Outsmarting Your Cravings

  I. Stress can cause cravings
     Combat it by:
          A.  Stimulating happiness
                1.  Pray
                2.  Listen to uplifting music
                3.  do some kind of exercise
                4.  read
          B.  Wait it out
                1.  Clean out a drawer, a section of your closet, etc.
                2.  Check the time and wait fifteen minutes before giving in to a craving
          C.  Choose the best distraction
                Use the words:  " I feel _______________________ because of ________________.
                to identify what is going on with you emotionally.  Find a positive activity and do that
                to channel your emotions in a positive direction.
 II.  Ask yourself if you have been eating less than usual
          A.  Track your portions and foods eaten to see if you are eating enough
          B.  Eat craving foods in moderation
               With eating craving foods, there may be a time where you avoid them completely in
               order to break any wrong associations you have with them.  For me I did not eat
               sugar for eight months--I was FREE not to!  I added it back in in very small amounts.
               Even now I have to watch very carefully how much sugar I consume.
          C.  Eat a small amount of food you are craving rather than eating everything else in sight
               because you are avoiding that food.
          D.  Call a friend or shoot off an email and talk about your craving and the reasons why it
               is not a good thing to give into it.  Maybe the Lord told you to give it up for a season. 
               Call for reinforcements!!  Reach out to someone who will support you and pray with
               you.
III.  Sleep--are you getting enough?
          A.  If you are really struggling with a craving due to tiredness during the day have a small
               amount of caffeine (this is recommended by Prevention, not me!)
          B.  Portion out anything you are going to eat to insure you do not overeat because you
               are tired.
          C.  Avoid by flight if need be anything that is sugary or white flour based as that these
               things will add to your cravings by spiking your blood sugar then sending it down
               even further when they have passed through your blood stream.
          D.  Take a cat nap.  Set a timer for 15 -30 minutes and close your eyes.  
          E.  Go to bed early.
 IV.  Is this a HABIT?
       Do you do great with your eating except when you are with a particular friend or relative? 
       How about at parties or holidays?  Or when you watch tv or go to the movies?
          A.  Get away from the kitchen or other food source.
          B.  Use the "stop technique"-- say "stop" when you are tempted.  Picture yourself lean,
               strong, and healthy.  Even better, picture yourself obedient to the Lord in your eating.
          C.  Change your habit by creating a new one. 


Teaching:
Matthew 14:28-31

There are five things we can see operating in this scripture.

 1.  Peter walked on water.  
      This is representative of the success we experience in areas of our lives as we obey the
      Lord.
 2.  Peter took his eyes off Jesus and put them onto the circumstances.  
      We too can lose our focus on who called us to do what we are doing.
 3.  Peter started to sink.
      We begin to fall or fail and recognize ourselves doing so.
 4.  Peter called out to Jesus for help.  
      Just as Peter, in his own ability could not walk on water, we in our own ability can not
      accomplish the things God has for us to do.  We must have and ask for His help. 
 5.  Jesus IMMEDIATELY caught Peter.  This is what I really want to emphasize.  God is good. 
      He stands behind His Word.  He is not a man and cannot lie.  He will immediately send us
      the help we need when we ask for it.  What we need to work on is not turning down the help
      because it did not come to us the way we expected it to.  You see, we can really trust
      God.  The truth about God is that He is good, trustworthy, and wants to help you.

From the Book:
Conquering Eating Disorders  by Robert McGee

We went over pages 47-48. 
Step 2 "We come to believe that God, through Jesus Christ, can restore us to sanity."
Lesson 5:  Believing the Truth About God
We read Psalm 139 and discussed the work we did on the pages.  Anyone who was at the meeting is welcome to share what you did at the meeting.  Please be sure to use quotes when directly quoting the book.


Again I remind everyone these are just the notes.  A lot more is said in class.  If anything is unclear please feel free to ask me about it!

For His Children,
~Coreena