gluttony

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Sandalwood

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I know gluttony can mean more than food, but I am seriously struggling with the sin of gluttony to food. I am overweight and almost scared to lose it. I don’t know why that is, but it is like a chain around my neck, weighing me down. I do feel that this is a spiritual issue for me and I don’t know how to go about fighting this. I have prayed for two or three years about this but I am not getting any better. Are there some Scriptures or anything in the catechism that you could share with me that could give me guidance? I keep trying to envision Blessed Mary and learn from her traits on how to break this but I’m struggling. I can’t explain why this feels like a spiritual battle but that’s exactly how it feels. And it feels like it’s becoming more urgent to me that I must overcome this NOW.
thank you
 
If you remember to say grace before each meal; try visualising the communion of Saints at your table - I am sure this will encourage you too temper this behaviour.

Best of luck & prayers.
 
Did you say you were scared to lose weight? Talk to a priest if you feel it may be a spiritual battle, but I would also suggest seeing a psychiatrist. This may be a neurosis of some kind.
 
JohnDamian said:
If you remember to say grace before each meal; try visualising the communion of Saints at your table - I am sure this will encourage you too temper this behaviour.

Best of luck & prayers.
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I do say grace before each meal! I will try visualizing the communion of Saints. thanks
 
I struggled with this for 25 years, eventually had a gastric bypass, and still struggle. Yes, I’m a “normal” size now, but I continually obsess about food. I pray on a daily basis for help with this albatross. Please talk both to a priest and to a physician about your problem. I will be praying for you.
 
kozlosap said:
I struggled with this for 25 years, eventually had a gastric bypass, and still struggle. Yes, I’m a “normal” size now, but I continually obsess about food. I pray on a daily basis for help with this albatross. Please talk both to a priest and to a physician about your problem. I will be praying for you.
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Thank you kozlosap. I will pray for you as well. I will talk with my priest. I have already talked with my physician and he just keeps handing me diet sheets to follow. It’s not that I need a “diet” to follow! I need help breaking the bondage!
 
🙂 I have a long history of battling my compulsive behaviors concerning food. I had a good hold over my compulsions while in the Navy because I smoked cigerettes instead.

I’d suggest finding a spiritual weight loss program. I tried Weight Watchers and they were so secular that a person at group meetings didn’t dare mention that God was a tool for weight loss. Weight Watchers is all about counting points and food selection and that’s fine but that’s only the tip of the compulsive iceberg. 800 feet of ice rests below the waterline.

I joined Overeaters Anonymous and that helped me a lot. Their 12 steps are identical to Alcoholics Anonymous. Those 12 steps have been reworked by many over groups to help people control compulsive behavior - additions to gambling, sex, rage, drugs, etc.

The meetings are inclusive, one person’s idea of god is the group itself, or a goddess or the Christian God. (That might end up really bothering you).

Here are the 12 steps - (they are activities to incorporate into your life):

We admitted that we were powerless over food - that our lives had become unmanageable.

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 👍 (For Catholics we can tell our priests)

Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
 
Check out lightweigh.com/. It’s a Catholic-based program that addresses the bondage to food, not exactly *what *you eat, but how much and why. There are a lot of references to St. Therese of Lisieux and her “little way” and many other saints. If you can’t find a program in your area, you can start one at your parish — it’s not hard to set up at all, if you can work a DVD player!
 
Sandalwood said:
I know gluttony can mean more than food, but I am seriously struggling with the sin of gluttony to food. I am overweight and almost scared to lose it. I don’t know why that is, but it is like a chain around my neck, weighing me down. I do feel that this is a spiritual issue for me and I don’t know how to go about fighting this. I have prayed for two or three years about this but I am not getting any better. Are there some Scriptures or anything in the catechism that you could share with me that could give me guidance? I keep trying to envision Blessed Mary and learn from her traits on how to break this but I’m struggling. I can’t explain why this feels like a spiritual battle but that’s exactly how it feels. And it feels like it’s becoming more urgent to me that I must overcome this NOW.
thank you
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Sandalwood,

I understand what you mean that this feels like a spiritual struggle because I have several similar struggles of my own.

First, God LOVES you very much. No matter what.
Second, this didn’t happen overnight and it probably won’t resolve itself overnight. God can help and wants to help. I will pray that you find the answers that you seek.

Something I find helpful is a sort of fasting. One day a week I don’t eat treats. That’s it.

At first, it was difficult, but it is getting easier. For me, treats are sweets (candies & cookies), desserts, and chips. I enjoy eating potato chips like I can’t tell you. And making a commitment to the Lord that for this one day each week I will not eat them helps me think of Him throughout the day (when I am tempted) and how He is involved with every detail of my life. It’s almost like abstinence from meat on Friday, which is also difficult for me, but I am committed to it. And by doing these things over these past several months, I have begun to sense an increase in self control that I have never known before. I wake up in the morning and I know it’s a day dedicated to God! No treats! Yay! It’s a sort of personal devotion that has taken on a lot of meaning for me in several ways. And part of the meaningfulness is that this is something that I really do want to change in my life. It’s not like I’m intending to make up for what I didn’t eat the other six days of the week. I don’t.

Maybe this is something you might pray about and ask for help with. And perhaps others will have some scriptural references that can help us both!

Hope
 
thank you Hope, Dgilomen, and Barbkw. great ideas from all of you.

I like the idea of the 12 step approach, and the daily fasting approach. I really don’t eat sweets and things like that so it’s not like I’m sitting around the house with a plate of donuts every day. It’s the volume of meals, the eating until I hurt that is the problem for me. I can implement the fasting with certain portion sizes or things like that (typing as I’m thinking :))
I can also approach this more methodically as in the 12 steps.

I’m sitting here thinking, you know, I could set up tomorrow to be my first day and plan my menus and get proper measurements of fruits, vegetables, proteins, write them down tonight so that in the morning, all the work is done. All I have to do is prepare the meals and then measure my alloted portion and when that portion is gone, I’m done. But see, here I go, I start ultra-focusing and that’s not where I want my focus to be! Is it ok to focus on a plan like this to get started and get on the road to healing? Or am I putting too much focus on this? UGH! 😦
 
Weight Watchers is a lot like that - measurement, food planning, menu planning. Determining your compulsive foods (which are red zone no-no’s, which are yellow zone that trip your trigger after a paticular quantity, green with can be eating in quantity but can feed your compulsive behaviors.)

It’s a battle, I admit, controling quality of food and quantity without getting bored with the whole thing and trashing your plan.

It should be so easy and it’s just not.

It’s like tying two eggs together 😃 to keep well fed with both good food and small amounts of bad food and then to reoccupy my mind with other activities that keep my hand away from my mouth.
 
Sandalwood said:
I know gluttony can mean more than food, but I am seriously struggling with the sin of gluttony to food. I am overweight and almost scared to lose it. I don’t know why that is, but it is like a chain around my neck, weighing me down. I do feel that this is a spiritual issue for me and I don’t know how to go about fighting this.
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I understand what you mean, and I think anyone who struggles with weight and food issues, if they are honest, also understands that there is a spiritual component to the struggle. My personal opinion is we all have something we cling to–food, money, gambling, porn, possessions, drugs of various kinds (all these I think psychologically act like drugs on us) and I am not speaking of addiction per se but the spiritual attitude toward these things. One issue btw is not more or less moral than another, they all represent something we are choosing, constantly, over Christ. OP is right we have to get down to the root, to the reason whether it be psychological, physical, spiritual, mental health or a combination of causes. For many of us that requires professional counselling, for all of us it requires good spiritual direction, in person or from the writings of Christian masters.

I also have found that we have to heed Christ’s warning about the house freed of a demon, when left empty was filled by 7 worse demons. To me it means more than struggling with the attachment issue, it means nothing less than allowing ourselves to be filled with Christ, and finding out why we have been resisting this. The best Confirmation preparation resources actually deal with this, fostering receptivity to the Holy Spirit who in turn prepares us to be filled with Christ and more fully conformed to Him. If you have been confirmed, invoke in intentional prayer the gifts of the Holy Spirit you have already received, fortitude is not the least of these. If not, begin preparation for Confirmation.

I can attest that lightweigh does address precisely this “bondage” issue and in a support group format which has proven over time to be a solid approach. But I think the reasons for the underlying food thought may in some of us require professional counselling to uncover, but once we know and acknowledge them may even seem obvious.
 
today I haven’t stressed over it. I have checked serving sizes of the food I’m eating and only eat one portion. Amazing how small that is for some things! I’m eating healthy foods and in proper quantities. One day at a time, one meal at a time.
 
As one who has also battled compulsive behaviors for years, abusing alcohol and food is my hot topic now. I can give you a list of all the good I have turned to bad because of compulsive behaviors and obsessive thoughts—but I won’t, haha—what a bore right??😛
I will say it is good we see that there are spiritual components as well as psychological ones to our compulsion to over-eat (and in my case, over-drink TOO). Really, it is difficult to admit that you have a problem, and you have conquered that! And the other thing that is difficult is to believe you can change it. We get so tangled in our ways of coping, that we can’t fathom handling the pressures of life without comforting ourselves physically. I found that it WAS more comforting for me to EAT or DRINK instead of rely on GOD. So Eating and drinking has been my idol. I think on and pray Psalm 63—A soul thirsting for God. Or Psalm 42. And you know the words that help me the most are from psalm 135…I mean just last night I wanted to drink for my “trigger reasons”, and I stopped and closed my eyes (you can do the same, that’s why i am telling you) and heard the words i prayed some time ago…“they (the idols) are they work of human hands…that have mouths but can’t speak, eyes but can’t see ; ears but can’t hear; there is never a breath on their lips” unlike OUR LIVING God Who Can see me and hear me. it is an anxious moment to stop and trust in the Lord, because I have trust issues as well (I am a jumble of all kinds of weird)—But i have to occupy my mind with prayer and being with God. And it also helps to consider how you will feel AFTER you engage in the eating or drinking—like me I know I will only feel worse, and even though I am trying to ESCAPE feeling these bad feelings, IF I DRINK or eat, I will have only WORSE feelings to deal with later.

Yes Sandalwood it IS one meal, one day at a time. it is that way for everything—you can be successful in the moment. I was successful last night, and I am darn happy about that!
 
I also wanted to add something.I remember when I was praying during my moment of temptation: I want for you to the same, to BELIEVE you can break the bondage with the help of the Holy Spirit. God Alone can hear our troubles, listen to our laments, counsel us. The alcohol would have dulled my mind, brought me down mentally, depressed me more—when i over-eat, it sometimes has some of the same effects as a drug on my system, but i dislike WHAT the over-eating does to me. And on top of all of that, I get to feel immoderate as heck.
 
ISeek, great job last night! It is so difficult to break the cycle and that “comfort” feeling that really isn’t a comfort at all!
I think the over-eating dulls my senses so that I don’t deal with things that are unpleasant.
I’m ocd and bipolar so honey, I KNOW what you’re talking about when you say you have issues! So do I, believe me! I’m trusting God to deal with those and I’m going to trust God to deal with my over-eating.

This afternoon has been hard. HOWEVER, I decided that to eat would be gluttony for me right now because physically I am not hungry. I’m lonely. Food will not comfort me. It will dull me for a bit but then I’ll feel worse afterwards. Instead of eating, I’ve been furiously cleaning my house! It’s hard to think about food when you have bathtub and toilet cleaners in your hands 😛
It has helped, plus, I feel really good about my house right now.

Now is the down time before I cook dinner and this is my worst temptation time. So…I’m on here instead of eating.

One day at a time…one day at a time… one hour at a time…
 
Sandalwood said:
ISeek, great job last night! It is so difficult to break the cycle and that “comfort” feeling that really isn’t a comfort at all!
I think the over-eating dulls my senses so that I don’t deal with things that are unpleasant.
I’m ocd and bipolar so honey, I KNOW what you’re talking about when you say you have issues! So do I, believe me! I’m trusting God to deal with those and I’m going to trust God to deal with my over-eating.

This afternoon has been hard. HOWEVER, I decided that to eat would be gluttony for me right now because physically I am not hungry. I’m lonely. Food will not comfort me. It will dull me for a bit but then I’ll feel worse afterwards. Instead of eating, I’ve been furiously cleaning my house! It’s hard to think about food when you have bathtub and toilet cleaners in your hands 😛
It has helped, plus, I feel really good about my house right now.

Now is the down time before I cook dinner and this is my worst temptation time. So…I’m on here instead of eating.

One day at a time…one day at a time… one hour at a time…
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Thank you for the praise—I really do need it where all this is concerned—I mean it is difficult to stop any bad behavior, because they are so easy to succumb to…it’s just one of those things about being children of Adam and Eve, and Original Sin, and the stain of Original Sin…it is so much easier to be immoderate for me. Gee, and it sounds like you had yourself a great victory there, my friend!—I consider that more difficult considering eating is so NATURAL and considered a wholesome activity, it really does take a lot more thought, like what you did—you had to stop and think “why am I eating? Am I REALLY hungry?? or just CRAVING?? or just angry, lonely, worried…whatever.??” And then you work through that problem. For me, if I want to drink, it is always because of some troubling feelings, and well drinking is not good for me anyway, so that’s that. Buuuuut if I feel compelled to eat, I have to think a little bit more about it.
I think you did really VERYgood too, and the bathroom is clean because of it! Now come clean mine next time! Ha!
I went to my FIRST AA meeting tonight, and got my first desire chip: a white poker chip that represents my desire to stay sober for 30 days. Then I get a red chip. YaY! they have appealed to my competitive nature. I hope to post I get my red chip in 30 days! You know, Sandalwood?? The BEST thing is to just have a sense of humor. And I sense the sense of humor in you! You seem like a cool person!
 
ISeek said:
Thank you for the praise—I really do need it where all this is concerned—I mean it is difficult to stop any bad behavior, because they are so easy to succumb to…it’s just one of those things about being children of Adam and Eve, and Original Sin, and the stain of Original Sin…it is so much easier to be immoderate for me. Gee, and it sounds like you had yourself a great victory there, my friend!—I consider that more difficult considering eating is so NATURAL and considered a wholesome activity, it really does take a lot more thought, like what you did—you had to stop and think “why am I eating? Am I REALLY hungry?? or just CRAVING?? or just angry, lonely, worried…whatever.??” And then you work through that problem. For me, if I want to drink, it is always because of some troubling feelings, and well drinking is not good for me anyway, so that’s that. Buuuuut if I feel compelled to eat, I have to think a little bit more about it.
I think you did really VERYgood too, and the bathroom is clean because of it! Now come clean mine next time! Ha!
I went to my FIRST AA meeting tonight, and got my first desire chip: a white poker chip that represents my desire to stay sober for 30 days. Then I get a red chip. YaY! they have appealed to my competitive nature. I hope to post I get my red chip in 30 days! You know, Sandalwood?? The BEST thing is to just have a sense of humor. And I sense the sense of humor in you! You seem like a cool person!
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YEA!!! Congratulations on your first AA meeting! I’m so proud of you!!! You are on your way!

Yes, I do have a sense of humor…sometimes too much so. For the most part, I have a hard time taking things too seriously. But, like in the case, the overeating has just worn me down. I’m dusting off and, with the Lord’s guidance, I’m taking those first steps towards healing.

You WILL post your red chip in 30 days. I KNOW you can do this! I’m with you all the way in cyberlife here!! I’ll definitely be your cheerleader!

…oh…and yeah…about cleaning your bathroom…we’ll talk…my people will call your people 😛
 
I am doing Weight Watchers and struggling with gluttony. Every morning, I offer it up the day of doing Weight Watchers for a particular intention. It needs to be a powerful intention like vocations, etc.
If I am giving up a food or not buying a particular food, I offer it up… Talk with a spiritual director and confession.

I always remember Phil 4:13- I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Weight Watchers is a very good program and you can incorporate pray into it. They do teach you to eat healthy…
 
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