Food for Thought for Over Eaters Anonymous

[MajestyJo]

The format has changed, but if you use the following link, you will get the daily reading.

http://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/rec...od-for-thought

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought

December 8

Decisions About Food

We compulsive overeaters often find it extremely difficult to make decisions about food. We wonder if we are getting enough or too much, if we are eating the right kind of food, if we will be hungry tomorrow. The process of planning our three meals a day can be agonizing if we cannot decide which foods to choose.

Here is where a food sponsor can give us the assistance and support we need. Since someone who has traveled the road before us will be informed of our menus, we can relax and know that our decisions will be checked by an objective listener. As long as the choices we make fall under the food plan, which we have determined to follow, they will be good decisions.

Having written down our food plan for the day and having given it to our sponsor, we do not need to make any further decisions about food today. Recognizing that our obsessive worry about food is an illness, we will turn off further deliberations and work our program

Today I will make only those decisions about food that are necessary to my program.

Could really relate to this, especially about the part of running out.

http://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/rec...od-for-thought

I boiled eggs to make egg salad sandwiches for today. I was really hungry. I got on the sites and forgot about them. Spiritual things overcome Earthly things. Mind you, when I just made my sandwich, I inhaled the first half.

[MajestyJo]

Someone said, "Do they have a cheesecake anonymous?"

Sounds like a good idea. Lately I have been craving sweets, which is not a good sign. I know it is a time to get back to basics, my stinking thinking is saying, "More!" I know that is a danger sign, not only as an Alcoholic, but a recovering alcoholic, who is diabetic and has and eating disorder that she has to apply the 12 Steps to.

I am so grateful for AA for developing the program. The 12 Steps are a way of life and they have saved my life, many times over. They are applicable to all areas of my life and when I practice them, I never had it so good.

[MajestyJo]

Food For Thought
December 15

We Are Sick


Until we realize fully that we are sick, we do not begin to recover. As long as we feel that all we need is a good diet and some willpower, we do not understand the nature of our disease. We would have been able to stop eating compulsively long ago if the answer had been willpower and diet.

When we examine the history of our obesity in the light of the OA program, we see that we are in the grip of an incurable illness, which gets progressively worse, never better. Once we accept the fact that there is no cure for our disease, we can begin to develop control. Until we recognize the seriousness of our illness, we do not succeed in controlling it.

By acknowledging that our very life depends on maintaining abstinence and practicing the OA principles, we come to terms with the reality of our situation. We can live satisfying, full, rewarding lives if we do not forget that we are sick and that our recovery will never be complete.

Each day, may I not forget that I am sick.

We are only as sick as our secrets. We are only fooling ourselves.

[MajestyJo]

Food For Thought
From Hazelden
DEC 20

A No Fault Illness

Formerly, we may have blamed our parents, a disappointment in love, economic insecurity, or a million other factors for our addiction to compulsive overeating. We probably spent much time and energy trying to figure out why we overate.

When we get honest with ourselves, we assume the responsibility for our own actions, instead of trying to shift it somewhere else. Many of us come to believe that we would be compulsive overeaters no matter what the circumstances of our lives. As we recover, we see that the why of our illness is unanswerable and unimportant. What counts is how we control it.

We do not continue to berate ourselves for having this illness, or consider ourselves physically, morally, or spiritually inferior for having contracted it. Blaming ourselves is as useless as blaming someone else. We accept the fact that through no one's fault we have the disease of compulsive overeating. Then we get on with the business of learning to control this illness with the help of our Higher Power and the OA program.

I blame no one for my illness.

This is a good one. I use to blame everyone for everything that went wrong in my world. As they say, "I am responsible for my own happiness. Happiness comes from within." Using food and other people, keeps me in active addiction.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
December 28

Minimizing Temptation

There are things we can do to minimize the temptations that are around us. We are constantly exposed to food advertisements if we watch television and read magazines. Most of us need to spend a certain amount of time purchasing and preparing food. Social gatherings usually involve refreshments. All of this exposure to food can be uncomfortable for compulsive overeaters if we do not find ways to minimize it.

It is a good idea to skip the recipe sections in the magazines we read. Unnecessary thinking about food only intensifies our obsession. Moving away from the television set during a food commercial is a way to minimize that kind of temptation. Grocery shopping is expedited by not considering any items other than those on a prepared list and by spending as little time as possible in the grocery store. Meal preparation can be simplified so that less rather than more time is spent in the kitchen. At parties, we can concentrate on people and conversation instead of food.

The best way to handle temptation is by remembering that we are compulsive overeaters and that nothing is worth activating our disease.

Guide us as we avoid temptation.

Reminds me of the hymn I sang growing up.

http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/ni...ad_me_not.html

Country Version

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/w...-not-9645.html

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought, Jan. 18

Abstain or Overeat


For the compulsive overeater, there is always one primary choice to be made. Will I abstain or will I overeat? For us, there is nothing in between. If we have hundreds of pounds to lose or if we have reached and are maintaining our goal weight, the choice is still the same. It is the key decision we make many, many times each day.

We are free at each moment to choose which we will do. There is no magic, which will make us, abstains, and there is no force, which can compel us to swallow food we do not need. The choice is ours alone.

No one graduates from OA. There is no point at which one can say, "This is it. I've got it made now." We are always aware of the fact that we are compulsive overeaters and are always one bite away from a binge. When we remember that abstaining or overeating is our primary choice, then other decisions become easier. To abstain is to choose life. To overeat is to choose death.

May I maintain constant awareness of my primary choice.

A new way of saying, "The Devil mad me do it!" Yeah right! We have freedom of choice and chose the I instead of the We, meaning God and Me will get through this.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
Service


We compulsive overeaters have often spent our lifetimes being most concerned with getting, taking in, and consuming. Nourishing ourselves is necessary, but it is also necessary that we give. To stay alive, one must breathe out as well as in.

As we recover, we become stronger each day and better able to serve others. When we stop eating compulsively, we are amazed at the amount of time and energy we have available for useful activities. For one thing, we feel much better physically, since we are eating the amount and type of food, which our bodies need for optimum functioning. For another, we become stronger emotionally and spiritually as we work the Twelve Steps.

Each day, we can be open to opportunities to serve our OA groups, families, and friends. As we give out more and take in less, we gain new satisfaction and self-respect.

Show me where I may serve, Lord.

Have been involved in service outside of my group since I was 2 years sober. I don't think I would still be clean and sober in today, if it wasn't for service. I went into jails, detox, and the community to help others. They say, if you don't give it away, you can't keep it. You have to have it in order to give it away. How can I help others, if I can't help myself. We share our experience, strength, and hope, with the hope that what we went through, will help someone else. If it doesn't that is okay, it helped me and kept me clean and sober. We get out of Self to help others. We don't do service to say, "Hey! Look at me."

[MajestyJo]

Working the Steps

The OA program operates on three levels. Abstaining from compulsive overeating takes care of the physical aspect of our disease. For our emotional and spiritual health, we need to work the Twelve Steps.

In each of us, there is a need and desire to grow spiritually. At first, we may not acknowledge this need, but as our physical illness improves and our emotions begin to stabilize, we become aware of inner urgings and promptings that can come only from our Higher Power. If we set aside time each day to listen to this inner voice, we facilitate our spiritual growth.

Working the Steps requires that we be as honest as possible with ourselves at each stage of our development. A program sponsor who has walked the way before us is an invaluable aid. Above all, we must desire to grow. We have spent much of our lives overgrowing physically. Now is the time to catch up emotionally and spiritually. If we make a sincere beginning, our Higher Power will lead us through each Step as we become ready to take it.

Lead me, Lord, and bless my work.

I have to apply the program to all areas of my life, not just the physical. I needed to heal emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

[MajestyJo]

Enough Is a Feast


The frantic search for more and more has characterized many of our lives. We believed that if only we had more money, more clothes, more sex, more food, and more things - we would be happy and satisfied.

The more we consume, the more miserable we become. No amount of material things will satisfy our emotional and spiritual hunger. We learn to know our Higher Power, and we learn that He satisfies our need, not our greed. He feeds our hearts and our spirits with the abundance of His love, and when we are strengthened spiritually, physical control is possible.

Our measured food plan fills our bodily needs. The measured amount is enough. We accept it and become comfortable with it. More than that, we learn the truth of the ancient Zen saying that "Enough is a feast."

May I be content with enough instead of grasping for more.

This is why I can my drug of choice is more. It doesn't matter what the substance is, be it chocolate, potatoes and gravy, alcohol, prescription pills, busy/workaholic, etc. There is just no concept of just one. As my son said to me one time, "Who ever saves a case of beer until the next day. I you have it, you drink it."

It is a thinking dis-ease, and I have to take it to the God of my understanding. I have to eat, I need to choose healthy, and I need to deal with the feelings that tell me I need more.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
January 30

Eat Less, Enjoy More


Before we joined OA, we were eating more and enjoying it less. The more we ate, the more fat we had to lug around, and the harder it was to do anything, much less enjoy doing it. Feeling stuffed and guilty, we often did not even enjoy what it was that we were eating.

When our bodies are not overloaded with too much food and fat, we have energy for new activities. Our minds are sharper when they are not drugged with refined carbohydrates. Our emotions are more serene and positive when we are not full of despair and self-hatred.

Freed from the terrible compulsion to eat more and more, we have time and energy to spend learning a new sport, reading a story to a child, writing a poem. Whatever we choose to do, we enjoy it more when we are not overeating.

When we abstain, we feel good about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves, we feel good about life.

May I understand that for me, less food means more enjoyment.

It is so good to have a thought and follow it up with an affirmation from the daily reading.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
February 2

Giving Thanks

I am a grateful compulsive overeater, abstaining just for today. I am thankful for my life, for the chance to grow and solve problems and love and enjoy what is beautiful. I give thanks for the insights, which have come out of struggle and despair.

I am thankful for OA. Without it, I would still be isolated in a hopeless attempt to control overeating my way, by myself. I give thanks for the serenity and joy which increase daily as I follow the OA program. I give thanks for the love and support, which come to me from fellow members.

Especially, I am thankful for abstinence. By choosing and accepting this gift, I enter a new world of freedom. No longer am I driven by compulsion. I give thanks for the work and play and love which abstinence makes possible.

Accept my thanks.

In order to have a spiritual awakening, I had to find some gratitude and change my attitude. Focus on the positive, instead of the negative. Look at what I had, instead of what I didn't have. My God meets my needs, a lot of what is sent I disregard because it isn't what I want in the moment. When I get needy, I get greedy. That means I have blocked my God and all His/Her goodness from me and I am back in the me, the great I am.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
February 13

Being Honest

During our compulsive overeating careers, many of us have been dishonest with others about what we were eating. Some of us have been closet eaters and some of us have stolen food. Most of us have eaten more when we were alone than when we were with other people.

We have almost surely been dishonest with ourselves, too. How many times have we promised ourselves to stick to a diet, only to find ourselves cheating a short time later? We tell ourselves that one small bite won't make any difference, when deep down we know that we intend to eat many more bites than one.

When we take inventory, and as our insights are sharpened, we may discover other areas besides eating where we have not been honest with ourselves.

The OA program gives us a chance to practice rigorous honesty, especially with ourselves. The light from our Higher Power will gradually clear away our confusion and darkness.

May I not be afraid to know the truth.

Use to call it a little white lie and say that lying by omission wasn't really a fib, because I didn't say anything. I think it is called self-justification and a long cry from being truly honest.

[MajestyJo]

From the book: Food for Thought

March 1, 2016

Changing

As we lose weight, we adjust to a new self. Part of the body we had is disappearing, and this can be frightening. As our physical appearance changes, others may react to us differently. Along with the physical changes come new attitudes and expectations. Though for years we may have wished to be rid of the fat, when it actually begins to go we may fear the change.

What is new and unknown is often frightening. We may have used food and fat to retreat from uncomfortable situations. We may have spent so much time eating that there was little left for anything else. We may have expected all our troubles to vanish with the excess pounds. Now we can no longer hide behind fat or kill time with food, and our troubles may very well still be with us. What do we do?

It takes courage to change, to become a new person. We may decide at age forty to learn to play tennis. That takes lots of courage. New activities, new attitudes, changes in relationships with others--all require courage.

Change is frightening, but it is also an adventure. We are not alone. We have OA. Others have gone through the same changes and can reassure us, one step at a time.

May I not be afraid to change.

[Majesty12]

Most importantly, I think it will be a great idea to talk to a doctor about his/her recommended exercise plan. I've also had problems with binge eating. Deciding to trust my doctor to set some guidelines and then following those guidelines accordingly has taken some of the ambiguity and confusion out of it for me. There are many eating disorder education and prevention methods( http://www.canadadrugrehab.ca/Eating...Treatment.html ) and many eating disorder screening tests( http://www.healthyplace.com/eating-d...ting-disorder/ ). This might be able to help you figure out strategies and techniques to help you limit the cause.