Food Is Fuel

Today’s guest post is by Danielle from This Life I Live…

I haven’t always had a healthy relationship with food. For many years food was always connected to control in my life. It led to some really unhealthy habits. Indulging and restricting became the way that food enslaved me.

I was in a constant pursuit of having the perfect body, while eating everything I wanted!

As God began to show me how this way of living was a form of bondage, I had to learn how to have a healthy view of food. I am still very much in process, but these two things have helped me in finding balance with food.

Food is fuel.

For me, food was either a best friend or a mortal enemy. It was the perfect piece of pizza, or the reason I was “so fat”. I would indulge in the things that I loved, and then restrict like crazy to make up for my indulgences. I never saw food the way God intended it to be. While it is something to enjoy, food was designed to give our bodies what they need. I had to start looking at my day, and thinking…. what does my body need? It needs protein, veggies, fruit, even carbs and fats. Instead of thinking, “do I like this?”, I think, “do I need this?”. Instead of thinking, “will this make me fat?”, I need to think, “will this give me energy and strength?”. It isn’t a perfect science, but viewing food as the fuel my body needs, helps me to think less and just eat well!

All foods are permissible.

While I am learning to fuel my body with the good things it needs, there is nothing off limits. In the past, I had a list of “good foods” and “bad foods”. Those foods were good or bad based on how I thought they would affect my weight, not on their nutritional value. Foods on my “bad list” never even came close to touching my lips. Ever. However, while I am learning to fuel my body well, I am also learning to enjoy some “wild cards”. A wild card is a food that has little or no nutritional value. It just tastes good! So, if I want a milkshake, that’s okay. Three a day isn’t, but once a month on a date with my daughter…. Is okay! If I want to go out to dinner and eat fettuccine Alfredo for our anniversary date, that’s okay too! There is no food that is completely prohibited. I give my body what it needs, and throw in a wild card every now and then!

There is so much more I am still working through but these two things have been so practically helpful in my day to day interactions with food! While many people think very little about what they eat, I am learning to live free from constant thoughts about food and thinness. I know that one day there will be freedom to enjoy what God has made and fuel my body with what it needs! Until then, I am working with these new tools to help me reclaim some balance!

Danielle is a believer. A wife. A mom. A friend. A Carrie Underwood lover. A Starbucks addict. AYankee Southerner. A run on sentence writer. A special educator. She blogs at This Life I Live and tweets at @d_cevallos.