Eating Disorders - OA for May 2014

[MajestyJo]

Friday, May 16, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Rebellion

Compulsive overeating may often be a form of rebellion. In the past, the more we tried to diet, the more we rebelled against the diet, and the more we overate. We were rebelling not only against a diet but also against other people, ourselves, and our Higher Power.

We should never consider abstinence as defined by OA to be just another diet. To do so would be to invite further rebellion. We compulsive overeaters seem especially prone to fight constraints of any kind. Rather than constraining us, abstinence is our liberation. We no longer have a diet to rebel against.

When we accept abstinence, we decide to have three measured meals a day with nothing in between, and we decide to avoid our personal binge foods. What those meals will consist of is our choice, and we make the choice daily. All we have to do is plan what we will have, measure it, enjoy it, and then get from one meal to the next without taking the first compulsive bite. Simple. There is no diet to rebel against.

I pray that I will no longer need to rebel.

Not sure if it was in the book I read today or a TV show, but someone shared the same sentiments that I lived by for years, `Rules are meant to be broken.`

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, May 17, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Hunger Is a Habit

Have you ever had the experience of being so interested in what you were doing that meal time came and went before you realized that it was time to eat? Because you were not thinking about food, you were not aware of being hungry.

Eating provides a diversion from the tasks of the day. It is something to do when we can't think of anything else to do. Often our "hunger" in anticipation of a meal arises because we look at the clock and see that it is almost time to eat. Instead of being aware of how we are feeling internally, we allow habit and external cues to stimulate our appetite. "It is noon; therefore, I must be hungry."

The more we can concentrate on activities other than eating, the more successful we will be in controlling our disease. We need a program, one which gives meaning to our days and satisfaction to our spirits. Our Higher Power will lift us out of the rut of destructive habits if we sincerely give our lives into His care.

Teach me constructive habits, I pray.

Prayer works. It helps if I get honest with myself and look at me and the true nature of my disease. It generally encompasses many things, and one can lead to another.

Habits form over the years, and many of them are old tapes. We need to make new ones.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, May 18, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Safety

I am safe as long as I do not take the first compulsive bite. Abstinence is my security. If I break my abstinence, I lose my protection against the confusion, remorse, and pain of overeating.

To keep my abstinence strong, I need to use the OA tools of recovery each day. I need to build my program and to give it my best efforts. Remembering that my Higher Power has given me a new life, I will not endanger it by forgetting how much I need His care.

Temptation is always appearing in one form or another. Sometimes it may seem impossible not to give in. My strength lies not in myself but in God, and only by maintaining close contact with Him can I remain safe.

My Higher Power has led me to OA and has given me a safe place to be. When I am tempted or upset, I will use the telephone, go to a meeting, practice Step Eleven, and do whatever else it takes to maintain my abstinence.

Thank You for bringing me to a safe place.

Keeping my space safe is important. It is also important that I go to safe places, places that won't trigger me or tempt me to leave my program behind and decide whether or not, I will pick it up later.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, May 19, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Resentments

When we hang on to resentments, we poison ourselves. As compulsive overeaters, we cannot afford resentment, since it exacerbates our disease. If we do not get rid of our anger and bitterness, we will suffer more than anyone. Seeking revenge will harm ourselves in the long run.

Many of us have carried around old grudges, which caused us to reach for food when we thought about them. We don't need the food and we don't need the grudges, either. When we give away the resentments, we are that much lighter in body and in spirit. Now that we have found OA, we have a way to get rid of the animosity and indignation, which has been poisoning our system.

Taking inventory and making amends is an essential part of burying resentments. We need to first be consciously aware of them before we can give them away. These steps usually need to be taken again and again as negative material threatens our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Take away my resentments, Lord.

Resentments eat up the soul. They erect a barrier between us and the God of our understanding, until such a time, as we can surrender them to our Higher Power.

I was told to pray for the person I resented, and ask for them, all that you would wish for yourself. My sponsor said that I needed a change in attitude when I told her that I prayed that they got everything they deserved.

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Goals

In the OA program, our ultimate goal is not to be able to follow perfectly some diet or other. It is not even to arrive at a certain number of pounds by a certain date. Our goal is nothing short of becoming a new person, the person God intends us to be. Now that is a goal worthy of a lifetime's work!

We begin with the desire to stop eating compulsively. For a while, that may be goal enough. Sooner or later, we discover that in order to stop eating compulsively we need to rely on a Power greater than ourselves, and in the process of developing a relationship with this Higher Power, our goals change.

As our spiritual awareness increases, new possibilities are opened to us. As we experience God's grace in our daily lives, we become less self-centered and more centered in Him. Little by little, our willfulness is absorbed by His will and we are more sensitive to His direction. Our mood changes from one of despair to one of hope, and we grow in willingness to follow wherever our Higher Power leads.

Lord, direct my goals.

My goal was always to lose weight. Because my mom died so young, as a result of her disease, I went through most of my life thinking, to gain weight was to die. My sponsor was the opposite, for her, to lose weight was to die because of anorexia.

In today, my goal is to make healthy choices. My goal is to live life without the compulsive/obsessive nature of my own disease.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

A Reason to Be Thin

How many times have we been determined to lose weight for a specific occasion or event? A trip, a wedding, a new job, a holiday - there are many such occasions which may have provided inspiration for short term reducing. The problem with losing weight for a specific event is that when it is over there is nothing left to provide an incentive for maintaining the weight loss.

Many of us have spent years losing and gaining the same pounds over and over again. Since the reasons for losing were superficial, the loss was temporary.

What we need is a permanent reason to be rid of fat. When we abstain from compulsive eating and work the OA program, we not only lose weight but we also live better. We have more enthusiasm, satisfaction, and peace of mind, as well as better looks and health. Our reason to be thin is that it gives us a richer, fuller life not just for one occasion but every day. The benefits are worth the price.

May I want to be thin for the right reasons.

When I started to make healthy choices and cut down on the size of my portions, the weight came off.

One of the saddest things that I have ever seen, was standing in line at the grocery store, and a teenager was in front of me with five boxes of Ex-Lax. I hope and pray that she is still living in today.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, May 22, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

When in Doubt, Don't

If a particular food is not on our plan, we do not eat it. When in doubt, leave it out. If there is a question in our minds about the advisability of eating a certain food, we are most likely better off without it. Whether we are losing weight or maintaining our weight loss, there will be some foods we choose to avoid, since past experience has proven that we cannot handle them in moderation.

The principle of "when in doubt, don't" may extend to other areas of our lives. If we are unsure of a particular course of action, it is best not to go rushing into it. As we learn to listen to the inner voice, we become more responsive to the leading of our Higher Power. Our knowledge of His will for our lives becomes more solid and we develop a firm basis for decision.

When we are willing to wait for direction, it comes. Indecision may be turned over to our Higher Power for His clarification.

Give us prudence, Lord, to follow Your lead.

My spiritual adviser told me many years a go the same thing. She said, "When God is guiding, you will know." If you don't know, the timing isn't right, all the players aren't in place, or it is not good for you to follow your will in the moment. Wait on your God, your God's Will not mine.

[MajestyJo]

Friday, May 23, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Thinking Thin

Our mental attitude has much to do with our physical reality. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is." If we think in terms of being thin, it is easier to adjust our appetite to the smaller amount of food, which we require. In the past, we may have been eating enough for two people. Large numbers of us in OA have lost the equivalent weight of at least one whole person.

By using our imagination to picture ourselves as thin, active, and healthy, we help our bodies adjust to the new image. Our old, fat self may want more to eat, but the thin person we are becoming does not need more. The fat self may grumble at leaving a comfortable chair to go out for a walk or at climbing a flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator. A sharp mental image of a new, thin self helps provide the necessary motivation to get up and go.

God does not intend us to be distorted and encumbered with excess weight. He will help us see the person we are meant to be.

May I become the person You intend.

Think thin, but not too thin. I like meat on my bones, and I think bones sticking out of my skin, means that I am abusing my body and in active addiction.

I found that when I ate healthy and made healthy choices, I lost weight, but more importantly inches.

No matter what the substance is, that uncontrollable desire to keep using, means I am in active addiction.

As they say, "It isn't about what you eat, it is about what is eating you."

[MajestyJo]

This is an old post, yet one that will come up in June:

God Is a Verb

We cannot contain our Higher Power at a fixed point or in a closed system. However we may understand God, our understanding is always limited. The Power that rescues us from compulsive overeating is an active force, which constantly beckons us to move on. What we were to do yesterday is past; a new day brings new challenges and opportunities.

Our compulsion had us trapped in a pattern of self-destructive repetition. We did the same dumb thing over and over again. When we turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understand Him, we are linking up with the source of newness and creativity. God moves, and if we are linked with Him, we also move. His spirit changes us, and what we thought and did yesterday is not adequate to the demands of today.

Trusting our Higher Power means acting according to His promptings. We follow Him as He leads us into new tasks and activities and ideas. We learn from experience that He is always more than adequate for our needs.

May I follow where You lead.

- Food For Thought

Really liked this. The title is what drew me to it. No matter what my addiction, fear, phobia, cravings, or obsession, God works when I turn things over to Him/Her.

I say Her and think Her sometimes when I need tender loving care, comfort nad reassurance, I think of warm cuddlies. Didn't always get that from a man without motives and intent.

God is a Verb. A verb is an action word. It is up to me to make a decision to turn my life over into my God's Care. I believe the 12 Steps and Traditions, were divinely given. a god given gift for those who suffer from the disease of addiction, what ever the substance happens to be.

I had the thought also that sometimes action is "No action" and just because I get the thought of using, doesn't mean I have to following the thought up. Also, just because I have a feeling, doesn't mean I have to act on it. That is what I did wrong for years, act, react! I can stop, hesitate and meditate before I verbalize or take the next right step.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, May 24, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Self-Sabotage

There are some times when we seem bent on self-destruction. We may be disgruntled about the demands and responsibilities of the day and determined to punish ourselves for our inability to cope easily. Why we subvert our own best interests is often a mystery, but we all know the frustration and despair of not doing what we should do and doing what we should not do.

Often, we engage in self-sabotage when we are being emotional about a situation instead of viewing it rationally. We usually find that we have forgotten or refused to turn the problem over to our Higher Power. Frequently, we have allowed resentments to build up and cloud our perception.

Whether we turn to food and overeat or whether we indulge in other types of negative, destructive behavior and emotions, we are sabotaging ourselves. We are the ones who suffer the most from our destructiveness. No one else can disturb our serenity unless we permit them to do so.

May I remember to turn to You in times of distress.

This reminds me of the times I use to say, The devil made me do it.

This goes along with the old reading I just posted.

As I have said many times, I can be my own worst enemy.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, May 25, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Delayed Gratification

One of the advantages of maturity is the ability to delay gratification of desires and needs. It is this ability, which makes possible the achievement of long-range goals and plans. We compulsive overeaters have permitted childish demands for immediate satisfaction to drive us into addictive habits. We still have some emotional growing up to do.

When we come to the OA program, we accept a reasonable plan for the gratification of our appetite and hunger. We know that we will eat three times a day, and we choose our food. As our appetite adjusts to eating smaller amounts less frequently, we may experience some discomfort. As maturing individuals, we can accept this discomfort in the interest of a healthier, more attractive body and a saner, more peaceful mind. Instead of having to have what we want now, this minute, we are able to wait until the appropriate time.

Working the Steps makes us aware of the emotional growing we need to do in order to have more satisfying relationships with other people. Here, too, we often have to delay immediate satisfaction in order to achieve larger, more important goals.

I pray for emotional and spiritual maturity.

Like all recovery programs, it is not a quick fix. You can't put a band aid on it and expect it to get all better. It took us a long time to get to where we are, it is a progress, not perfection, one day at a time. I qualified at 27, didn't come into recovery until I was 49, that is 22 years. This year, I will be 23 years clean and sober in August, my God willing. You would think I should be darn near perfect. I am still working the program, one day at a time, especially when it comes to food. I have to work on my emotional sobriety, and it has been a long time habit of shutting them off by stuffing with food. It was a coping skill, addiction allowed me to shut them down and stuff them.

As I was told in recovery, "Just because you have a feeling, doesn't mean you have to act on it." My action was make them go away, whether it was a pill, alcohol, food, relationships, etc.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, May 26, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Miracles

OA testifies to the occurrence of miracles in our daily lives. The physical, emotional, and spiritual changes that take place in those who sincerely practice the program are truly miraculous. Our stories are witness to the Power that is available to change lives and produce new people.

These miracles, however, usually happen slowly. It took most of us many years to blow our bodies and minds out of shape by eating too much of the wrong kind of food and by thinking too many of the wrong kinds of thoughts. The miracle of recovery does not happen overnight.

To try OA with the idea of shedding a few extra pounds in time for bathing suit season is to miss the mark. It was lack of self-knowledge and spiritual insight that got us out of shape, and only dedicated, long term work and commitment to the OA principles will produce the miraculous change we all desire.

Miracles do happen, but the ground needs to be carefully prepared and the new growth nurtured daily.

May I be willing to prepare myself for Your miracle.

I believe in miracles, I AM ONE!

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Share the Wealth

Most of us are lucky enough to have been blessed with a more than adequate supply of food. Our problem has been too much rather than too little. Not everyone on our planet is so fortunate. We all know that millions of people in this world die prematurely because of malnutrition and starvation.

We probably feel that it would be impossible to individually effect a more equitable distribution of the world's food resources. And yet, there are things we can do if we have a sincere desire to help. Money which we save by personally eating less may be sent to a charitable organization or used to sponsor a child in one of the less developed countries. A plan for sharing can increase our own motivation to maintain abstinence and avoid binges.

Even though we cannot change the entire world, we can be responsible for changing our own behavior and finding new ways to share what we have. In the process, we benefit the most through better health, positive emotions, and mental peace. Moderate consumption is in our own best interest.

Teach me to share.

They say if we don't give it away, we will lose our recovery. That is why motto, and what was told to me, "I share because I care."

I was told if you share with one person, you only have to take 1/2 of your issues home. Think what relief you get when you go to a discussion meeting or share your story at a speaker meeting. I always found, that when I was asked to share my story at a meeting, that it is good to share with others, but even better to have my words come out, to lessen any internal chatter and I can set some order by listening to myself, when I open my mouth. It is sometimes very surprising what comes out.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Patience

The person who is a compulsive overeater is often someone who wants what he or she wants right now, if not before. When we take inventory, many of us realize that impatience is one of our most troublesome character defects. We are impatient with other people when they do not see things our way, we are impatient with the slowness of weight loss, and we are impatient when we do not seem to be making emotional and spiritual progress.

Cultivating patience helps us tremendously with our program. We grow in patience when we give God control of our lives and decide to live according to His timetable. If we accept what happens to us as the will of a Higher Power, we are better able to treat even the unpleasant situations as learning experiences. We become more patient with ourselves when we view our failures as opportunities to try again.

Fruitful growth is slow. Only weeds grow quickly. Acknowledging powerlessness builds the patience to persevere with what we can do and the faith to leave the results to God.

Trusting in You, may I learn patience.

Whenever I hear the word patience, I think of my mother saying to me as a child, "Patience is a virtue, have it if you can."

Some thing I was very short on, wanted it, and I wanted it now, if not sooner. God and I still have to work on it.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, May 29, 2014
You are reading from the book Food for Thought
Quality, Not Quantity

We tend to be overly impressed with quantity. How much does it cost? How many friends do I have? How much can I include in my food plan? In a materialistic society, more is synonymous with better.

Before we found OA, we were eating more and enjoying it less. In fact, the more we ate, the more unhappy we became. Greater quantity did not bring better health or a better quality of life.

In this program, we are learning to place quality before quantity. We discover that smaller amounts of nourishing, high quality foods are more satisfying and make us feel better than vast quantities of empty calories. We become more selective about the way we spend our time, choosing the activities and companions that most enrich our lives, rather than trying to do everything and be everything to everybody. We realize more each day that the quality of our spiritual life is what gives us the inner satisfaction, which we sought but failed to find in quantities of things.

Show me how to live well.

One of the biggest lessons that I learned in recovery. Making healthy choices. Qaulity not quantity, allowed me to establish healthier eating habits.

I also found the same thing in the fellowships of recovery. Someone with 3 years could have quality sobriety, as someone who had 30 years. The program works if you work it. It is a one day at a program. The past and what you did, whether in recovery or before recovery, it is about choices in today.