Food for Thought: August 13th

Be Prepared

We need to be prepared for times when we will be tempted to eat the wrong kind of food. This may mean eating our planned meal before going to an event where the right food may not be available. It may mean adjusting our meal schedule so that we can wait to eat until after an event where the wrong kind of food is served.

In the past, we may have used the excuse of not hurting someone's feelings in order to rationalize a deviation from our food plan. No hostess should expect a guest to consume food to which he or she is allergic. We alone are responsible for what goes into our mouths. If we are faced with food, which will activate our illness, it is better to be hungry than to eat what makes us sick.

When we are willing to go to any lengths to maintain abstinence, we can find a way to deal with dangerous food situations. "No, thank you" is a very useful tool.

May I be prepared for times of temptation.

From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation.

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Abstinence is hard work. Probably THE hardest work I've EVER had to do in my life. But what is the alternative?

The alternative is to go back into the clutches of compulsive overeating where EVERY facet of life is compromised. There is no joy in this disease; there is only fear & misery & self-loathing.

When self-pity sets in, as it ALWAYS does, we have to remember what this disease strips us of.  It strips us of dignity, of self-love, of pure joy in the day-to-day beauty of LIFE.  FOR WHAT? For the temporary 'comfort' of eating some FOOD?????????? 

People, it is SO NOT WORTH IT. Step back & think BEFORE you take that first compulsive bite. Take EVERY precaution to AVOID it.  Make abstinence your NUMBER ONE PRIORITY in life, otherwise, you risk falling back into the darkness where excess prevails, and snuffs OUT everything that is beautiful in life.

The disease will have you believe that nobody loves you; that you are worthless and under appreciated. That you have nothing to offer and you should isolate & hide.  This is the nature of food addiction, which I believe to be STRONGER and even MORE powerful than drug addiction.  Drug addicts get clean, once and for all, and their addiction goes into remission and sleeps like a baby. Oh sure, they entertain the thought of using now & then, but it's a lot easier to slough off those thoughts than it is for compulsive overeaters.  COEs think there is no real harm in having a small taste of this or that, after all........EVERYBODY is eating, why can't I?

I can't have a small taste of this or that because for ME, that first bite is my ticket back to HELL.

In the end, it is far easier to say No Thank You than it is to invite the devil out to play.  It's one helluva job getting him to go back HOME once he's out.

For today, I am putting Abstinence on the TOP of my priority list.  No if's, and's or but's about it. I involve myself with compulsive overeaters ALL day long and what I see breaks my heart into pieces. I see the disease taking OVER, and making people FORGET the beauty of life in Recovery.

For today, let's ALL remember what FREEDOM feels like and looks like. It feels like heaven and it looks like Abstinence.