Food for Thought: August 30th

Getting Honest with Ourselves

The day we realize that we are and always will be compulsive overeaters and that we can permit ourselves no deviousness when it comes to food - that is the day when we begin to take the OA program seriously. Half measures do not work. Lingering exceptions in the back of our minds will defeat us. Beginning the program with the idea of quitting when we have lost a certain number of pounds will not bring success.

Nothing short of an honest, wholehearted commitment to abstinence and the OA program will give us the ability to stop eating compulsively. If we think we can get away with small deviations here and there, we are deluding ourselves. Our disease is progressive, and unless we take the steps outlined in the program, it will eventually destroy us.

If we are not honest with ourselves, we are divided, weak, and sick. Getting honest means getting strong and well.

May I be directed by the truth.

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

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The day I realized I am and always will be a compulsive overeater is the day I found freedom from the disease. It's the day I accepted the fact that I had to stick to a structured Food Plan for life, and not treat it like a 'diet'.  Diets are temporary, and diets cause my disease to progress even further.  For every new diet I try, I wind up putting on even more weight than I had on me before the diet!  I 'behave' myself for X amount of time, give up, and go back to having binges that are worse than ever.  This is the definition of 'progression.'  How does eating a slice of cake turn into eating a whole cake?  By temporary dieting and treating my disease in a cavalier manner.  

When I insist that I, too, can be a 'normal' eater, like the rest of the world (HA!), that is when I am deceiving myself BIG time.  When I am not honest with myself is when I am weak, sick & miserable.  Getting honest with myself means that I treat my disease with ALL the seriousness it requires, and when I quit thinking I can CON my Food Plan.

I can't con my program AND find abstinence. Without abstinence, I AM my disease. 

With my Food Plan in place, I am peaceful & free, without the burdens of obsession & obesity weighing me down physically, mentally & spiritually.

For today, may I always be honest with myself. May I be directed by truth & humility. Cockiness will lead to my destruction.