Garbage in the trash can or garbage in my body

I've been traveling a ton lately, and each time I go through airport security I watch a ritual that amazes me. As people near the check point where their luggage will be inspected and liquids aren't allowed, a frenzy of liquid consumption takes place. Bottles of soda, whipped cream coffee drinks a mile high, waters, teas, and juices are downed in lightning speed. The comments of these frenzied drinkers are always the same "I can't take this with me, I better finish it up!" I wonder how many of these people actually want or enjoy what they are slamming down in those harried moments before going through security.
It brings up a point I constantly think of when I think about being free from food bondage. If I don't want or need the food or drink, I can easily throw it away, because it's garbage in the trash can, or garbage in my body. I'll choose the trash can!
For many of us we grew up being taught that we had to clean our plates, regardless of feeling stuffed or not hungry. "There are starving children in India!" was a phrase I remember hearing from well meaning adults. The truth is, eating what I don't want just to not waste food, is wasting it in my body! Our bodies are not trash cans, and eating what we don't need never helps anyone in India either.
We were created with a miraculous mechanism in our digestive system that alerts us when we are feeling full so that we can stop eating, feel satisfied, and move on to something else. The problem is that we are accustomed to not listening to that mechanism. We leave the table with pants unzipped, feeling guilty and overstuffed. Next time you are feeling full, but still have food in front of you remember this phrase "It's garbage in the trash can, or garbage in my body...I'll choose the trashcan!"

Battle of the Binge

I was talking to a lovely woman yesterday about her struggles with food. She was lamenting the fact that she has gained weight due to binging. Throughout the year she had taken two Truly Fed classes, and experienced the joy of freedom, but had crawled back to her old habits and heartache with food. As we were talking I thought about the actual reality around binge eating. As I see it, there are two types of binges: a premeditated binge and a tidal wave binge.
A premeditated binge is one where you plan in advance what you are going to stuff yourself with. Thoughts of a drive-thru romp, a blaze through the snack aisle at the grocery store, or the plan to bake something and devour it by yourself- all result from a premeditated plan to consume a large amount of food secretly.
A tidal wave binge is when you are eating a meal or snack, and the taste of the food, or the feeling you get from eating it, completely overtakes you. Like a tidal wave that has gained momentum over the ocean, the desire to consume insane amounts of food washes over you and crashes upon your taste buds, hands, and stomach. Before you know it, wrappers, bags, and boxes have been emptied, leaving great destruction behind.
Here's the good news... God cares about binging, and is there as an ever present help to redirect our premeditation, and to stop the tidal waves. Think about these truths as you enter into binge habits:
Premeditated binges~ Psalm 19: 14
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer."

Tidal Wave binges~ Romans 12:21
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

We can change the way we think and respond to food. We don't have to be slaves to the lure of binging!