Why are you eating?

In the course of the last 18 months, this question, why are you eating? has come up a lot. It has been answered in a variety of different ways. I need it for energy, I want to feel relaxed, I want to be comforted.... and so on.

Today while doing my scripture study I came across an article written by James E. Talmage in the Improvement Era Volume 17, Number 2. It is called Pleasure vs Happiness. This is the quote that hit me.

Happiness is true food, wholesome, nutritious, and sweet; it builds up the body and generates energy for action, physical, mental and spiritual; pleasure is but deceiving stimulant which like spirituous drink, makes one think he is strong when in reality enfeebled; makes him fancy he is well when in fact stricken with deadly malady.
Happiness leaves no bad after-taste, it is followed by no depressing reaction; it call for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no remorse; pleasure too often makes necessary repentance, contrition, and suffering; and if indulged to the extreme, it brings degradation and destruction.
True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a barbed sting, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present source of anguish.
Happiness is not akin with levity, nor is it one with light-minded mirth. It springs from the deeper fountains of the soul, and is not infrequently accompanied by tears.
HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY THAT YOU HAVE HAD TO WEEP?
I have

This has made me think of a new questions to ask.
Are you eating for Happiness or pleasure?
Is eating this going to leave an after-taste?
What will be my long term reaction be in eating this? Will it be a renewal of the original good? Or leave a barbed sting, like a thorn in the flesh?
Will eating this build up my body and generate energy? Or will it bring contrition, suffering, degradation, and destruction?
Will I regret eating this? Will it bring me remorse?
I am eating Happiness or am I "succumbing the promise of a momentary pleasure?"

I have to say so far in my life I have never regretted eating a pepper, a salad, or a carrot. Eating the right things, lives over and over in my memory with a renewal of the original good.

With my journey so far, I have wept at least twice because I have been so happy. They are:
Finishing my 1/2 Marathon
Being under 200 pounds

I anticipate tears within the next couple of weeks when I hit my 100 pound weight loss.
These moments truly are happiness. I especially love this definition he gave "True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good." That is exactly what these moments have brought me.

Also in my studies this morning, I read Pres. Monson's talk in Preisthood session entitled "The Three R's of Choice." Just a reminder that anything highlighted in my blogs means you can click on it and it will give you more information on that phrase or word just FYI. In it he talks about the right of choice, the responsibility of choice, and the results of choice.

"When faced with significant choices, how do we decide? Do we succumb to the promise of momentary pleasure? To our urges and passions? To the pressure of our peers?"

He then continues to talk about Alice in Wonderland and how she comes to a crossroads and the Cheshire cat appears and she asks "Which path shall I follow?" The cat answers,

"That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn't matter which path you take."

President Monson they says.

"Unlike Alice we all know where we want to go, and it does matter which way we go, for by choosing our path, we choose our destination."

While I realize this applies to all situations in our life, I of course apply it to my food addiction.

Everything I eat is a significant choice, so when eating do I succumb to pleasure or eat for happiness? Do I eat my urges and passions or eat for happiness? Do I eat what I am pressured to eat or eat for happiness?

I do know what path I want. I want the path of Happiness, which includes healthy and permeant weight loss, and if I can only remember, that every time I eat I am choosing a path. I am making a decision.

Another Quote from President Monson

"Such a goal is not achieved in one glorious attempt but rather is the result of a lifetime of righteousness, an accumulation of wise choices and even a constancy of purpose."

Also one from Richard G Scott

"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day."

Am I perfect? No, but I can try to be, and it doesn't matter how slow the process is toward my goal as long as I am slowly progressing toward my goal.