Food for Thought: January 30th

Eat Less, Enjoy More

Before we joined OA, we were eating more and enjoying it less. The more we ate, the more fat we had to lug around, and the harder it was to do anything, much less enjoy doing it. Feeling stuffed and guilty, we often did not even enjoy what it was that we were eating.

When our bodies are not overloaded with too much food and fat, we have energy for new activities. Our minds are sharper when they are not drugged with refined carbohydrates. Our emotions are more serene and positive when we are not full of despair and self-hatred.

Freed from the terrible compulsion to eat more and more, we have time and energy to spend learning a new sport, reading a story to a child, writing a poem. Whatever we choose to do, we enjoy it more when we are not overeating.

When we abstain, we feel good about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves, we feel good about life.

May I understand that for me, less food means more enjoyment.

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

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When I'm eating compulsively, I'm not eating for taste; I'm eating for volume. I don't care about 'enjoyment'..........I'm after the NUMBING factor, not what the food tastes like.

Why do I sometimes want to shut down? Because I am a compulsive THINKER. I have trouble shutting my MIND down, and sugar accomplishes that shut-down rather quickly. 

This is a ridiculous way to achieve mental peace! In the end,a binge has the OPPOSITE effect! I want to shut down, and I wind up in an even WORSE frame of mind afterwards!!!

The way to shut my mind down is through prayer & meditation. By focusing in on my breathing and to get in touch with my spirit, forgetting all about my body.

When I abstain, I feel good about ME, ALL of me! When I am compulsively eating, there is no such thing as 'enough' so why get started on that road to BEGIN with??????????

If I can't fill an emotional void with food, why try?

For today, I will fill any emotional voids with God & through prayer & meditation.