FOOD FOR THOUGHT/OA - SEPTEMBER 2014

[MajestyJo]

Monday, September 1, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

We practice the OA principles in all our affairs, twenty-four hours a day. Ours is not a diet program but a way of life. When we were eating compulsively, food occupied the central place in our lives every day. Abstinence replaces food as our prime concern, and maintaining abstinence means working the program.

When we do this, we are amazed at how well the day goes. Our work is easier and more productive. We spend less time and energy hassling with ourselves and other people. Best of all, we do not always have to be right. Being able to admit mistakes delivers us from egocentricity.

Being straight with ourselves enables us to be straight with others, and they in turn respond more positively. We are less concerned that everyone likes us and more concerned about growth in the program. By placing principles before personalities, we get less snarled up in confused, game playing relationships.

May You be foremost in my mind, twenty-four hours a day.

For this 24 hours, I choose not to use food as a way of life.

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Stop Overeating, Start Living

Physical abstinence is just the beginning of the new life OA offers to us. When our Higher Power controls our life, we become free of the mental obsession with food. Then we are able to get down to the business of living, which we avoided with our illness.

Rather than reaching out with both hands to grab and hold on to all we can get, we begin to think in terms of giving and serving. We may start by sharing what OA has done for us with newcomers to the program. It is the newcomer who is our reminder of who we were and where we came from.

We find that though we can never eat spontaneously, we can live much more spontaneously than before. Because we feel less guilt and fear, we can experience the joy of acting from the center of our being. Knowing that our Higher Power is in control, we have trust and faith that the results of our actions will be okay. Each day becomes less of a trial and more of an opportunity.

Today, may I experience the spontaneity that comes with Your control.

Like the title. My mom died at the age of 40 due to her over eating. She used food to deal with her feelings and was told to lose weight. The doctor said, "If you end up in the hospital again, I can't guarantee you will leave, and she didn't." As they say, "You can't scare an addict." For me to gain weight was to die. I had a big struggle to lose my pregnancy weight when my husband went off to another woman, it didn't help that she was fatter than my normal weight. I later got to 192 lbs, and knew that if I kept gaining, I would die and came to a decision. I lost 30 lbs. and it has been up and down from there, but that has been livable. My sponsor had an eating disorder and for her, to lose weight was to die. Like they say, it is the thinking behind the substance.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Friends and Enemies

Sometimes our friends or members of our family urge us to eat food that is not part of our plan. If we allow ourselves to be manipulated into eating something to please someone else, we are in danger of losing the most important thing in our life - abstinence. Anyone who tries to make us feel uncomfortable because of our illness is acting as an enemy, rather than a friend.

To some people close to us, an explanation of our food plan may be helpful. Repeated discussions, however, are usually unnecessary and unproductive. We alone are responsible for what we put into our mouths. If those around us cannot or will not understand, then that is their problem, not ours.

When confronted with food, which we know is harmful to us, the simplest response is a firm "No, thank you." When we ourselves are determined to maintain abstinence, no one else, whether friend or enemy, can prevent us from following our plan.

Protect me, Lord, from my friends and enemies.

When I saw the title, before I read the reading, I thought, "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." An old saying, but one I found out to be true.

One thing I did learn on my journey was that I could be my own worst enemy.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, September 4, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Too Thin?

After losing weight, we may find ourselves being told that we are getting too thin. Often, the people who tell us this are not particularly thin themselves. Their comments are ostensibly made out of concern for our health, but it is more likely that they arise out of envy. Another reason could be their own personal fear of losing weight. Then, too, a thin person will sometimes feel threatened when we, who were formerly fat, come down to normal weight.

Whatever the reason, it is not the responsibility of anyone else to tell us how much we should or should not weigh. We alone are responsible for our own body.

When we turn our will and our life over to the care of our Higher Power, our body is included. The God who creates us will show us how He intends our body to look. We do not need to be concerned or swayed by the remarks of those who may not have our best interests at heart.

I trust You to take care of my body.

Made me sad when my service sponsor said to me, "I am fat." She was referring to the swelling from her surgery." She use to be a model. It is not a good thing when all we see when we look at ourselves is 'fat' or we look at choose to ignore it, if it has gone beyond healthy.

[MajestyJo]

Friday, September 5, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Sponsors

Most of us never outgrow our need for a sponsor. Someone who has had similar experiences can give us the understanding, which we require in order to continue to grow in the program. A sponsor who maintains current, clean abstinence and who seriously works the program is someone who inspires us to follow. We could not control our disease by ourselves. As we recover, we continue to need help.

With a food sponsor, we can discuss our particular menus and problems. When we make a mistake, we need to share it with another person in order to profit from it and put it behind us. A program sponsor gives us encouragement and insight as we work the steps. When we are maintaining our desired weight, a maintenance sponsor helps us make any necessary adjustments. Sponsorship is one of the most important OA tools, and we are foolish if we do not take advantage of it. Alone, we are powerless over food.

Thank You for sponsors.

Heard a young tennis player say tonight he was managing himself at the moment. To sponsor myself, is total chaos, the thought of me taking my own advise and having no one around to disagree with me and no one to bounce things off of or show an alternative outlook on things, gosh only knows where I would have ended up. In a ditch somewhere for sure.

As I was told and found out, me alone with me is bad company. Thank God for the sponsor(s) in my life. I have had three pass away.

I was fortunate that my first AA sponsor had been to OA and to Emotions Anonymous.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, September 6, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

The Pause that Refreshes

For strength, we are learning to lean on our Higher Power instead of food. We have undoubtedly taken many "breaks" which involved ingesting one or another addictive substance. Instead of making us stronger, those substances eventually made us weaker. Thanks to OA, we are finding a dependable source of refreshment.

Starting the day with a few minutes of contact with God enables us to draw from His strength that which we need. Throughout the day, when we become weary or perplexed or pressured, we can pause to renew that contact. It is a constant source of Power whenever we open ourselves to it.

Allowing ourselves to become too busy is asking for trouble. We can concentrate actively for only so long without a period of rest and relaxation. Frequent time out each day to consult with our Higher Power makes our work more effective and our leisure more creative.

I seek Your presence, Lord.

Love the title. The world today is so caught up in busy. The old tape say "The Devil makes work for idle hands." I heard a woman with over 20 years say she did't have time for meditation so she was glad of a new meditation meeting that started. I was shocked. I wouldn't have stayed sober without meditation.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, September 7, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

I Am a Compulsive Overeater

The one fact, which I need to remember constantly, is that I am a compulsive overeater. If I forget it, I will eventually break my abstinence. There is no way that I can eat "normally," like most other people. I either eat according to my OA plan or I eat very abnormally, according to my compulsion.

Because I am a compulsive overeater, I do not take tastes of this or that, and I do not have snacks. I have found from sad experience that this kind of uncontrolled eating is impossible for me to handle. I know that I need to plan every day the three measured meals, which I will eat.

Because of the new life that OA has given to me, I am grateful for my disease. Without it, I would not have found the measure of peace and serenity, which comes to me every day as I work the program.

May I remember I am a compulsive overeater.

May I always remember, that my mind needs to rethink the phrase, "Some is good, more is better." I need to cut down on the size of the plate and take smaller portions.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, September 8, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Amends to Ourselves

By our compulsive overeating, we ourselves have usually been hurt more than anyone else. Because we could not trust ourselves, we had little self-respect or self-confidence. In many cases, we actually hated ourselves for what we thought was weakness and now know to be a disease.

By ourselves, we cannot control the illness, but through OA and our Higher Power, we are able to recover. With recovery comes a new attitude toward self. We see that we find happiness by abstaining from compulsive overeating and seeking every day to do God's will. New power and order enter into our daily activities, and we begin to approve of ourselves.

The best way that we can make amends to ourselves for self-hate and failure to develop our abilities is by maintaining our abstinence each day. We then gain the confidence to say no to those things which are not in our best interest. Instead of destroying ourselves with too much food and the wrong kind of activities, we are building a new life fed with the nourishment from our Higher Power.

Thank You for new opportunities to grow.

I was told to put myself on top of my amends list. I also heard someone share that we make amends to ourself the moment we walk through the doors of recovery.

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Amends to Others

The people most affected by our disease were undoubtedly the members of our own family. Then came our closest friends, if we had any when we were overeating. These people were directly affected by our negative moods and by our withdrawal away from them into overeating. They also may have been affected by not getting food which should have been theirs, but which we had eaten. Some of us stole money to buy food that we did not need but had to have. Some of us stole food.

Making amends is sometimes embarrassing and often difficult. It involves much pride swallowing. A simple, sincere apology may be all that is necessary. There may be concrete acts, which we can perform. As with making amends to ourselves, the best way we can make up for the hurt we have caused to family and friends is by abstaining from compulsive overeating. As we abstain, we reach out to those around us instead of withdrawing. Our own sanity is the best gift we can give to others.

May I have the courage to make amends.

For me, the key was willingness. As long as I was willing, the courage, the doors, and the right words were there when I needed them.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Listening

As we learn to listen to our Higher Power, we also learn to listen with more awareness to others and ourselves. Being willing to spend time alone, in quiet, is essential to listening. We often fear silence and being alone, and we escape into distractions and busy work.

Prayer is not so much telling and asking as it is listening. Prayer in this sense may be practiced continually during the day. By taking Step Three, we are giving up our will and becoming receptive to the will of our Higher Power. We focus less on our egotistical concerns and more on God, as we understand Him. That understanding grows through listening.

By listening, we become aware of needs, feelings, and responses within ourselves, which we had previously ignored. Knowing ourselves better, we are more direct and honest with others and more responsive to them. The communication which develops with our Higher Power is on a level deep enough to relate us more meaningfully to everyone around us.

I will listen today to Your voice.

Listening and learning to listen is important. We shut down and shut off people for years. Not only others, but our God if we acknowledged as coming from God or blamed it on the Devil or ourselves, it didn't matter the source, we just used to shut down and numb out, and we had to practice listening, and acknowledge that inner voice, and find the willingness to not only acknowledge it but act on it.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, September 11, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Praying Only...

In Step Eleven, we are "praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." How that simplifies our prayer! We do not have to worry about asking for the right things in the right way. We simply pray that we may know God's will and be given the power to do it.

This Step is closely related to Step Three, since we are leaving the decisions up to God. He knows better than we what is best for us to have and to do. We make ourselves available to His direction without attaching conditions and clauses about what we will and will not do.

This kind of prayer frees us from much worry and anxiety. We accept abstinence as God's will for us, since without abstinence we are powerless to do much of anything. Beyond that, we are prepared to live each day as our Higher Power gives it to us, trusting that He will show us His will and supply us with the power that we need.

This is my prayer, Lord.

Praying for His Will, can't go far wrong with that. So miss the material from my sites from early recovery sent to me by friends in recovery. I needed a safe place to put all the material sent to me in e-mails. I am so grateful that some of it is posted on other sites.

Reflection for the Day

It's time for me to realize that my attitude -- toward the life I'm living and the people in it -- can have a tangible, measurable and profound effect on what happens to me day by day. If I expect good, then good will surely come to me. And if I try each day to base my attitude and point of view on a sound spiritual foundation, I know it will change all the circumstances of my life for the better, too. Do I accept the fact that I have been given only a daily reprieve that is contingent on the maintenance of my spiritual condition?

Today I Pray

Since my illness was spiritual -- as well as physical and emotional -- may I mend spiritually through daily communion with God. May I find a corner of quiet within me where I can spend a few moments with Him. May He make His will known to me. May I worship Him from that inner temple that is in myself.

Today I Will Remember

To spend a quiet moment with God

You are reading from the book:

A Day at a Time by Anonymous

THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

This reminds me of how the God of my understanding makes Himself known to me on a daily basis. I like the God/Dog syndrome as I call it. God is a reflection of my Higher Self. What people see in me, is the message I carry to the world.

The Big Book says we need to go through a psychic change to bring about an attiitude adjustment which will allow us to go on living in a new way, with new perception and a willingness to grow, change and become the kind of person; an individual, complete and whole within one's Self, who my God would have me be in today.

Hope that makes sense. I have the feeling, but sometimes the messages haven't been getting to my fingers lately. I was just sharing with my sponsor that my head seems to be sitting on my shoulders, but I am not sure it is connected.

Posted in 2004

[MajestyJo]

Friday, September 12, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Carrying the Message

We do not keep our program unless we give it away. Our participation in meetings is a means of sharing with others what OA has given us. We are genuinely interested in newcomers, because they remind us of where we came from and because they give us an opportunity to strengthen our own program by sharing what we have received.

Sometimes we carry the message by providing transportation for someone who otherwise would not get to a meeting. Sometimes we give of ourselves by simply listening when a newcomer needs to talk. Practicing the OA principles in all areas of our life is carrying the message, even to those who are not compulsive overeaters.

Abstinence and the OA program now occupy the central place in our lives, the place which was once held by food. Following the will of our Higher Power means that we carry the message as He directs us. We are willing to be used in whatever way God moves us to give away our program.

May I serve You by carrying the message.

The first line is one of my favourite. As my friend and I shared tonight, what is good for one person, may not be good for another, each must come to their own understanding. Each person will get the same out of their understanding and the other person get's out of theirs.

Don't use, don't abuse, go to the God of your understanding, and He/She will direct your path.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, September 13, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Hungering

Deep within us is a hunger, which is not satisfied by food. We hunger for love and fellowship with each other and we hunger for communion with our Higher Power. We were not made to be alone and isolated. Withdrawing into compulsive overeating makes the deep hunger even worse.

As long as we are alive, we will never be fully satisfied. There will always be more love to give and receive and more steps to take on our spiritual journey. In this sense, we will always be hungry. Spiritual hunger is a good thing, as long as we recognize it for what it is and do not try to appease it with material substitutes.

Our Higher Power has created us with a hunger, which He alone can satisfy. As our progress through the Twelve Steps brings us closer to Him and closer to each other, we experience a fulfillment, which we had not known before. We are learning to hunger for spirituality.

Bless our hunger, we pray.

This pretty much speaks for itself. The only thing we need to remember is that the hunger can be mental, emotional, and spiritual, not just physical.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, September 14, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Emptiness

When we were overeating, we felt empty inside no matter how much we ate. Now that we are abstaining, we may still experience periods of feeling empty. This emptiness is especially likely to occur after an occasion to which we have looked forward with much anticipation.

Perhaps we expect too much from a person or an event and feel let down when reality falls short of our anticipation. Perhaps we find ourselves with a group of people whose conversation is superficial and relationships are phony. Putting on a mask and keeping it in place for any length of time leaves us feeling drained and empty.

Without honest, meaningful contact with other people, we are emotionally undernourished. In order to have the mutually nurturing relationships we need, our false fronts have to be abandoned. Through this program, we learn to seek out the kinds of people and activities that fill us and to avoid those that leave us empty

Fill my emptiness, Lord.

This is an affirmation of something that I have been a long time believer in. So much of our anger is emotional and spiritual, and we forget to give ourselves the things we need, and just keep filling our faces, instead of feeding our heart and soul.

Like the slogan H.A.L.T. HUNGRY, ANGRY, LONELY, AND TIRED, an alert that something is missing from our body, mind, and spirit.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, September 15, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Peace

Our mental obsession with food gave us little peace. The refined sugars and carbohydrates, which we craved, left us jangled and over stimulated. Our guilt and self-hate kept us in a state of fear and turmoil. We raced about frantically in our minds trying to think of a way out of our misery.

Abstaining from refined sugar and carbohydrates gives us physical peace. Our body is no longer in an uproar; it is functioning calmly and efficiently. The Twelve Steps of recovery free us from the mental obsession with food and bring about emotional and spiritual peace. The more control we relinquish to our Higher Power, the more peace He gives us.

The peace, which comes through working our program, is not stagnant - it is rich and creative. It is the peace, which results from an ordered life and confidence in God. Instead of going in circles, both physically and mentally, we move in measured progress along the path, which our Higher Power shows us step by step each day.

Thank You for peace.

It is nice to find peace after living a life where you have been bouncing off the wall and searching for that emotional high, only to find that when you got there, you couldn't stop there, you had to have more. And that more, stopped being fun but we couldn't stop. There was no mental, emotional, spiritual or physical rest. There was always hope after the next bite, or we would eat and purge, only to start again in a big round vicious circle.