhering to Dr. Fuhrman’s nutritional protocol—enabled me to recover from depression, food addiction, and binge eating without taking psychiatric medications.
I had been following the nutritarian diet-style for four years, when suddenly, tragedy struck. My son died. This was at the same time my elderly father was hospitalized in the ICU with pneumonia—and my teenage daughter and I were en route to New York for her to receive a national award at Carnegie Hall.
In the midst of all of this, I was a weight loss success story on The Dr. Oz Show. The show was taped in New York City ten days before my son’s death and aired two days before his funeral.
I suddenly felt as if I had been tossed into a washing machine on spin cycle, on top of experiencing the profound and excruciating anguish of losing a child.
I had no idea what was about to hit me in the days and months to come. The impact of a child’s death is like none other; it is appropriately called “complicated bereavement” for a reason. Plus, as my son’s primary caregiver, I had just spent five very stressful years walking the tightrope of never-ending trauma as a result of multiple medical and pharmaceutical errors made in his case. During one such episode, he attempted to gouge one of his eyes out to put an end to hallucinations that he had been experiencing and got his entire index finger stuck inside the eye socket.
After the initial shock of his death wore off and the funeral was over, my world turned completely dark in a vale of tears. I lost my appetite. I was exhausted, yet I couldn’t sleep. I had nightmares. My legs felt as if they were filled with bags of sand from the weight of grief, and I could barely get out of bed, let alone brush my teeth. I lost all desire to carry on.
When I was in public, I would randomly cry in front of complete strangers...including in the middle of the produce section at the grocery store. It was embarrassing and exhausting to be in public, so I hibernated in the safety of my home. The intensity of the trauma was so overwhelming that I temporarily lost control of my bowels. I was a mess physically, mentally, and emotionally.
As a result, I could not muster the wherewithal to buy and prepare food or eat correctly. The post-trauma stress and depression were suffocating the life out of me. I didn’t revert back to eating the Standard American Diet, but I did neglect eating dark, leafy greens and beans as my main source of nourishment.
Instead, I ate bowls of oatmeal with peanut butter—high-calorie, low-nutrient sources of energy. I preferred oat bars sweetened with dates that were stored in our freezer, and chocolate ice cream made from frozen bananas and cocoa powder.
This cumulative stress on my body, physically, mentally, and emotionally, ignited the depression and binge eating disorder all over again. Apathy set in, as I became emotionally detached—a coping mechanism for self-preservation. I started mindlessly bingeing on low-nutrient plant foods such as nuts, oat bars, frozen banana ice creams, store-bought hummus made with salt and oil, whole wheat tortillas with peanut butter spread on top, and bowls of unsalted popcorn. I was trapped in the addiction once again.
My new clothes didn’t fit anymore. The increasing numbers on the scales added an extra layer of grief to my already-shattered heart. The weight loss success story began to unravel right before my and everyone else’s eyes. Additionally, with each pound gained, my anxiety level skyrocketed...along with a suffocating phobia of being seen in public.
Others were gracious and understanding, but I felt ashamed of my lack of fortitude and self-control—not realizing at the time that I was running away from processing the trauma and grief. Finally, I hit a wall and couldn’t go on.
I had lost my footing and struggled to get back on the path of freedom. But, thankfully, I had enough self-awareness and knowledge to know that path back to recovery and healing. It wasn’t an instant turnaround. I struggled immensely at times under the heaviness of complicated bereavement, but I slowly put one foot in front of the other.
Dr. Sovine recommended that I quit weighing myself, at least for a season, so the higher numbers on the scales wouldn’t trigger anxiety-ridden bingeing episodes. I stayed the course of eating greens, beans, nuts, seeds, and berries again.
With time, the depression lifted and the binge eating gradually subsided. But right when I was making consistent progress toward recovery and feeling better, my mother passed away. Then, another traumatic event happened in my personal life that was beyond my ability to cope—which landed me on the phone with a suicide prevention hotline counselor. And then about a year later, my father died.
This time, I was more proactive in reaching out for help as quickly as possible. I scheduled additional appointments with Dr. Sovine; plus, I added grief counseling at a local community center. In addition, Kurt and I started attending a small group ministry through our church in order to heal internally from the layers of pain. All of this helped me process and navigate the tsunami of emotions that were overtaking me. I even added massage therapy to the recovery toolbox.
I continued to follow Dr. Fuhrman’s nutritional and lifestyle protocols for treating depression and food addiction; this included not only the nutrient-rich diet, but also morning light therapy—an effective treatment in which an individual uses a special fluorescent light or morning sunshine in order to prevent or treat depression—sound sleep every night, exercise, and proper supplementation. I clung to the treatment plan with fervency.
Now, I am eating only nutrient-rich vegetables, beans, berries, nuts, and seeds, and I’m recovering again. I learned the hard way that I cannot stray from the path of healing by making exceptions, including trauma or bereavement. The pounds I had regained are coming off, the paralyzing weight of complicated bereavement is lifting, and I am now genuinely happy to be alive again.
I share all of this to encourage anyone who is currently suffering from trauma, profound loss of any kind, or an eating disorder—or knows someone who is suffering—there is hope. With proper care, broken and traumatized hearts can heal. Eating disorders can dissipate. Recovery is possible.
A note of caution: Eating disorders really are life-threatening illnesses that require professional help for recovery. However, some eating disorder treatment professionals have unofficially labeled healthy eating “orthorexia.”
While it may be true that some could push even healthy eating to an obsessive extreme, the majority of people never go to such extremes unless they have deeply ingrained and unresolved psychological issues to overcome—which has nothing to do with food per se. The unofficial orthorexia label can do more harm than good if one doesn’t understand the science behind food addiction and what makes up good health.
Dr. Fuhrman has addressed this topic in “Ask the Doctor” on his member center site, because orthorexia has circulated in the news and on Facebook at various times throughout the years. He said there is no such thing as orthorexia, because a person who is truly into healthy eating would not restrict his or her calorie intake to become too thin and malnourished—that is an oxymoron of what healthy eating is all about! Optimal health involves maintaining a favorable muscle and skeletal mass, too.
The idea that omitting “normal food” (i.e.: junk food/fast food) from one’s diet is pathologic—and that promoting a healthy emotional outlook on food should include eating whatever one desires—is misguided and irresponsible.
Dr. Fuhrman has said many times that encouraging people to eat disease-causing foods, just because it is socially acceptable, is no better than promoting smoking as a socially acceptable pastime or giving people a negative diagnostic label who do not smoke or use drugs or alcohol.
Those who support spontaneous and intuitive eating actually support having sweets and hamburgers if one desires them. They confuse “normal eating”—eating the same foods that most Americans eat—with foods that promote health and well-being, including optimal mental health. “Unhealthy foods alter our brains in ways that make us emotionally attached to the very foods that are doing us the most harm.”17
In addition, it is a scientifically proven fact that eating highly palatable foods—sweet, salty, fatty food such as the Standard American Diet—will trigger the vicious cycle of overeating. “Our level of susceptibility to addictive behaviors varies by genetic predisposition and emotional state. Nevertheless, highly palatable food has physiologically addictive properties that will make almost anyone experience a lack of control.”18 Eating these “normal” foods causes a greater desire for them. And, as I wrote earlier, eating highly palatable foods and animal products contributes to developing diabetes, heart disease, depression, autoimmune diseases, hypertension, cancer, and myriad other diseases. There is absolutely nothing normal about having one’s chest cut open to bypass clogged arteries or having a limb amputated due to diabetes complications.19
All of this misguided information illustrates just how pervasive and ingrained self-destructive food habits are in our culture—even in some recovery programs. One must pay attention to the dietary quality of food or cravings will be too intense to ignore.
Food addiction is a serious issue and eating disorders are progressive illnesses—meaning they get worse over time—so the quicker they are halted, the quicker the damage to all the organs is stopped and repair and healing can begin.
SUPPORT GROUPS
Back in 2008, as soon as I decided to commit to the nutritarian diet-style with both feet in, I knew that making major changes happens best in communities of support. I also knew that I would need outside help to overcome the powerful food addiction. And it wasn’t just the biological addiction to the Standard American Diet—I had to overcome the social pressure to eat it as well.
I live in the Midwest, where it is expected to eat meat and potatoes, pancakes and sausages, pizza and chicken wings. In fact, my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana was ranked the most obese city in the nation in 2017!20 We even have a festival every summer where an entire section of the downtown is reserved for food trucks. It is aptly called “Junk Food Alley.”
However, my mind was made up. Nothing was going to deter me. I joined Dr. Fuhrman’s member center and had immediate access to hundreds of like-minded people who cheered me on to victory.
I was able to ask questions and receive answers from those who had successfully overcome food addiction and earned health back. I asked questions such as, “I’m hosting a birthday party this weekend. What tips does anyone have to offer?” or “Help! I’m having a craving for chocolate, what should I do?” The synergy of support was invaluable.
I also had direct access to Dr. Fuhrman via “Ask the Doctor,” a place where members are able to send questions to him or one of his associates and receive an answer within a day or two, when I had medical questions. And I had plenty of them, especially that first year.
He helped me navigate toxic withdrawal symptoms.
He reassured me after I experienced some minor hair loss (due to hormonal changes) that it would only be temporary and that my hair would grow back even thicker. And sure enough, it did.
He coached me through a major surgery—a hysterectomy. He taught me how to continue to eat throughout the recovery process afterward so that I would continue to lose weight.
And he guided me through the rollercoaster ride of careless medical and pharmaceutical errors that happened to my son, who had Type I diabetes.
The member center support has been invaluable to my success in not only getting out of food addiction, but also in staying free. And after my son died, it was the members’ outpouring of support, and Dr. Fuhrman’s expert advice, that helped me through the ups and downs of the post-trauma and bereavement. Their ongoing support was literally lifesaving at times.
Now, there are several “Eat to Live” support groups on Facebook. Social media has been a wonderful tool for many to get the community of support they need.
Many, including myself, have organized local nutritarian support groups. I have facilitated several at libraries. Others have led them at their local Y or in their churches and homes.
I have friends in Florida who have shared a potluck meal together, consisting of their favorite nutritarian recipes, once a month for the past six years. They rotate it, so everyone shares a turn at hosting it, and they also take turns preparing a brief presentation for each gathering.
At their last gathering, someone demonstrated how to make nutritarian cheese. Other times they have discussed a topic from a book or video or have had a guest speaker.
All it takes is a couple of people who want to get together and support one another. Don’t wait until the day you find a support group—start one!
I have absolutely no regrets about reaching out for support since the day I began this journey. I am free from food addiction today because of the ongoing and consistent support I have received from many throughout this entire time.
SPIRITUAL CARE
After the whacko experience with those women praying for me years ago, I eventually found a healthier group of like-minded friends. They supported me with their prayers and encouragement.
If anyone reading this has been spiritually wounded by those who claim to be messengers of the Most High, I am truly sorry, because that is not His heart. In fact, the Lord is described as a Good Shepherd in Psalm 23 who tenderly cares for his sheep. And He is all about seeing us become victorious over any entanglement—because He sees our potential and wants us to become the best that we can be! He is our biggest fan and cheerleader!
Just this past week, someone sent the following to me: “I have all the books in the world, but I cannot seem to discipline myself to do what I have to do.” This is a commonality among a lot of people with whom I have interacted.
My faith is the foundation of my life. Faith has brought me through some excruciating pain at times, and I can honestly say that one of God’s specialties is that He rescues.
“The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.”21 “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”22 “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.”23
One of the most afflicted persons who ever walked on the face of this Earth was a man named Job. He was a wealthy man with a large family (ten kids!), many employees, and extensive flocks. Then one day four messengers came to tell him very tragic news. He had lost everything—everything—except his wife. (I can’t begin to fathom the complicated bereavement that ensued.)
If that wasn’t enough trauma and loss, he then suffered terrible boils from head to toe. Job’s life was bleak and miserable as he cried out, “My eyes will never see happiness again…I despise my life…my days have no meaning.”24
His wife wanted him to curse his Maker and die (after all, she had lost all of her dear children and wealth, too), but Job refused. His so-called friends then spouted some utterly stupid and ridiculous comments, which only added to his confusion and pain.
Finally, Job resolved to continue to honor God and avoid evil, in spite of all the anguish and suffering. Eventually, Job was healed, and everything was restored to him; including the same number of children and even more wealth than before. He said, “Those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction.”25
Life is hard. It is full of troubles at times, but the Lord’s specialty is help and rescue. Even addiction is not too difficult for Him. I have learned that His teachings contain gold nuggets for getting out, and staying out, of addictive entanglements.
As I shared previously, my childhood created the perfect petri dish for food addiction to develop. I didn’t choose to have a food addiction by the age of six—any more than I chose to have blue eyes instead of brown. But thankfully I was led to a path of deliverance and healing. It is now my choice to walk out of it or not.
God’s plans are to help us prosper and not to harm us; to give hope and a future.26 His plan is not for us to suffer in our addictions and diseases.
We all have this little part of us called an ego. There are different names for it: the flesh, old man, carnal nature, sinful nature, evil desire, sin, earthly nature, old self. Some even call it the addictive monster or squealing pig within.
Basically, it is the lustful wants and desires within us that oppose the wonderful creation that we were originally designed to be. This sinful nature is wired for indulgence—and gains strength that way—and makes war against the very purposes of life itself.
For simplicity’s sake, I’ll just call this destructive little monster “the flesh.”
The flesh—it does not willingly submit; in fact, it cannot submit. It does its own thing.
Deep down, we want to do what is right, we really do, but inevitably, we stray and mess up. We have the desire, but we cannot seem to carry it out. It is as if there’s another force within us at war with our minds. This epic conflict is why we end up struggling as we do.27
So how do we escape this hopeless captivity?
God’s Spirit empowers us to have victory over the flesh.
In other words, the mighty strength of His Spirit can enable us to overcome the pull of the flesh—no matter how strong the addiction. And when we meditate on Scriptures and pray, and then by faith obey what we are shown, that act of humility and obedience begets even more power and control over the flesh.
When we continually deny the flesh what it wants, we grow spiritually stronger and those ugly, lustful desires weaken and then eventually die out.
And this strong spirit sustains us when we encounter life’s troubles.28
All of the above includes wisdom and common sense. When we apply this practical sensibility, success follows, and we are spared a lot of unnecessary angst. The following biblical quotes are some of my favorites, simply because they have proved helpful in keeping me out of food addiction:
• “Do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”29
◦ In other words, it’s not wise for anyone escaping food addiction to hang out at the doughnut shop, linger in the candy aisle, visit the kitchen late at night, or keep ice cream and chips in the house. For me, I have found that brushing and flossing my teeth after the evening meal—and then staying out of the kitchen for the rest of the night—minimizes temptations to gratify the flesh. I also don’t keep ice cream in the house. I’m not going to give the flesh an opportunity for gratification; even though cravings for it subsided years ago.
• “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”30
◦ The old adage “show me your friends and I’ll show you your future” is true. We really do need to be mindfully aware of who we hang out with on a regular basis. Self-destructive drinking and eating not only ruins our health but affects our alertness, energy levels, productivity, financial resources, and self-esteem. As with all self-destructive addictions, it may become necessary to cultivate new friends if current ones are leading us down a dangerous road.
• “Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.”31
◦ In order to live in freedom, it’s important to establish clearly defined boundary lines that produce predictable and consistent results...and then stay within those lines, no exceptions. Simply put, we must have a plan and then stick to it, no matter what. There is safety and freedom within boundaries.
• “You need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers.”32
◦ Reaching out to others for guidance helps us become victorious over food addiction. We just need to make sure that advice lines up with science instead of opinions and pop culture.
• “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.”33
◦ We can’t let anything or anyone sidetrack us from our goals. We must keep our eyes on the prize.
◦ You are not facing any temptation that others haven’t already faced. But there is always a way out to get through it without succumbing to it.34
◦ With every temptation, there is always a way out. If we look for the escape hatch, it’s there for us to escape!
• “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”35
• “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”36
◦ We must ignore the doorbell if “the flesh” rings!
• “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything.”37
◦ We can eat anything we desire, but not everything is beneficial for us. Science has now proven both the destructive and addictive properties of disease-causing food.
• “When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.”38
◦ Deceptive food is misleading: Grandma’s award-winning chocolate fudge brownies, deviled eggs, and sugar cream pie. That kind of food will entangle and create diseases that will eventually suck the life out of us. We must kill cravings before cravings kill us!
• “Fear of man will prove to be a snare.”39
◦ I’ve learned through mistakes that I cannot allow the fear of what others may think or say dictate what I put into my mouth. I cannot make compromises in order to please others.
• “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”40
◦ If an impulsive slip up or lapse in judgment happens—and I’ve had hundreds of them, even throughout the year I lost a hundred pounds—brush it off, move on immediately, and do not dwell on the mistake. That is what Olympic champions do. 41
• “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”42
◦ As we keep putting one foot in front of the other, the LORD will keep renewing our strength and amazing results will eventually happen. Freedom from food addiction is possible for everyone!
Let’s all soar like the eagles!