My Journey to Food Freedom

I never expected my love for food to turn into an obsession.

As a kid, I was all about food. I couldn’t get enough of my play kitchens, and when I finally got my hands on an Easy-Bake Oven, it was game over. I was constantly baking, experimenting, and helping my mom make my favorite meal: lasagna.

But my perspective on food changed in middle school when my younger sister’s stomach pain became unbearable. She had been complaining for years, but we always brushed it off. When she was finally tested for allergies, the results were shocking: 35 different food sensitivities.

Dairy, wheat, eggs, potatoes, pork, beans … gone. My mom was overwhelmed, breaking down in the grocery store, unsure how to feed her. That’s when something awakened in me. I wanted to help. I wanted to understand nutrition, to create meals my sister could eat, and to figure out why food was hurting her so much.

That passion led me to study health and nutrition. I took electives, devoured information, and pursued a degree in Exercise Science with an emphasis in Health Education. But somewhere along the way, my desire to be healthy became a fear of being unhealthy.

When Health Becomes an Obsession

The turning point came after my freshman year of college. I had just started working out regularly when I stumbled into the rabbit hole of Netflix health documentaries. Forks Over Knives and Vegucated convinced me that veganism was the way to eat, so I took on the challenge.

At first, I felt amazing. My hair grew faster, I had energy, and I never felt sluggish after meals. But I was also spending hours prepping food, working out six days a week, and isolating myself from friends. I thought I was being disciplined. My friends saw something else.

They confronted me. They saw me shrinking, physically and emotionally. When they suggested I might have an eating disorder, I thought they were crazy. But then they challenged me to make small changes. Skip one workout. Eat something I hadn’t in months, maybe even a Chick-fil-A sandwich.

I agreed.

That night, I skipped my workout, sat on the couch with my friends, and watched a show. And as the credits rolled, I felt crushing guilt. I quietly slipped away, curled up in bed... and cried.

I was crying because I skipped a workout.

That’s when I realized: I wasn’t in control anymore. Food and fitness controlled me.

Finding Balance Again

Reintroducing “normal” foods was harder than I ever imagined. First, I fought guilt. Then, I struggled with over-indulgence. I’d find myself eating my roommates’ leftover fries straight from the trash. I wanted balance, but I kept swinging between extremes.

And then, my body betrayed me.

The foods I once thrived on — avocados, sweet potatoes, fresh fruits — started making me sick. I was exhausted, cramping, bloated, and embarrassed to even go out in public. The only foods that didn’t make me miserable? Meat, white bread, and sugar.

I hated it. I had worked so hard to eat “right,” and now my body rejected everything I believed was healthy. It took two years of struggle before I finally found healing — two years of gut issues, food confusion, and battling extremes before I finally reached a place of balance.

The real breakthrough came when I surrendered control.

I realized no one diet could guarantee health. No amount of discipline could prevent disease. No level of “clean eating” could replace the self-control and peace that comes from Christ.

1 Timothy 4:8 says, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

God wants us to take care of our bodies, but not at the expense of our souls.

Food Freedom Through Christ

Today, I eat a whole-foods-based diet and feel better than ever. Not because I’m obsessing over it, but because I’ve finally found balance. I love food. I love health. But they no longer consume me.

If you’re struggling with food obsession, guilt, gluttony, or food anxiety, I want you to know there is freedom. Christ offers a peace that no diet ever will. He is the only one who gives true self-control.