Food for Thought: March 12th

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. ©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation.

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It's always frightening to think of how life is going to be without my drug(s) of choice to 'help' me. Giving up excess food, cigarettes & booze was tough..........but not AS tough as it was to 'use' those drugs and feel terrible about myself. 

It always surprises me when I hear somebody say they're depressed or anxious when they stop overeating. Many of us use excess food precisely AS an anti-depressant or an anti-anxiety cure. I get depressed every single time I stop smoking (which is why I go BACK)..........and even this time around, with a prescription for Wellbutrin, I am STILL depressed after quitting on December 4th.  I can go back............which will cure one level of depression...........but it will bring ON another level of depression because I've failed yet AGAIN, and, now I'm going to worry all the time about getting lung cancer.

So...............one way or another, I have to fight off SOME level of depression when I give up my drug(s) of choice.

Sooner or later, life begins to feel normal without the drug(s) of choice, but boy howdy, it's a BEAR getting from point A to point B!!!!!!!!!!!

For today, and ONLY today, I agree to abstain from my drugs of choice