Do you know how you can be on a good path and then “something” happens to take you off that path? You wonder, “How did this happen?”
Yeah, I was in that place recently!
Here is what happened: I shared with our Take Back Your Temple program members that the hardest hours for me to confront emotional eating are the hours between 7– 10 pm.
The hours are challenging because I have chosen to make 7 pm – 7 am my “rest and digest” period.
I stop eating at 7 pm because I want to give my body the time it needs for processing the food I have eaten during the day, plus give it time for repair and rebuilding to get stronger.
Well, just over a week ago, I noticed that I started back eating again after 7:00 pm – a “nibble here and there” or so I told myself.
But the night I “woke up”, I realized that I prepared myself a meal of leftovers and eaten it during my rest and digest period!
Time to take action because I did not want this slip to turn into a slide!
I am heeding wise Biblical advice in this matter:
“He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him.”
– Proverbs 18:13
That means having courage to confront the real problem before you start seeking solutions.
When you find yourself off-track, it’s important to remember these three ‘A’s:
- Awareness
- Adaptability
- Accountability
So I started keeping a ‘night eating journal’ to get awareness of my pattern.
Because asking yourself the wrong questions will lead you in the wrong direction, you need to ask myself the right questions for awareness:
Within our Take Back Your Temple Community, I am sharing my journal each night through Friday, 2/5/2021 for accountability so members can see my journal, how I am adapting to this challenge so they can learn from my pattern!
I am heeding my own advice to make my life easier!
I hope the 3 factors I am examining will help you in overcoming your challenges too.
Naturally, it is easier to overcome your challenges when you have others taking the journey with you. So our TBYT Community is planning to embark on the Overcoming Night Eating Challenge together, starting February 8, 2021.
Connect with others who are committed to traveling a healthy path through life – just like you!
Click here to learn more about the Take Back Your Temple program.
Hi Kimberly
Would a hot drink like cup a soup (eg tomato or chicken noodle with out the bits) affect your “rest and digest” period? I figured as it was liquid it would be OK and a good hot drink before bed.
I’ve just purchased your daily devotionals, looking forward to the new me. One day at a time.
Hi Mandy – for me, I usually just drink water although A cup of hot tea would be okay if I wanted that. But most of the time, water works 🙂
What an eye opener! These are truly valuable nuggets of wisdom! I am focusing on that last Fruit of the Spirit-Self Control! I can’t control the majority of things that happen but I can control what I put in my mouth! I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!!! Thanks for sharing!!
Amen, Lisa – God is good!
I have been struggling with night eating and binge eating, as well as what I’m beginning to label as “food trauma” for about half of my life. It was so refreshing to read this! That’s exactly where I am at, trying to learn to LISTEN to my body’s needs instead of medicating with food. Food was made by God for fuel, not for self harm, self fulfillment, addiction, etc. Coming to peace with food is such a challenge, this article was so inspirational. We will be okay! We will listen to our body’s needs a little more everyday and ask God for forgiveness instead of taking it out on ourselves when we feel we have let life down. Depression is hard, the world is a dangerous place these days, but coming to terms with healing my relationship with food and healing my body again as a priority is my hope. When i feel better the whole world will open up again. I pray for healing for all who read this article, and I ask for healing for myself as well in Jesus’ name. Thank you for the author of this article, for her authenticity and openness provided me so much hope, I am not alone in this and I deserve to heal just like her. We deserve good, not pain. Amen.
Amen, R – all praise to God for His delivering power! I am agreeing with you in prayer for healing to the uttermost – from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet in the name of Jesus. May He be glorified as walk with Him through this journey. When we put our confidence in Him, He will never steer us wrong!
I struggle with it right before bed…..sometimes, I even have to fight to stay out of the refridge DURING the night.
Been there, JR – the thing to get clear about is – do you want and believe you can change with God’s help? See, it is easy to state what is. However, it takes FAITH to declare that change is possible with God’s help. And it takes faith to submit this heart issue to the Lord and walk out this healing journey with Him day by day, step by step, growing closer to Him in the process. Is it always easy? No. But healing and freedom are worth it!
Kim! Thank you for this entry. I will start journaling at night again. I will also be joining on the 8th. Thank you for speaking on issues no one else I know of talks about. This really helped me.
Glad to hear that this was helpful, Karen! I say this often – our end goal is to finish our race well in the Lord. Destructive habits make our race more difficult. So we need to do all we can to remove any stumbling blocks (whatever the form) and keep our paths straight 🙂
What journal are you using? Is it an app? Thank you for addressing this issue.
Hi Monica – Great question! I am using the Note app on my iPad. Nothing fancy. A spiral notebook would work or notes on Evernote.com, which is free. Whatever works for you.
Sometimes I get hungry around 10 PM. I eat supper around 6 PM……help
Hi Judy – Thanks for your question. Since you said that you eat supper late anyway, then I would be curious at to what your schedule is like. How late are you staying up at night? The reason I am asking is many times we are tired and would be better served to go on to bed to get the rest we need rather than staying up late and eating. Also I recommend looking at the content of your supper meal. Are they foods that heal, energize, and nourish your body (protein, fiber, fat, carbs) or does your meal contain foods that hijack your brain?
Your health habits are meant to serve you, not you serve them.
The biggest thing I found was that when I get hungry later, 10 pm, etc., that a large glass of water was really what my body was after. If I drink that, the craving generally goes away. If that doesn’t help, then I drink a protein drink, which has few calories but will fill me up. Since joining “Bright Line” eating, I now focus on eating more vegetables instead. Do what works for you as long as its good for your body, and you and God can be proud of your choice. If you fall down, don’t beat yourself up, as your comfort food will only become more enticing – to make you feel better. God is for you! You can do it!
Great tips, Hope!