It may seem strange, but in the early fourteenth century lists of sins, gluttony was on top of the list. Obsessive dieting may just as well be noted as gluttony as overeating. Gluttony is an obsession for food, drinking or consuming in general. Food seems to have lost normal proportions.
Eating is an issue for us humans….
Eating not only has a function to keep us alive, it also has a soothing effect. If we don’t feel happy, there is the jar of chocolate chip ice cream because we ‘deserve’ it. It’s sweet and sweet means comfort, if only for a short period of time. In fact we are fooling ourselves. Eating sweet things isn’t the solution for the emotion we’re having.
Betty just loves all the goodies life has to offer. I’ve tried to tell her so many times that it’s not the way things work. And yet, she keeps having cravings for sweets when emotions are high.
As I walk in the store and I enter the lane where the sweets are I know I’m going to have ’that’ talk with her. She starts making noises.. hmmm jum jum, cookies oh and look chocolates! An inner duel starts. Once the goodies are inside the house, there’s no turning back. The game starts. Just one cookie.. for the cosy atmosphere with our cup of coffee. Oh.. well.. just one more, for the taste… And before I know it, all the cookies are gone. Than the next game starts.. the sighing.. and guilt trip. Oh we ate all the cookies.. what have we done? Thank you Betty, for the next negative emotion.. and we start the whole circle again..
The idea that cooking diner is a lot of work is also an issue. Like all ideas about food. Giving in to not preparing a healthy meal is so much easier than making the effort. If you keep this way of thinking going for a while, you will see the result in the mirror. The extra pounds are a harsh fact. The ironic thing is, that the same creature that got us eating all those sweets is blaming us for not fitting in to our favourite jeans any more! The tantrum she throws would almost start you running to the store to buy some chocolate!
Once this need for comfort by eating was developed. The reason must be that we had the idea that we weren’t nice enough, wouldn’t fit in the world. If you start carrying those extra pounds because of this idea, the world isn’t going to like you more either. Your self esteem is lower than ever. And that makes the circle round. Gluttony is the way to self destructiveness. It might be smart to start liking yourself first, including the love for muffins and eat them with love for yourself, not because you are sad or depressed.
I showed Betty the difference between being hungry and having cravings. Hungry means that your stomach is making sounds, that you might consider looking for distraction and postponing eating, and you have a feeling of satisfaction after eating. .
Craving means that you want to eat a specific food, there is no other option than eating, no satisfaction after eating and your stomach was silent before you thought about eating and you are in the kitchen looking for food..
Besides this information, I showed her that by working out your body makes hormones that make you happy. This would be an excellent alternative for eating. After sharing this with Betty, all I heard was a soft sigh… We’ll need to discuss this some more, I’m sure.. 
