 DEAR FOOD:
Dear Food:
I want to thank you for the comfort you brought me many times in my life. I believe more than once that you saved my sanity. When I was scared, alone, a young teen and no family, I turned to you and when nobody would listen I shared my pain and loss with you.
I want to thank you for the good times I shared with others while eating a delicious meal. I have good memories sharing a good meal with people very dear to me.
So far, so good. But it hasn't been all good, the relationship between you and I. My devotion to you, my obsession with you, has reaked havoc in every area of my life. You became a crutch for me to hide myself, to protect myself, to comfort myself physically while ignoring myself mentally and spiritually. The effects you had on my body at first didn't compare to the comfort you brought me. But that caught up with me and my body paid too high of a price. My spirit suffered, my body suffered, my mind suffered, my social life suffered, my ability to work suffered, my ability to be an active mother suffered, my relationships suffered.
For all of those reasons I worked on my "self" for a very long time to prepare to say goodbye to the role that you play in my life. It took two years for me to learn to find comfort elsewhere, to reclaim my life, to reclaim my own power over my future and my body and my health. I've taken the plunge and purged your importance in my life. You are no longer needed for me to find solace in hard times. You are no longer going to be the person I run to for comfort, I am no longer too weak emotionally to turn to myself, to find other ways to feel better.
Already I see the differences physically since beginning my path to redefine our relationship. I feel better than I have in years. I am no longer afraid to look in the mirror. I can also feel huge changes emotionally. I am so much stronger and no longer need you the way I once did.
So food, this is goodbye. I won't call you my friend because many times you weren't. I won't call you my enemy because many times you saved me from a downward emotional spiral. But I will say that with this redefined role in my life I am ready to accept you into my life as a tool to stay healthy and strong. We won't see each other as much anymore, and heck when you hit my plate alot of you will be thrown into the trash. I am learning that there are valuable things you can offer me and I'm choosing only those valuable things.
From here on out you are merely a means of existance, a fuel for my body which is nurturing my inner self. Dont be sad to say goodbye, I am not. I think we'll get along much better this way.
Signed,
A very happy weight loss patient
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