Losing that Lovin' Feeling

My best guess is that many of us who ended up on Take Shape for Life got here because we developed an unhealthy relationship with food at some point in our lives.  I say "unhealthy relationship" because I know that I didn't balloon to 268 pounds just because I had a "good appetite."  My weight skyrocketed to morbid obesity because I had an emotional relationship with food.  I used to talk all the time about how I "loved" chocolate, or "loved" Mexican food, etc.  I just plain loved to eat!
A while back I read a story in the devotional, "Our Daily Bread," about the movie, "Fever Pitch."  In the movie, Ben Wrightman is crazy about the Boston Red Sox baseball team.  He rarely misses a game during the spring and summer months.

One winter, Ben falls in love with a young woman named Lindsey and wins her heart.  Then spring rolls around, and she finds out that he's a different person during baseball season.  He has no time for her unless she goes to the games with him.

When Lindsey ends her relationship with Ben because of his fanaticism, he talks with a young friend who says, "You love the Sox.  But tell me, have they ever loved you back?" Those words cause Ben to analyze his priorities and to give more time to the woman he loves, who loves him back.

That story got me thinking about things that I've loved that didn't love me back - like food :-).  One of my good friends (she's lost over 100 pounds on this program) told me that she no longer talks about "loving" food, she now says she "enjoys" food.  I love it!  She reserves the word "loves" to describe her feelings for God, her family and other people, and her example has challenged me to do the same thing.

Another friend of mine, also a 100+ pound loser, reminds herself of the need to view food as fuel, nothing more.  

I think both of these wise women are on to something!  Loving God and loving people . . . enjoying food and viewing it as fuel.  Sounds like a good balance to me!

Part of the really hard work on this program - and I DO mean hard work - is redefining our relationship with food.  If we don't do that, we won't make the permanent changes needed to maintain our weight loss.  How we relate to food will change over time as we consciously choose to change how we think.  Begin today - one thought and one choice at a time . . . and choose wisely :-)