For Today: November 17th

The deepest need of man is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness.

Erich Fromm

If a sense of separateness is endemic to the human condition, how much more keenly do compulsive overeaters feel their apartness!  People eat occasionally for pleasure, to be sociable, the comfort themselves, to pass the time.  We who are food-obsessed try long and hard to be like normal eaters, only to find that we cannot limit ourselves to the occasion; our eating goes on and on, past need, past sociability, and past sanity.

Recovery in OA is based on the recognition that we are not----and never can be-----normal eaters.

For Today:  Yes, I am different from those of my family, friends and colleagues who are not compulsive overeaters.  But there are thousands of people like me in Overeaters Anonymous.

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When I quit fighting the fact that I'm not a normal eater is when I was finally able to SURRENDER the situation to God and allow Him to take over my life.  That means sticking to a food plan which dictates 'normal'...........because there is NO WAY I can determine normal.

It is not my job to make that determination.  It is my job to stay AWAY from the trigger foods that will lead me down the road to a binge.  I am not, nor will I ever BE, a 'normal eater' and that's ok.  It is what it is.  

When I accept the truth is when I stop waging war.


When I recognize my limitations in the food arena, I am relieved of the obsession to binge, purge, diet, weigh myself constantly, and preoccupy myself with my appearance.


OA has allowed me to live a full life, where I am not the center of the universe and neither is my BODY.  My spiritual condition and serenity is WAY more important to me than what I put into my mouth.  My food plan TELLS me what to eat, and all I have to do is accept the terms of that plan.


One day at a time, I can do this.  One day at a time, I will accept the terms of my disease and turn the management of my life over to God.  He does a much better job of handling my life than I do, that's for sure!


For today, I accept the truth; I am different from my friends, family members & co-workers who are not compulsive overeaters.  But I am NOT alone with my situation...........I have many other compulsive overeaters to interact with.........and to help me realize I am NOT alone.