Nourishment or Drug?
During our overeating days, many of us used food as an all purpose drug. It was a pep pill when we were depressed and a tranquilizer when we were uptight. We turned especially to refined carbohydrates as uppers and downers. As a result, we spent most of our time either artificially stimulated or lethargic.
When we stop using food as a drug and eat only what our bodies need for proper nourishment, we experience emotions which had been buried by overeating. We feel anxiety, fear, and anger. We also feel joy, enthusiasm, and love. We are alive instead of doped up.
We need to express and share our emotions, and in OA we find people who will help us do that. We no longer have to bury our true feelings with food. As we learn to rely on our Higher Power for support in the little things that come up as well as the big things, then we are able to face the day without a drug.
By abstaining, we learn who we really are and what we really feel.
May I not be afraid to live without a drug.
From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980During our overeating days, many of us used food as an all purpose drug. It was a pep pill when we were depressed and a tranquilizer when we were uptight. We turned especially to refined carbohydrates as uppers and downers. As a result, we spent most of our time either artificially stimulated or lethargic.
When we stop using food as a drug and eat only what our bodies need for proper nourishment, we experience emotions which had been buried by overeating. We feel anxiety, fear, and anger. We also feel joy, enthusiasm, and love. We are alive instead of doped up.
We need to express and share our emotions, and in OA we find people who will help us do that. We no longer have to bury our true feelings with food. As we learn to rely on our Higher Power for support in the little things that come up as well as the big things, then we are able to face the day without a drug.
By abstaining, we learn who we really are and what we really feel.
May I not be afraid to live without a drug.
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I used food as a drug......eating to excess during times of emotional stress, boredom, anxiety, depression and fear. Of course, all that food worsened my stress, anxiety, depression & fear, leading me to eat more & more to ward off those feelings. And so, the vicious cycle is born.
Only through abstinence have I learned to feel my emotions & to express them in a healthy fashion. It's not always easy, or fun, to experience these feelings.........and sometimes, it seems easier to self-medicate with food than it does to abstain. But then, I am only living half a life, since I manage to block out the JOY along with the pain when I anesthetize myself with food.
OA has enabled me to live a full life, finally, after 40 years of yo yo dieting. I no longer need sugar & junk
food as much as I need my legs to stand on. God allows me to stand on my own, with His help, without the false security of a crutch that's more of a ball & chain around my ankle.
For today, I am learning who I really am & how I really feel and, for today, I am not afraid to live without a drug.
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