Food for Thought: March 13th

No More Diets

OA is not another diet club. Abstinence is not something we go on for a while, until we achieve a desired weight goal, and then go off. We are through with diets. In the past, they may have worked for a time, but sooner or later we became bored with them, quit, and regained the weight we had lost.

OA is a program of recovery. We discover that what we eat is not the most important thing in our lives. Each day we plan what is necessary for the nourishment of our bodies, and then we are free to forget about food and go on with our living.

Instead of following a diet for a certain length of time, we maintain abstinence from compulsive overeating every day of our lives so that we may feel good and function effectively. We work the program, live the Twelve Steps, and enjoy each day as never before. We are recovering.

Thank You for the gift of recovery.

From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation.
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I can't 'quit' being abstinent, like I can a diet. Abstinence is a lifestyle............a way of life that doesn't allow for going on binges or overeating.

Abstinence is the avoidance of chaos. I stick to a pre-determined Food Plan, eating food to nourish my body but not my mind.  I eat for fuel purposes..........not for entertainment or emotional comfort. I work the Steps and seek emotional support from God and my loved ones. 

When I use food as a drug, there is never enough.............there is no satisfaction to be found, no matter HOW much I eat!! Practicing abstinence allows me to live with joy, as God intended me to live.

For today, I will not diet.  For today, I will stick to my Food Plan of abstinence, which prevents me from obsessing about food.

For today, I will live in peace, and repeat the Serenity Prayer when need be:

God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The Courage to change the things I can
And the Wisdom to know the difference.