Food for Thought: February 5th

Slumps

Most of us go through periods in our lives when nothing seems interesting, when our motivation and enthusiasm have deserted us. We feel dull and bored and depressed. Whether the slump lasts for an afternoon or for a month or for a year, the compulsive overeater tends to turn to food as a way out. For us, food has been exciting, and eating often used to be the most pleasurable activity we could imagine.

As most of us know all too well, eating is not a permanent solution to boredom. We may get a temporary high from food, but we invariably eat too much and end up feeling infinitely worse than before we started. Boredom is better than a binge. Food does not motivate nor does it generate enthusiasm. Overeating has just the opposite effect.

Joining OA does not ensure that we will never again experience boredom or have the blahs. What it does provide is a program of action to which we may turn when we are in a slump. Going to meetings, making phone calls, reading the literature, working the Steps - these are concrete actions we can take.

We have tried food and found that it eventually made things worse. Now let's try the OA program.

Give me grace to act.

From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation.
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When I feel the need/desire to overeat and to break my abstinence, I remember HALT! I can't let myself get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired........because I will want to eat under those circumstances. I'll add in Boredom as well. Actually, there are few situations where I DON'T want to overeat! Happiness AND sadness lead me to want to eat! Truthfully, there are few times where I don't want to overeat.............only stress makes me turn AWAY from food.  Once the stressful situation has passed, however, THEN I am tempted to overeat.

Sigh.

For today, my food plan is not contingent upon my emotions. Regardless of whether I'm feeling bored or having the blahs, I WILL stick to my food plan because it represents calm instead of chaos. 

For today, I will not allow my emotions to dictate my abstinence.