Every evening around 9 p.m. the cravings begin.
I want chocolate. I want Cherry Pepsi. I want All The Things that are not good for my body, especially that late at night.
Looking back, I see how that habit developed. When our children were younger and my husband worked second shift, I would reward myself for getting through the tough evening hours alone with some “me time” in front of the tv.
Of course, I couldn’t leave out a bedtime sweet, or two, also part of the reward.
Thus food became intimately connected to my idea of relaxation.
It’s taken years of the Lord dealing with me in this area of satisfaction and contentment for me to realize that I use food in all of the wrong ways a majority of the time! And to be honest, I’m still learning.
*Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book Full in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. This post also contains affiliate links*
I recently finished reading Full by Asheritah CiuCiu, who writes about my very struggle – to find satisfaction in Christ alone.
This particular book took me three times as long to finish as it should have because at first, I just plain didn’t want to read it.
In fact, I spent the first half of this year in full out rebellion against what the Lord had previously taught me about caring for my body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. I ate whatever I wanted. I exercised only when really motivated.
And I picked up and put down Full about ten times over the course of several months.
I’m ashamed to admit it, but I decided that I didn’t want to submit to the Lord in the area of healthy eating.
It was just too hard!
Enter Full and Asheritah CiuCiu’s humble yet truth-filled approach to “Food, Jesus, and the Battle for Satisfaction.”
It’s easy to relate to the author because I am her, the woman who can’t stop putting brownies in her mouth even when she’s full. I’m also the woman who sometimes feels confused about the role of food in my life.
I recognize that food is a gift from our Heavenly Father and that all things are permissible in moderation, but how that plays out in my life isn’t always clear-cut.
Is it okay to eat this chocolate today or not okay?
In fact, often avoiding sugary sweets results in an unhealthy obsession about when I might be able to have them next!
This is precisely the conundrum that Asheritah describes in her book, and she rightly refers to it as “food fixation.”
According to CiuCiu, Full isn’t just for those struggling to honor God with their food choices, but it’s also for those who have an unhealthy obsession with food in general – the crunchy mama who will only eat organic, the woman fighting against gluttony, the one obsessed with body image and every morsel she puts in her mouth.
The author points out that any type of food fixation (whether the fixation is on brownies or wheat grass) leads us into slavery – it’s a form of idolatry that even committed Christians often fail to recognize.
By the time I came across the sentence “Food is not the enemy,” I understood that this was a book I desperately needed.
My battle to overcome in the area of my health and weight led me to a place of extreme control rather than a place of freedom, which explains my six-month rebellion.
The battle to overcome food fixation
Rather than succumbing to food fixation, Asheritah suggests that we learn to find satisfaction in Christ, to take in the Bread of Life and to be full. Her research into food addiction and the Bible itself help us to see that food fixation is, at its core, a spiritual issue rather than a physical one.
As a spiritual issue, we must learn to address the root causes of our food fixation. We must learn how to find fullness and satisfaction in Christ alone, how to meet everyday temptations with spiritual truth.
The final section of this book, in particular, teaches many practical ways to overcome food fixation:
- learning to recognize past patterns
- overcoming temptation through scripture memory and prayer
- celebrating every little victory
Aside from the first few chapters, this was my favorite section of the book. With these tools and the power of the Spirit, we can break the chains of addiction and find our way to freedom!
If any type of food fixation keeps you in bondage, if you long for food freedom, be sure to pick up a copy of Asheritah CiuCiu’s book Full.
Above all, keep seeking your Heavenly Father and invite Him to release you from the bonds of food fixation once and for all.
He is able!
Jen 🙂
