Do you ever feel as if you are simultaneously controlled by your eating habits and that your eating habits are controlled by your emotions? Do you find yourself turning to food when stressed, sad, and overwhelmed, then battling guilt and shame later? We live in an often painful and overwhelming world that, sadly, leads many of us to numerous unhealthy coping mechanisms, those we've perhaps, sought solace in for so long, we fear we'll never be able to experience freedom in these areas. Praise God, that's not true! We can break free from self-destructive tendencies that often only lead to increased anxiety and shame, and in this episode, author and recovered food-addict Barb Raveling shares how. 

(Scroll down for discussion/reflective questions.)

Reference mentioned: Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating: 100 Renewing Exercises to Help You Break Free from the Control of Food 

Find Barb Raveling:

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Find Jennifer Slattery:

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Amazon

Find Wholly Loved:

On their website

Join the private Faith Over Fear Facebook Group 

Join the Private Wholly Loved Community Facebook Group

(Note: We encourage you to discuss the below in relation to any ineffective coping mechanism you practice, trading your coping method of choice for "foot" or "eating.) 

1. Was resonated with you most in this podcast episode?
2. How often do you cope with difficult emotions or stress through food?
3. If often, can you think about when you first began to use food as a coping mechanism and what contributed to this?
4. How aware of you are your thoughts before you turn to food or while you're eating for emotional reasons?
5.  What are the two most frequent lies (if you're aware of them) that most tend to drive your eating? 
6. Why might it be important to fight our unhelpful coping mechanisms from a thought, rather than behavioral perspective?
7. When you use food to cope, how long does your sense of relief typical last, and what do you feel after?
8. What is one action step God might be asking you to take, having listened to this podcast episode? 

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