Food for Thought: September 7th

I Am a Compulsive Overeater

The one fact, which I need to remember constantly, is that I am a compulsive overeater. If I forget it, I will eventually break my abstinence. There is no way that I can eat "normally," like most other people. I either eat according to my OA plan or I eat very abnormally, according to my compulsion.

Because I am a compulsive overeater, I do not take tastes of this or that, and I do not have snacks. I have found from sad experience that this kind of uncontrolled eating is impossible for me to handle. I know that I need to plan every day the three measured meals, which I will eat.

Because of the new life that OA has given to me, I am grateful for my disease. Without it, I would not have found the measure of peace and serenity, which comes to me every day as I work the program.

May I remember I am a compulsive overeater.

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

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If I 'forget' that I'm a compulsive overeater, I will take a taste of food that is not on part of my Food Plan. Taking that FIRST compulsive bite is what sets me off on a binge.  I have ONE goal each day, and that is NOT to take that first compulsive bite.  I stick to my food plan & my eating times, those rules are not negotiable. I eat 6 small meals a day at regular intervals, and one snack. When those foods are consumed, I am done eating for the day, period.

As a compulsive overeater, structure is what keeps me toeing the line.  Structure prevents chaos. I use food for fuel purposes only, and not as comfort or entertainment or escape from boredom.  When I use food as fuel for my body, then I am not abusing it and using it for all the wrong reasons.  If I were to eat a trigger food (sugar, primarily), then I can't stop myself from eating more & more.  There is no such thing as 'enough' so why get started to begin with?? I can literally eat 10,000 calories of junk food and still want more, long after my stomach is begging me to stop.

That's the nature of COE, and why a Food Plan is SO vital for success. Abstinence requires a solid plan of action, and a daily commitment to stick TO it.

I am grateful, in many ways, FOR my disease.  Without it, I would not have found the measure of peace & serenity which comes to me every day as I stay abstinent.  As a result of that, I can reach and and help others to reel THEIR disease into remission. 

For today, I am grateful to be a compulsive overeater, and I thank God for showing me a new way to live, free from the burden of obesity.