Withdrawal

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
Withdrawal

Eliminating all refined sugar and flour may seem difficult, if not impossible at the beginning. Making the decision to avoid these foods, which trigger the craving for more and more, is what opens the door to freedom - freedom from the craving and freedom from fat.

We do not become free immediately. Some of us experience withdrawal discomfort, which is sometimes physical, sometimes psychological, and sometimes both. It is important to remember that the discomfort will pass, the craving will pass, and that if we remain abstinent, we will eventually feel much better. So much better that our bodies and our lives will seem new.

In order to walk into the world of freedom, we must go through the door of abstinence. We need not fear the pains of withdrawal. Growth is often painful. Many have gone before us and report that the eventual freedom is well worth the temporary suffering. Our Higher Power will give us the strength to endure and will never push us farther than we can go. When we are tempted to give in, a prayer and a phone call can save us.

Lead us into freedom, we pray.

When I withdrew from alcohol, I craved sweets. When I quit cigarettes, I didn't use food and lost 3 lbs although most people gain weight when they quit smoking. I am finding it difficult to cut out sweets now that I am diabetic. I try to substitute with natural things like honey, maple syrup, alovera nectar, and fruits, all in small portions.

When I stopped drinking Coca-Cola, everybody ran the other way. I was addicted to Cola at 17 and just stopped 18 months ago. Now I can't have the sugar, I seem to crave it more yet I never had that much of a sweet tooth but then I had my Cola.

In my drinking days, if I didn't have alcohol I could get by if I had my cola. If I didn't have the cola, it was instant insanity.

Posted on another site in 2009

Many girls went back out to get thin because of being put on anti-depressants or because they used food to fill the loss of their drug of choice, instead of filling up with spiritual things.

H.A.L.T.
Hungry, angry, lonely, and tired is not just a physical thing.

To make things go away, we go back to our drug of choice instead of letting go and letting our Higher Power do for us what we can't do for our self. A healthy mind makes for a healthy body.

That is why I went to meetings and followed the suggestions given to me. As I went through withdrawal, the mind cleared and I learned a new awareness and to look at things with a different perspective.