Freedom of my mind.

I've done a lot of changing over the last year, but the biggest change that I'm so thankful for is the freedom of my mind!!  I was totally consumed with thoughts of food and now I feel like I think about food on a more normal level, like a level of eating food to live, not like eating is entertainment or comfort for me anymore.  I love that and that change has happened solely because God has taken the addiction thoughts and attitude from me.  I still have to be conscious and aware of what is going on and what I'm putting into my body, but I don't feel like I'm always at war with my mind!  It was horrible, I hated being like that.  God has freed me and He will do it for you too!!!  I'm confident of that!! 
Below are some verses that have helped me (sorry it's kind of long).  I have some phrases that I put, but most phrases I got from the 2 books I read (in addition to the Bible).  The titles of those books are Love To Eat, Hate To Eat by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Made To Crave by Lysa Terkeurst.  Amazing books that God used to convict me!  I encourage you to read the Bible and these 2 books and highlight/underline your own phrases that stick out to you and make you think and convict you.

*This is my little prayer that I had written out (now memorized) - "Lord, change my heart and mind, help me focus on and follow the things that are right".

*Food is fuel, it's not to make us happy.

*Isaiah 1:16b-17a "stop doing wrong, learn to do right."

*Matthew 4:10 "Away from me, Satan!  For it is written:  Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only."

*Hosea 14:1 "Return, (O Israel), to the Lord your God.  Your sins have been your downfall!"  I put my name in place of Israel.

*Colossians 3:2 "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

*Romans 8:13 "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die;  but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live."

*Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you and watch over you."

*Psalm 28:7 "The Lord is my strength and my shield;  my heart trusts in him and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."

*Romans 7:15-25  "waging war against the law of my mind"

*James 4:17 "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."

*Philipians 3:18b-19 "many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.  Their mind is on earthly things."

*Romans 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

*I Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

*James 4:7-8 "Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

*Titus 2:11-12 "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It teaches us to say "NO" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age."

*James 1:14-15 "but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin: and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

*Romans 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

*Romans 8:5 "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."

*Jeremiah 30:17a "But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord..."

*I Corinthians 6:12-13a "Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible for me - but I will not be mastered by anything.  Food for the stomach and the stomach for food - but God will destroy them both."

*I Corinthians 6:19-20 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own:  you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body."

*Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me."

*Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder."  (even yourself)

*Proverbs 23:21 "for drunkards and gluttons become poor and drowsiness clothes them in rags."

*II Corinthians 10:5 "...take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

*Romans 14:20a "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food."

*Proverbs 26:14 "As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed."  (Helps me get up in the morning to do my devos!)  :)

*Psalm 78:18 "They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved."

*Ecclesiastes 6:7 "All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied."

*I Peter 5:6-8 "Humble yourselves, therefore under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  Be SELF-CONTROLLED and ALERT.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

*II Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of SELF-CONTROL."

*Proverbs 15:32a "He who ignores discipline despises himself."

*Proverbs 9:17b "food eaten in secret is delicious - the woman of folly."

*Matthew 13:15 "For this people's heart has become calloused;  they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn.  AND I WOULD HEAL THEM."

*Luke 12:23 "Life is more than food."

*Psalm 106:3b "They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them."

*Hebrews 12:11 "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

*Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

*Psalm 17:3b "I have resolved that my mouth will not sin."

So there is a good part of my verses that I have written out in my little "food" notebook.  I got a ton from the books and highlighted, underlined and wrote in the books also. 
This is just a start of your journey - the mental, emotional part.  Of course physically there are things to do, but what I found is that once my mind was kind of in more of a right place the physical part came along better.  I will write about that at a different time. 

Pray, pray, pray for God to reveal what your food/exercise journey needs to be and He will lead you along an awesome path!  I’m so thankful for what God has done in my life and He can do it for you too!