WHEN FOOD BECOMES COMFORT INSTEAD OF NOURISHMENT

There was a time in my life when food became comfort.

Not nourishment.

Not fuel.

Comfort.

When I was depressed, overwhelmed, grieving, or emotionally and physically exhausted, food often became something I leaned on.

Food felt easy.

Food asked nothing from me.

I didn’t have to talk to it.

I didn’t have to explain myself.

I didn’t have to tell it why I was hurting, exhausted, overwhelmed, or sad.

For a moment, food felt like comfort.

It felt like relief.

It felt like escape.

But that comfort never lasted.

Even after eating, I didn’t truly feel better.

Physically, I often felt worse—bloated, sluggish, uncomfortable, and frustrated.

Mentally, I felt guilty.

I would ask myself:

Why did I do that again?

Why do I keep turning to food?

Why can’t I get control of this?

I eventually realized something important.

Food could temporarily fill my stomach, but it could not heal what was hurting in my heart.

Over the past few years, I have spent a lot of time praying about how I truly wanted to live.

Not just what I wanted to weigh.

Not just what foods I wanted to avoid.

But how I wanted to live.

I came to an important realization.

I am not chasing thin

I am not chasing perfect.

I am not trying to become someone else.

I want to be healthy and happy.

I want strength

I want peace.

I want energy.

I want to feel better physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

For me, this journey stopped being about appearance and started being about health.

It became about honoring the body God gave me.

That changed how I started making food decisions.

Before eating, I began asking myself:

Am I truly hungry?

Or am I emotionally empty?

Am I feeding my body?

Or am I feeding my emotions?

Then I started doing something different.

I began praying before making food decisions.

“Lord, what do I really need right now?”

That simple pause changed so much.

Sometimes I realized I needed food.

Sometimes I realized I needed water.

Sometimes I realized I needed rest.

Sometimes I realized what I truly needed was peace, comfort, and time with God.

I am still learning.

This is not about perfection.

This is not about guilt.

This is about learning to pause and invite God into even the smallest decisions.

Because sometimes what we are craving is not food at all.

Sometimes we are craving peace.

One prayer.

One choice.

One faithful step at a time.

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” — 1 Corinthians 10:31