The article quoted one of the lead researchers, Ashley N. Gearhardt of Yale University, as saying,"What I see as a bigger concern is really our food environment. If you think of these cues as starting to trigger the problem, the worst environment you could possibly be in is the one we have," said Gearhardt. "All the billboards, all the vending machines. If you changed each of these into an alcohol cue and you were trying to recover from alcoholism, it would be impossible."Scary stuff for those of us who struggle with weight. Losing weight is not impossible; people do it all the time. But those who do want to lose weight have to take into account two important factors. First, many of us (most of us?) are struggling with an addiction. Second, society is our enemy in our struggle. It is filled with advertising that is aimed at defeating us, and we face daily sometimes hourly opportunities to fall off the wagon—often at the hands of well-meaning friends with their "aw, one piece can't hurt" invitation to failure. Churches, truth be told, play their part, too in promoting food addiction. Most church social events include a tempting array of cakes, cookies, and other things just not good for the food addict to be around.
It is good (and important) to know, however, that each pound we do lose, each day we do stick at it, is a victory. The trick is to win today and pray for tomorrow. Perhaps someone reading this posting will support a friend or a loved one struggling with food addiction by not putting and even pushing them into harm's way with tempting treats and invitations to eat what they should not eat. Amen.
