Food for Thought: May 21st

A Reason to Be Thin

How many times have we been determined to lose weight for a specific occasion or event? A trip, a wedding, a new job, a holiday - there are many such occasions which may have provided inspiration for short term reducing. The problem with losing weight for a specific event is that when it is over there is nothing left to provide an incentive for maintaining the weight loss.

Many of us have spent years losing and gaining the same pounds over and over again. Since the reasons for losing were superficial, the loss was temporary.

What we need is a permanent reason to be rid of fat. When we abstain from compulsive eating and work the OA program, we not only lose weight but we also live better. We have more enthusiasm, satisfaction, and peace of mind, as well as better looks and health. Our reason to be thin is that it gives us a richer, fuller life not just for one occasion but every day. The benefits are worth the price.

May I want to be thin for the right reasons.

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

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I call it 'event dieting'...........wanting to lose X amount of pounds in X amount of time to fit into a certain dress & look good at the class reunion.  When the event passes, so does the desire to lose weight and the incentive to keep it off.  Yo yo dieting is the obvious result of such behavior, and every time we embark on a new one, we weigh more than last time, the binges are worse than ever before, and the hopelessness is palpable.

Abstinence is not a 'diet'. Abstinence is a Food Plan for sanity; something we follow in an effort to avoid the chaos of compulsive eating. Sometimes we forget how bad the chaos WAS while we were compulsively eating, and so we go back...............we'll overeat, 'just this once', to see what will happen. What happens is............we go right back into the clutches of the disease and the addiction triggers again.............and God knows HOW long it takes to get back to the sanity of the Food Plan!

A Binge Too Far, my blog

 Have you reached a point in your program where you’re ready to give UP? To quit entirely, because you can’t seem to get back on track? 

We see an awful lot of people re-committing  after having regained all the weight they’ve lost on the first go-around.  I know that feeling myself, since I spent 4 decades losing and regaining weight, yo yo dieting like a madwoman. 

Why do we DO this? Why do we work SO hard to lose a lot of weight and then wind up regaining it after we give up?

Usually, it’s because we’ve taken a few too many off plan bites. Which led to binges. Which led to one binge too MANY.  There seems to be an invisible line we cross at some point…………..where we lose the battle with self-control………….and we give UP. 

 A binge too far.

Do you know what I’m talking about? 

We stay on plan for a long period of time; the cravings subside and we’re feeling peaceful about food.  Then we fall off plan for whatever reason.  Suddenly our taste buds are all revved up and the cravings come back with a vengeance.  The food obsession kicks in, yet again, and we’re not quite sure WHAT to do to get back on track.

We’re back in the clutches of food addiction rather quickly, and we’re struggling mightily.

We don’t want to give up, but the food is very alluring.  It’s beckoning us constantly, it’s calling our name wherever we go. It’s everywhere and we’re finding it impossible to resist.

Unfortunately, this is the nature of food addiction in general.   And, we’ve given in so many times already, why not give in again? Just for one more day………..one more time…………..one more binge.

Will this be the binge you can’t recover from? Will this be the invisible line you cross over? I don’t know…………and neither do YOU.

Right now you’re faced with a big question: Do you give in AGAIN? Do you quit and regain all the weight you’ve worked so hard to lose?

Or, do you recommit yourself NOW, before you get even further into the muck?

There is no ‘easy’ way. There is either adherence to the Food Plan or there is chaos.

Today, choose peace.  Today, say NO to the chaos.  Today, take YOUR program BACK before it’s too late.  Don’t find yourself back to your starting weight and needing to recommit again.  Do it NOW. Because you know you WILL be back if you regain this weight. And while it may seem like all this delicious food is ‘worth it’, it ISN’T. And you KNOW that.

Don’t fall for the lies the food is promising you. That you’ll feel better after you eat it. You won’t. You will feel worse……….you will feel like a failure.

Come back NOW. Don’t question WHAT to do……………recommit to the Food Plan……don’t tweak it, don’t question it………just come back TO it, today. NOW. In the end, it’s easier than going back to the hopelessness of obesity, isn’t it?