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Gluttony

orthodox4ever
edited December 1969 in Personal Issues
How does one vanquish this vice?I constantly keep overeating.This is the major vice in my life ,and has been going on for too long.However, I don't struggle with abstinence,but every time I break the  abstinence period I overeat.Are there any books that are precise ,and helpful in advancing in fasting?and vanquishing the desire for good.

Thank You
Pray for me.

Comments

  • geomike
    Same problem here. I could not eat the whole day and be fine, but if I start eating i can't stop
  • yousiegtennisyousiegtennis
    This topic was discussed before...check it out:

    http://tasbeha.org/content/community/index.php/topic,9037.msg112922/topicseen.html#msg112922
  • MarchMadness
    Yeah, there's over-eating during the fast, and of course, the GREAT over-eating that occurs on Easter at 2am when church is over.  Gluttony is definitely sinful, given that it is abuse of the body.

    I saw a great documentary recently about our relationship to food as a species.  We are actually genetically designed to over-eat.  If you look at human history, as if it were a single day, we have only had food in abundance in the last 10 minutes.  Humans were mainly hunters and gatherers for the majority of our existence, and the desire to overeat, made us fit to survive, because we were able to eat as much as we could given the little that we had.

    Now, because of agriculture and the modern day food epidemic (which only exists for us lucky ones, while billions go hungry), our bodies aren't really designed for an abundance of food.  So when we fast, we over-eat.  It doesn't have to be so.

    Also maybe you over-eat because you have something else going on in your life that makes you feel empty and sad.

    Why not eat small and consistently throughout the day.  Only give yourself a portion that you decide before hand, and finish it. 

    Few tips:

    - Eating nuts, high in fat, will fill you up quicker
    - Drinking water, will also fill you up. 

    When you feel the desire to over-eat, grab a handful of nuts, and drink a bottle of water, see how you feel after that. Commit to it, and see if its doable.  Fasting is about getting us closer to God, it's not an endurance test of how hungry we can feel. 
  • peterfarringtonpeterfarrington
    This is not really appropriate during the fast..

    Why not eat small and consistently throughout the day.

    Pope Shenouda says that the fast IS about feeling hungry, and that if we do not feel hungry then we are not fasting.

    Father Peter
  • MarchMadness
    Well the feeling of hunger, I agree does make us feel more in solidarity with the poor and the hungry and reminds us of our own need for God.  But what advice do we give to someone who ends up over-eating as a result of that hunger?  Maybe they're over-doing it? How do we help this young man?
  • peterfarringtonpeterfarrington
    Sorry, what you are saying is, if someone finds the spirituality of fasting difficult then they should not fast.

    The answer to sin is not giving in to it. A person's spiritual father can provide guidance.

    Someone who overeats after fasting needs to control that, and the instruction of the spiritual father will provide the necessary guidance. There is no over-doing it when a person is following the teaching of the Church and the instructions of their FOC.

    The feeling of hunger is not really about solidarity, although there is that aspect, it is something which has spiritual value in itself, as Pope Shenouda explains.
  • orthodox4ever
    Thank you for the  response.I did not see the severity of the sin ,nor the fact that I have been pretty much a glutton all my life.

    Please Pray for me.
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