My Story

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

 

My own experience with weight gain, dieting failure and bondage to food started with 22 years of nearly all consuming physical, mental and emotional involvement in elite gymnastics competition, coaching and judging.  Along with the stresses and loneliness of a gymnast training and competing at the elite level, I was raised in a dysfunctional family system.  I wish to say here that the effect of a country gone so far astray from Christian principles is that, at this point, it may be that a majority of families have a significant amount of "dysfunction".  There is no blame intended here.  If anyone is to blame I am because I turned to food instead of God for comfort.

I began to use food in more than its God‑given place to fill legitimate unmet needs.  In seeking God I would have found the way to heal, overcome, and live righteously in a fallen world and that He more than meets our unmet needs.  Instead, after retiring from elite gymnastics competition at the age of 17, disappointed in myself for not making an Olympic team, I began to use food to quench feelings of inadequacy and low self‑esteem.  The vicious cycle had begun, and as my body weight increased beyond what is healthy I felt increasingly worse about myself so I dieted, and I dieted hard.  Before long I had developed a bondage to food and body image which resulted in a 5-tier, 15-year addictive relationship to food, diets, body image, exercise and the scale. 

My pattern was to eat 4‑5 times in the middle of the night and then exercise 2‑3 hours each day driven out of guilt and fear of fat.  I was "purging" myself of the food I had eaten.  It made me feel somewhat better to make up for, at least in part, the out‑of‑control eating I was engaged in.  This went on for 15 years straight, no Sundays off!  Regardless of the constant dieting and excessive exercise, I gained over 60 pounds in the first 2 years as I turned increasingly to food to try to quench unlabeled and unresolved emotional pain.  Food is a substance which in its rightful God‑given place is a wonderful means of nutriture and nurture.  However, disobedience can pervert the abundant blessing which the Lord has given to us and it can be misused in a way that God never intended for it to be.  Anything can be good or bad, and food may be used or abused just as drugs, alcohol, sex, etc.  I realize now that even exercise can be misused too:

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 

1 Timothy 4:8 (NIV)

Later when I obtained a master's degree in nutrition I was given the opportunity to do nutrition research.  This gave me an appreciation for the observable biochemical nature of the science of nutrition, that there are causes and effects and, in more practical terms, consequences of our actions.  During this time I also became certified as a Registered Dietitian through the American Dietetic Association (renamed the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in 2012).  Professional work has included teaching nutrition education/behavior modification programs for the American Heart Association of Colorado, radio shows, hospital, business and community seminars and 10-week programs, health club programs and consultations, college instruction, publishing, individual consultations, and finally, development of the N.E.W. LIFE program.  I have been free from the bondages of food abuse, diets and preoccupation with body image for over 30 years.  I define freedom as the ability to grieve the real pain of life without the aid of food.  I am the most amazed person on earth that I actually forget to eat even in response to deep pain whereas previously it had unyielding power over my life.  Anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive overeating are the extreme manifestations of a growing epidemic of eating disorders, and there are an immeasurable number of people struggling with bondages to food, body image and emotional eating in-between those extremes.  My heart goes out to the women, men and children who struggle with food addictions, emotional eating, and eating disorders, as well as to a Church burdened with disease due to out-of-balance eating behaviors.

I hope and pray that as I share from my experience and the Word of God it will help others.  I prayerfully write each blog post in truth and love only to share with you what I have learned thus far, praying that He will fill in the gaps necessary for each and every reader.  It is not the intent of this author to “preach”.  As you can see I come with my own history of eating/exercise disorder, the result of a self‑esteem futilely tied to body image and performance.  My purpose is to share the hope of Jesus Christ and that freedom from bondage to food and diets is available to everyone. 

May God bless you on your journey as He has on mine.

N.E.W. LIFE (Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness for LIFE): Biblical Support for Health and Freedom from Bondage to Food and Diets

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