Freedom, Not Fixes: Why Diets Aren't the Answer to Food Addiction

By Audrey

If you’ve ever found yourself caught in the cycle of starting a new diet on Monday, only to abandon it by Friday, you are not alone. I spent years believing that if I could just find the right food plan, I’d finally have peace with my body and freedom from my cravings. But what I discovered was this: diets may change your behavior temporarily, but they rarely heal your heart.

As a certified health coach and someone who’s walked the painful journey of food addiction myself, I’ve learned that no diet, no matter how trendy or well marketed, can fix what’s broken in our souls. Food addiction runs deeper than what’s on our plate. It’s about what’s going on in our minds, our emotions, and our spirits. And that’s where Jesus meets us. Not with a new set of rules, but with radical, grace filled freedom. In fact, some of us have unknowingly swapped one idol for another. We’ve gone from bingeing on food to bingeing on rules. We’ve made dieting our new identity. We get addicted to the sense of control, the “clean slate,” and the promise that this plan will finally be the one that works. But if we’re honest, it rarely lasts. And the shame returns.

The truth? There is no one-size-fits-all solution. God made our bodies unique. What works for one person may not work for another, and that’s okay. The goal is not perfection, it’s progress. The goal is to nourish, not punish. The goal is to live in alignment with the truth that we are already loved and already enough in Christ.

So what does real freedom look like?

1- It looks like eating in peace, not fear.

2- It looks like listening to your body and honoring its needs.

3- It looks like choosing foods that give life, not out of guilt, but out of love.

4- It looks like surrendering your cravings, your control, and your identity to the One who created you.

Diets don’t heal us. But Jesus does. If you're tired of chasing the next plan, I want to invite you into something better, a lifestyle of grace, intentionality, and true satisfaction. It’s not about starting over. It’s about stepping into the freedom that’s already yours in Christ. Let’s walk this road together, Slowly, Prayerfully, and Freely.

Audrey

P.S. I dive deeper into this topic in my book that will be coming out this summer, where I share my personal journey of healing from food addiction and finding freedom in Jesus. I’d love for you to check it out and join me on the journey!

gluten-free and sugar free carrot cake

This is such a simple recipe. I got this recipe off the website All Day I Dream About Food. The only things I changed was that I used powdered sweetener instead of granular. I feel like it is so much more smoother. I also only used 2 9inch round cake pans per cake batter instead of 3 8inch. The cakes were easier to handle because they were a bit thicker. That being said i did to batches of the recipe so I could have a 4 layer cake. I also froze the cakes after cooling before icing because it made icing them so much easier. Pleas check out her recipes. She has great ones. Let me know how it works for you. I appreciate the reviews

carrot cheesecake

We really like cheesecake around here. It can be made gluten-free and sugar free so easily. You can add almost any flavor to it to make it your own. I got to thinking about fall and flavors that are common in desserts. So I started some research and found a few recipes that were almost the way I wanted them but not quite. That is when the fun begins and you try this and you try that. Then there comes a point where you say AHA this is it!! This recipe is the one that is the one. We are done talking and moving on to the recipe cause if you are like me, you just want to recipe not all the talk before.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/3 cup powdered sweetner

2/3 cup salted melted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1/3 cup whey protein isolate

2 cups almond flour

pinch of cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup shaved carrots

1 cup walnuts

Instructions:

1. you will want to preheat your oven to 275 degree F. Use a 8 inch springform pan lined with parchment paper and greased.

2. In a bowl cream your butter and sugar. Then add the eggs one at a time mixing well in between adding them. Add your vanilla and mix gently.

3. sift in your flour, whey protein, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda. Mix until slightly wet. Now pour in your buttermilk and mix until it looks like a thick cake batter.

4. pour half the batter in the pan and spread it to cover the whole pan. now onto preparing the cheesecake

cheesecake ingredients:

16 ozs of softened cream cheese

3 eggs

1/2 cup powdered sweetener

splash of vanilla

Instructions for cheesecake:

1. Put all the cheesecake ingredients in a bowl and blend until smooth and creamy.

2. Pour half of the cheesecake mixture into the pan on top of the carrot cake batter.

3. Spread it evenly over the batter. Then pour the rest of the carrot cake batter over the cheesecake. Spread it evenly. Now pour the rest of the cheesecake over the rest of the carrot cake batter and spread evenly.

4. put a pan of water in the bottom of your oven so the cake doesn’t split while baking.

5. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it is set in the center of the pan. when this had been accomplished, turn off the oven and let it set in the oven for 45 more minutes leaving the oven door cracked open a bit.

6. refrigerate over night before serving. sprinkle some chopped nuts and grated carrots to decorate it with a little color. enjoy!!

I am not putting the nutrition values here because I have learned that everyones with have it differently depending on the ingredient brand and whether you weigh your ingredients or measure it. Always check those with your list of things. Thanks for trying this recipe. I would appreciate your review on it.

Diets and what do they all have in common

I know what you are thinking. How can a vegan diet and a carnivore diet have anything in common? They all are diets. There are some foods that either are eliminated for a time , or brought down to a minimal. Usually when someone goes on a diet they are wanting to lose a certain amount of weight quickly for an event of some sort. They are willing to give up something to achieve their goal quickly. Then what happens? They succeed and then enjoy all the foods they forbid themselves to not have. Well, we all know what happens after that. The weight comes back and usually extra. Yes the goal was accomplished but did it improve our health? The answer to that is no, it does not improve your health. It is essentially called yoyo dieting. Then when you get to be my age at 56 the consequences for sure begin to come back to haunt you. It really did a number on my health. Not only did I end up doing that often, along with my other issues, I am still trying to regain my health these last 5 years.

The lasting effects yoyo dieting can have on your life are as follows: obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid problems, insulin resistants, low self esteem, metabolic syndrome. There are more, but those are just a few, through researching, I have found.

Where do we go from here when we have gotten to this point? First thing that I had to realize is that I didn’t get this way over night. I am for sure not going to regain my health that way either. 2nd thing is, that you don’t look at the weight as much as you do your health. One of the first things you can do, is start eating fresh foods, and stop eating things that aren’t real food. Wait!!! I know what you are thinking, I had just told you earlier not to go on a diet that eliminates foods from your eating. We are not eliminating, we are just making it differently so it is healthy for your body. There are no foods completely eliminated from my diet that I don’t get to eat. It is a little bit more involved. This is how I look at it though, I can willingly take care of my health, or I will be forced to take care of my illness. I have to say, that is where I am today. I didn’t take care of my health, I am being forced to take care of my illness. It is taking much more time for me, because I am already dealing with high blood pressure and diabetes. It is one step at a time regaining my health. One day I will have it back and the weight will have come off as well for good, because I worked on my health and not just went on a diet.

I am not a medical doctor. Talk with yours before changing your way of life to make sure they can guide you to a new way of life regaining your health.

Bloating!! WHY?

It all started a couple of months ago. I was eating no different than I had. My stomach was bloated and so hard I couldn’t even suck it in. I was retaining fluid and gaining weight. WHAT??? How does that happen. I began to really look at my diet, exercise (ha what exercise), stress level, and brands of foods I was consuming. You know that moment you want to just sit in bed and cry!! I don’t understand why this is happening to me. Yes I pouted, and yes I cried, and yes I even tried to blame my husband!! You can’t blame a girl for trying, hahahahaha. Was I drinking enough water. I mean all the things that I heard and have learned wasn’t lining up. When you eat well you should lose weight, right?

Then it happened……….I had started using a different alternative sugar a couple of months ago. Surely this would not do that to me. My stomach is pretty sensitive. I was using it in my coffee every morning, cooking with it, baking with it. I decided to eliminate it for a few days and see if it worked. Sad thoughts and happy thoughts came to mind after a few days. That was it!! I lost 3 inches in my stomach in less than a week. 8 pounds came right off, and the water retention was gone.

What this has taught me for sure is that just because something is good doesn’t mean it is good for everybody. This is not a bad sugar substitute. The taste and texture of this sugar is great. That is why I began to use it. I will now only use this sweetener on occasion and mixed with other sweeteners so it is not overwhelming to the dessert. I am not bashing this sweetener at all. I would still recommend it to people but with the preface that it can cause these problems. It may not do this for everyone but, it did for me. If you want the name of this sweetener please email me and I will be happy to tell you.

We all have to figure out what works for us and our bodies. I am continuing to be reminded that we are all created differently. My hope is that what I have learned and am sharing will be helpful to my readers and viewers.

what we didn't know about cinnamon

There are different types of cinnamon. There are 4 types : Cassia, Korintje, Saigon, and Ceylon.

Cassia is a Chinese cinnamon. This tree grows in abundance in China. The flavor of it is a sharp intense flavor, has a reddish-brown hue. The sticks are hard and woody.

Korintje is Indonesian cinnamon. Family of Cassia, but native to Southeast Asia. Because, it is even cheaper than the Cassia from China, it is mostly seen and purchased in the grocery stores in America. The disadvantage for it though is the high content of coumarin, a potentially harmful compound (for some people) in cinnamon.

Saigon is Vietnamese cinnamon also a member of the Cassia family. It is likely not found in the spice section because it is more expensive and harder to come by. It is much more flavorful with even less of sweetness to it.

Then we have saved the best for last, Ceylon cinnamon. This is considered the True cinnamon. It is taken from the crumbly inner bark of the Ceylon tree. It is light brown and the flavor is delicate and sweet. It is harder to find and much more expensive than the Cassia cinnamons. This plant is harder to produce thus making it more expensive.

The varieties share a sweet and spicy flavor, but their health benefits differ quite a bit.

The 2 main benefits of the Cassia cinnamon are blood sugar regulation and using it as a mosquito repellent. Other than that, there are not many good reasons for using this cinnamon, except that it is the cheaper version. These cinnamons remember do have coumarin in them and at high quantities it can be harmful to the body causing liver damage. Who knew?!!

Ceylon has great benefits as well and is used for medicinal purposes.

1. It offers Properties with powerful antioxidance.

2. Has anti-cancer benefits

3. is a natural preservative

4. been known to improve blood pressure

5. may reduce allergy symptoms

6. anti-inflammatory benefits

7. antibacterial properties

8. benefits your brain health

9. a natural antidepressant

10. helps prevent diabetes and metablolic syndrome

    ****There are many good benefits of Ceylon cinnamon but if you have heard “to much of a good thing can be harmful”*****

    to much cinnamon in some people can cause heartburn, indigestion, and mild sweating.

    DISCLAIMER:

    I am not a medical professional. I am simply sharing imformation that has been brought to my attention. Please do not take this as medical advise. You should always check with your doctor when changing up or starting something new to improve your health. I do my best to be as accurate as possible, doing your own research will make sure you decide what is best for your health.

Learning how to navigate

As I began my journey back to health, I knew social media would be a big part of it. I was clueless on how to even start. I began to watch videos, follow people that were doing similar to what I wanted to do. By the end of each day I was overloaded with ideas, suggestions, and information. For someone who is not even tech savy it was extremely frustrating. I continued to research, take notes, lots of notes.

On top of all those things I have learned, blogging was a plus that needed to be done. For those of you who already know me…..you know how I feel about writing. For those that don’t…..I hate to write. Yet here I am writing my first blog. OH MY!!!!!!

My goal is to share with others how to go from unhealthy food recipes to healthy alternatives. This will include gluten-free, low carb, and low-glycemic to help those with gluten problems and those with diabetes.

Please join me weekly to see what I have cooked up. Sharing with you foods that you can incorporate in your day as you look for the healthy alternatives and see success from them.