Food for Thought for Over Eaters Anonymous

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
June 30

Praise God!

We did not create this program on our own, and we did not achieve abstinence by ourselves. Our recovery is a gift, just as life is a gift. Light, the natural world, our nourishment, talents, love, and fellowship - all come from our Higher Power. Our role is to receive, use wisely, share, and enjoy the blessings God has showered upon us.

When we get over the idea that we can do everything by ourselves, we become receptive to the moving force that creates and sustains us. As we stop looking at life from our own egotistical point of view, we begin to see God's glory. No longer a slave to our appetites and desires for material things, we are able to rejoice in our Higher Power and to share our joy with those around us.

Our recovery from compulsive overeating makes us examples of God's power to heal and renew. For all of His miracles, we praise Him.

In You, there is great joy.

[MajestyJo]

JULY3

From the book: Food for Thought

Rest in God

Fatigue is one of our worst enemies. Sometimes it is our own unnecessary busyness and over ambition, which wears us out, and sometimes, the cause of our fatigue seems unavoidable. Depression and weariness go hand in hand.

It was our habit to reach for something to eat when we were tired. We may still crave refined sugar and carbohydrates as a quick boost when our energy lags. Instead of these substances, which we know will let us down, we need to turn to our Higher Power for rest and refreshment.

Even better than waiting until we are fatigued to ask for help is the habit of resting continuously in God. We may then carry on our activities knowing that we are upheld by His power, and we will avoid the exhaustion of trying to accomplish everything by our own efforts.

May I remember to rest in You.

Love the last paragraph, so empowering.

[MajestyJo]

From the book: Food for Thought

Dual Personalities

It is as if we are each two people. When we are abstaining, we are calm, confident, and capable of handling the demands of every day. When we are in contact with our Higher Power, we have the right mental perspective and God's peace and love in our hearts.

Slipping back into the old attitudes and habits of our compulsive overeating days brings back our frightened, confused, and despairing selves. We lose our ability to function efficiently. We are antagonistic to those around us. Worst of all, we are cut off from the source of strength and light.

Remembering that the negative personality will destroy us makes us more determined not to give in to it. Abstinence, day by day, is our safety. Reliance on the OA group, our Twelve Step program, and our Higher Power keeps us living the good, new life of freedom.

Deliver me from my negative personality.

I once was told I had three personalities, not sure what the third one is. I know that two of them can have a real battle going on when it comes to food. Maybe the third one is the referee or pacifier. Either way, I go for calm and peaceful. When I eat the wrong thing, I get guilt for doing something I know I shouldn't have. Even the pain I get as a result of eating certain foods, doesn't seem to stop me unless I am willing to turn things over to my Higher Power. I can't, He can, Just for today, I choose to let Him. The lastest for me has been Strawberry Shortcake Muffins. Oh so good and oh so many calories and who knows how much sugar. Shortcake in any form seems to call out to me and I always seem to answer and I have trouble resisting.

[MajestyJo]

From the book: Food for Thought
next book
Tension or Hunger?


How often have we eaten because of tension, rather than hunger? Accepting our need for three measured meals a day with nothing in between establishes a sensible pattern, which satisfies our need for nourishment. When we are tense, we can find ways of relaxing which do not harm our body by making it fat.

Learning to relax the stomach muscles helps get rid of tension hunger. Often when we have eaten too fast because of tension, our stomach continues to send hunger signals after the meal. There has not been enough time for the digestive process to register satisfaction. We can consciously relax the muscles so that the feeling of emptiness will go away.

The best cure for tension is a growing faith in our Higher Power. If we are willing to trust Him in the little things of each day, as well as the big events of our life, we will be able to relax and cultivate serenity.

Dissolve my tension and feed my hunger, I pray.

Like this reading. I do have to ask myself, am I hungry? Is it for physical hunger or mental, emotional, spiritual hunger. Am I hungry or am I stuffing not to feel?

[MajestyJo]

From the book: Food for Thought
July 12

Growing Up

There is no magic. Nothing - be it person, place, or thing - is going to give us instant and permanent gratification. We keep thinking in the back of our mind that there is some way we can manipulate life into granting us all of our desires, even when they contradict each other.

When we seriously and with honest effort work our way through the Twelve Steps, we begin to grow up emotionally and spiritually. Abstinence from compulsive overeating makes this growth possible. It is not easy, but it is definitely worth the effort.

Acceptance and renunciation are necessary if we are to live with satisfaction in the real world. Grandiose illusions are of no help. We come to understand that certain foods, emotions, and attitudes are not for us if we are to maintain our sanity.

There is no magic, but there is a Power greater than ourselves. Who is directing our growth.

Grant me the willingness to grow up.

This is something I never wanted to do. I have gone kicking and screaming all the way. I shared with some friends that I wanted to be like a member in my group who was 70 at the time, who went backpacking, goes to football games, and conventios all over the U.S. and Canada. She still goes, but can't do long distant walking trips, but still goes walking now that she is close to 80.

One guy remarked, "Well that is a safe statement, because she will never grow up, she will always be young in spirit.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
July 16

Hard Right or Easy Wrong?


We are constantly faced with choices, and often we are tempted to follow the way of least resistance. In our dealings with others and ourselves it is usually easier to say yes than no, but yes is not always the best answer. If we are too permissive, we become lax and ineffective.

The problem with taking the easy way is that it usually ends up being harder in the long run. If we do not control our eating, we will have all of the problems of obesity. If we do not limit our spending, we will eventually lack funds for what we need. If we do not follow moral and ethical principles, our lives become chaotic and we live in constant fear and tension.

Although choosing the hard right is difficult, it is by exercising our ethical muscles that we become strong and gain self-respect.

By Your grace, may I make the right choices.

I didn't make a right choice today. I was hurting physically and emotionally and my thought was, "Darn it, I want a strawberry shortcake muffin!" I tell myself that they are muffins, not donuts and they are healthier, which in comparison, they are. They do have sugar in them, which makes them not a healthy choice for a diabetic.

I wanted comfort and even before I felt hurt by someone's words and actions, I was already feeling sad and lonely, when I walked into the hospital. Not sure what the root of my feelings were and they were something that I don't often feel.

I did a meditation before I left. I said a prayer when I left the hospital, but I still got off the bus at Tim Hortons, got my TWO muffins (can't have just one), and went out just in time to catch another bus downtown. It wasn't that I didn't have food at home, but it was food that I had to cook and I wanted a quick fix. It didn't help that I had hit my head and had a lump on it, it was more a feeling thing than a physical thing. I know I would have survived without the muffin, but I heard my son's words tellin me that I shouldn't have spent the money on them the last time I bought them. So I realize that I also had a resentment and a little defiance too, I'll have a muffin if I want one. As it says, it is me and my attitude and it isn't about someone else and I shouldn't eat to someone else's health and I need to take care of my own. Thanks for letting me share.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
July 23

Food: Servant or Master?

Food used to be our master. The mental obsession with food and the craving for more controlled our life. As we recover, we begin to see just how much we were in slavery to food and our appetite. We know that no matter how long we abstain and recover from our disease, we will always be powerless over food. The idea that we will one day be able to eat spontaneously is the most dangerous delusion we can entertain.

By abstaining from compulsive overeating every day of our life, we make food our servant rather than our master. We eat what we need to nourish our body, but we do not permit eating for comfort, excitement, or any other emotional reason. Whatever it takes to remain abstinent is what we are willing to do each day.

Never forgetting that we are always one mouthful away from a binge ensures that food will remain our servant.

Today and every day, may I serve You instead of food.

As they say, "We can only serve one Master." God is or He isn't. What ever I put between me and my God in today, becomes the god directing my path.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
June 26

Doing God's Will


For a long time, most of us tried to achieve happiness by serving our self-will. We figured out what we wanted from life and then went about trying to attain it. When our efforts were frustrated, we turned to food and overeating.

The idea of giving our self-will to God and following His direction makes us fearful. We fear that we will lose out and be unhappy. We are reluctant to give up our illusions of autonomy and power. We wonder if there really is a Higher Power who can direct our way. We pray for guidance and then forget to listen for the response.

When we are willing to trust a Higher Power in even one small area of our lives, we begin to see results. As our faith grows, we become confident enough to relinquish more and more of the concerns, which by ourselves we are unable to manage. The more we work this program, the more sure we are that our peace and happiness lie in serving God, rather than ourselves.

I pray for courage to follow Your will.

This may be true, but for some, tomorrow never comes.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, JULY30

From the book: Food for Thought

Focus on Living

Before we found this program, we were obsessed with food and preoccupied with eating. Instead of concentrating our energies on love and work and play, we were side tracked into the unsatisfactory substitute of overeating.

Abstinence gives us a new lease on life. We can develop more satisfying relationships with our family and friends. Since it has been our habit to withdraw and please ourselves with food, it takes time and effort to learn to relate more closely to those we love. It also takes courage and the willingness to be open and vulnerable.

In our work, we have renewed energy and greater ability to concentrate. Where before we may have avoided difficult tasks, we now have the strength and confidence to attempt them.

When we give up eating as a favorite form of recreation, we can find other activities to enjoy. Being released from bondage to food and fat opens the door to all sorts of new possibilities. Less eating means much more living.

We are grateful for new life.

I was just talking to a friend tonight and saying to her substitution doesn't work. Food is often something that people use to suppress the thinking about another dis-ease.

We are granted a new way of life. We need to embrace that.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
August 1

Promptings

If we are listening, we will hear promptings from the inner voice. Often they are suggestions for small acts of kindness and love. Sometimes they are urgings to do a difficult deed in order to correct a wrong or to apologize for a mistake. Whatever the prompting, we are free to ignore it or act on it.

Often, ignoring the prompting would appear to be the easiest course. Why should we go out of our way to help someone else, particularly if that person is a stranger? Apologies are frequently embarrassing and deflate our pride. Reaching out to someone with love makes us vulnerable to rejection, and we fear exposure.

In the long run, to ignore the promptings of our inner voice is to commit spiritual suicide. These promptings are intended for our growth, and if we do not grow in love, we will atrophy and decay. Through the Twelve Steps, our Higher Power leads us to do many things, which we would prefer to avoid, but which ensure our recovery.

I pray for willingness to follow the promptings of the inner voice.

When I can't find the willingness, I have to pray for the willingness to be willing.

[MajestyJo]

Speaking from the Heart


Through the OA fellowship, we offer each other mutual support. Since we believe that the Higher Power works through the group, what one of us is prompted to say is probably just what another member needs to hear.

Sometimes we are reluctant to speak of what is in our heart for fear of being embarrassed, belittled, or betrayed. We are so accustomed to masking our true feelings that we often lose touch with them. In OA, we are assured that what we say will be received in a spirit of acceptance and love. We do not need to be afraid of revealing our deeper selves.

It is a healing experience to belong to a group, which is dedicated to honest communication with a minimum of game playing. When we make a genuine attempt to describe where we are in our program, we are met with a warm and supportive response. Our Higher Power opens the way for meaningful communication and mutual love.

Open our hearts to You and to each other.

I am enjoying my new group. Don't know all the members that well yet, but that is okay. The good thing is that they show up each week.

The longest journey we take in recovery is from our head to our heart. We can know, but we don't always allow ourselves to feel.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
August 9

Daily Inventory


When we are not functioning up to par, we need to find out where the problem is. If the day begins to fall apart and we feel overwhelmed and unable to cope, it may be a good idea to stop and take inventory.

Examining the quality of our abstinence is a good place to begin. Have we permitted thoughts of making a small exception here and there? Are we dwelling too much on what we will have for the next meal? Did we make a substitution, which gave us more carbohydrates than we could handle?

If the problem is not with abstinence, then it must be in our emotional or spiritual life. Are we harboring resentments, which are poisoning our outlook? Have we made a mistake, which we are unwilling to admit? Is there something we need to do for a family member that we are procrastinating about doing? Are we denying a legitimate need of our own?

Grant me the honesty to confront my weaknesses.

This reminds me of the many times I called my sponsor and said, "Can we discuss Steps 6 and 7, my character defects were glaringly apparent today."

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
August 20

Togetherness


In this program, we are able to do together what none of us could achieve alone. We may have tried many ways to control our disease before we came to OA, but they did not work or we would not be here.

We share a common illness and a common cure. Abstinence is possible as we share it with each other. The program works as we work it together. Each of us is an individual, but we function best with the support of the group. If we neglect to go to meetings and make phone calls, we cut ourselves off from the strength and inspiration we need.

Our Higher Power works through each of us as we share what we have been given. We do not achieve and maintain abstinence by ourselves. Most of us overate alone. Learning to live without overeating involves learning to live with other people. Our fellowship is our recovery, and together we grow.

Thank You for our togetherness.

This is a "we" program, no matter what 12 Step program I am in or not in. Without you, there is no me.

[MajestyJo]

Food for Thought
Saturday, AUG. 27

From the book: Food for Thought

Accepting Reality


Failure, death, divorce, disease, and betrayal - these are all part of the world we live in. We agonizingly search our minds to figure out why, but are unable to come up with any satisfying answers. We pray for the serenity to accept the reality of life.

Previously, we tried to deny reality by overeating. What that did was make reality worse for us. Abstaining from compulsive overeating and working the steps of the OA program give us the strength to cope with reality and accept the things we cannot change. We often feel as though we are on a long uphill climb. Let's not forget that if it were not for abstinence and our Higher Power, we would be rapidly sliding downhill.

Whatever our situation, it is better to face it squarely than to delude ourselves with excess food. None of us escapes pain and suffering. By turning them over to our Higher Power, we are strengthened by our hardships, rather than destroyed.

May we have the courage and strength to accept life as it is.

Accept what is in the moment, knowing it is subject to change. We don't have to like it, but in order to change, I do need that acceptance.

For me, Garfield is the perfect example of a food addict.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday
SEP3
previous book
From the book: Food for Thought
next book
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.

Love it when I turn my day over to my Higher Power. Some days He takes me to the greatest places and puts these wonderful people in my path.