Why "Eat The Faith"?

I titled my blog "Eat The Faith" because it is a play on the phrase that I've heard so many times to "Keep The Faith." You see, I'm a Christian, and I do believe in the role of faith in Christ for my life. Christ is my Savior. But, I'm a miserable failure at letting my faith deliver me from my horrible tendency to turn to food for comfort. So, I guess you could say I'm a hypocrite. While I believe that God knows all my problems and can comfort me through the Holy Spirit, I turn to an immediate comfort found in a sugar rush or carb-overload. Here's how it goes: My son is sick, fussing, can't be consoled; I snack all day on all the 100-calorie packs of cookies or crackers I can find in my pantry. If I'm "lucky," I will have chocolate chips in the house or some ice cream left from a recent birthday party. It actually goes deeper than this. It's a viscious cycle. I'm fat. Every time somebody is rude to me or I get bad treatment at the local market, I think it is because I'm fat. And, because I don't feel good about being fat, I need comforting, so I may choose to take my son to McDonald's for lunch rather than eating at home. And the cycle continues.

No matter how many episodes Oprah does on emotional eating, I just don't feel like anybody gets it. I was a chubby kid. My mother put me on Weight Watchers when I was 10, back in the day when you had to have so many servings of fish and liver. When my 5th grade class won a pizza party, my teacher made sure to bring me a can of diet cola while the other kids had regular. I don't remember any kid making fun of me due to my weight before the 5th grade. I had low self-esteem regardless of my weight. When I lost weight on Weight Watchers, I don't remember my friends telling me how good I looked. I don't even remember feeling more confidant. I mean, I was in the 5th grade. Back then, 10-year-olds weren't even allowed to have opinions!

I'm turning 40 this year, and I want another baby. I have a 17-month-old son who is the joy of my life. Before I get pregnant again, I want to lose weight. So, I have four months. Yesterday, Monday, I was 220 lbs. Today I'm 218.6 lbs, because I did pretty good yesterday and we partied over the weekend with chips, dip and cake as my husband turned 45! My first goal is to get down to 200. But it is a daily struggle, and I will share my struggle on this blog! I'm exercising at my local YMCA, which is a mix of frustration and rewards, but that's another day of blogging. I am also going to keep track of my points. Points are the Weight Watchers system of tracking what you eat. But, most importantly, I am going to blog about how this goes. We'll see where I'm at in 4 months!

Oh... I'll post pics at some point. Be patient. Today's just day #1 for my blog!