FOOD FOR THOUGHT- OA/AUGUST 2014

[MajestyJo]

Friday, August 1, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Promptings

If we are listening, we will hear promptings from the inner voice. Often they are suggestions for small acts of kindness and love. Sometimes they are urgings to do a difficult deed in order to correct a wrong or to apologize for a mistake. Whatever the prompting, we are free to ignore it or act on it.

Often, ignoring the prompting would appear to be the easiest course. Why should we go out of our way to help someone else, particularly if that person is a stranger? Apologies are frequently embarrassing and deflate our pride. Reaching out to someone with love makes us vulnerable to rejection, and we fear exposure.

In the long run, to ignore the promptings of our inner voice is to commit spiritual suicide. These promptings are intended for our growth, and if we do not grow in love, we will atrophy and decay. Through the Twelve Steps, our Higher Power leads us to do many things, which we would prefer to avoid, but which ensure our recovery.

I pray for willingness to follow the promptings of the inner voice.

Prompting is a polite word. How about getting our attention? Letting what goes around comes around and bites you in the a$$ until you learn.

The Inner Voice is there, I discounted it for years. I didn't know it was Good Orderly Direction. I was sure it was the devil, or the fearful God who was going to strike me dead for all the things I did that were called sin.

I knew that Jesus loved me, was told that as soon as I could hear and speak. I just didn't think that God believed in me, and according to the old tapes from the church and family, I was doomed to a living hell. Life became hell, I reached out and found a loving and forgiving God.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, August 2, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Motivation

Most of us fight the temptation to be lazy, to get by with doing the minimum instead of our best. When we were children, we had parents and teachers who urged us on to greater efforts. As adults, we have to depend more on internal motivation and less on the exhortations of others.

Working for strictly material goods is not enough to provide the impetus and enthusiasm we need. It is our Higher Power who gives us our talents and abilities, and it is His plan for their use, which we seek to follow.

Doing less than the best we can is short-changing ourselves. We miss the satisfaction that comes from stretching as far as we can. We also miss the opportunity to exceed former limits. The more we do, the more we are able to do.

Motivation comes from our Higher Power and can only be received, as we are willing to act. Thinking and planning have their place, but it is action, which generates fresh enthusiasm.

May I live up to the maximum of my abilities today.

I did good until I went into the pharmacy downstairs and bought a Magnum Infinity Chocolate Ice Cream bar.

I bought fruit and vegetables and good things to eat. Just had to have that treat that I feel I deserve. Thankfully, the thoughts didn't go into 'more' and I was able to stop eating after I ate it. That is the problem, one is too many, a thousand is never enough, if you let your disease take you, instead of you taking your disease and turning it over to your Higher Power. So glad this is a one day at a time program and I get to practice, practice, practice.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, August 3, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Speaking from the Heart

Through the OA fellowship, we offer each other mutual support. Since we believe that the Higher Power works through the group, what one of us is prompted to say is probably just what another member needs to hear.

Sometimes we are reluctant to speak of what is in our heart for fear of being embarrassed, belittled, or betrayed. We are so accustomed to masking our true feelings that we often lose touch with them. In OA, we are assured that what we say will be received in a spirit of acceptance and love. We do not need to be afraid of revealing our deeper selves.

It is a healing experience to belong to a group, which is dedicated to honest communication with a minimum of game playing. When we make a genuine attempt to describe where we are in our program, we are met with a warm and supportive response. Our Higher Power opens the way for meaningful communication and mutual love.

Open our hearts to You and to each other.

They say the longest journey we will take in recovery is from our head to our heart. Many of us don't see themselves that way, they don't realize that they have erected barriers and put in blocks, and they are talking off the top of their head. They are still looking outside of themselves instead of going within. That is where the heart is.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, August 4, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

God's Time

When we feel under pressure and fear that there will not be enough time to do the things we think we need to do, it helps to stop for a moment and remember that all time is God's. We may be wanting to do more than we should in the same way that we wanted to eat more than we needed. Exchanging compulsive overeating for compulsive activity is no solution to our problem.

Turning over our lives to our Higher Power as we begin each day allows Him to schedule what we will do and when we will do it. He knows our capabilities even better than we do, and He does not give us more to do than we can manage. To benefit from His guidance, we need to stay in touch with our inner selves and not get swept away by external demands.

In the past, we may have alternated between periods of non-productive lassitude and frantic bursts of activity. As we maintain ourselves on an even keel physically by abstaining from compulsive overeating, we learn moderation and order as God shows us how to use the time He gives us.

Please order the time which You give me every day.

God's Time, what a beautiful thing. How many times did we give up and lost our patience and tried to make things happen or give God a little hint or push in the way you would have Him go.

Like the last line. To me, when I live one day at a time, the whole day is His. Even when I fall asleep on the job, make a decision that leads me away, He brings me back. I have been given a second chance at life, why should I pick up things that will kill me. Sometimes I slip and sometimes I don't always realize where something will take me, but the biggest error is going away from God. No matter what the substance, it all leads to the same soul sickness.

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Future Phobia

Irrational worry about the future may have triggered eating binges before we found the OA program. Learning to live one day at a time is a necessary part of controlling our disease. Our instinct for security must not be allowed to run riot any more than the other instincts we are learning to control.

Trusting our Higher Power today ensures that we will trust Him tomorrow also. We do not know what the future holds for us, but we are assured of God's continuing care and support. To entertain irrational worries about what might or might not happen is to doubt the Power, which is restoring us to sanity. When we take Step Three without reservations, we give up our crippling anxieties.

We do not expect that life will be a rose garden in the future, any more than it is right now. There are problems and disappointments and pains to deal with. What we do expect is the strength to cope with whatever our Higher Power gives us, realizing that the difficult experiences are often the ones from which we learn the most.

May faith in You blot out fear.

Phobias are a part of my disease and when I am acting out in them, I have disconnected from my God and allowed fear to erode my faith.

My faith doesn't blot out fear, it replaces it. My faith heals it and allows me to have a change and allows me to not continue acting out in my dis-ease.

Phobias and paranoia are big issues with addicts. I can't, God can.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Planting Seeds

The closer we walk with our Higher Power, the more effective our Twelfth Step work is. We always remember that the best thing we can do for other compulsive overeaters is to maintain our own abstinence. Beyond that, we are given opportunities to spread the word as we go about our daily activities.

Mentioning what OA is doing for us may open the door to a new life for one of our friends. It may be a casual acquaintance or even a stranger who needs to hear about the program. Our instincts can guide us as to the best time and place to share news of our recovery.

Often, we may not know what effect, if any; our witness has had on another person. We may be annoyed if we are unable to "sell" the program to someone we think should have it. The results of our Twelfth Step work are in the hands of our Higher Power, and positive effects may show up long after we have planted a seed.

Show me where I may plant seeds of recovery.

I was told that I had to make sure I planted the seeds in fertile soil. Once they were planted, I could nurture them, but it wasn't up to me, it was their journey, their God, and I had to let, and pray that they will grow into a vessel and channel to carry on the message of recovery to others and in turn, pay it forward by sewing their own seeds.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, August 7, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Keep It Simple

Complicated food plans and complicated lives work against us in this program. We compulsive overeaters have a hard time making decisions about food, and the more simple our menus, the better. We also tend to overextend ourselves in other areas, dissipating energy, which we need for working our program.

Our three meals a day can be nourishing and attractive without being elaborate. If we spend too much time and energy planning and preparing our food, we run the risk of reactivating our obsession. Too much thinking about food usually leads to overeating and invariably produces mental turmoil.

For our peace of mind and emotional serenity, we need to keep the mechanics of our lives as simple as possible. If the spirit is to be free, it cannot be shackled by over concern with material things.

May I keep life simple today and use my energies for working the program.

Always a good suggestion to follow, my sponsor said, "A simple program for people who like to complicate things."

[MajestyJo]

Friday, August 8, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Reflecting Light

We are made to reflect the goodness and light of our Higher Power. In order to do this, we need to be as free as possible of the negative emotions and self-will which block out God's light. The light is always here. It is our job to keep ourselves free from the entanglements and hang-ups, which cloud our vision.

Our primary means of staying in the light is to abstain from compulsive overeating. Without clean abstinence, we become muddled in our thinking and in our emotions. God's light and love can shine through our lives if we are physically ready to receive and reflect.

Working the Steps frees us from the negative emotions, which block out the light. At first we may have wondered how the Twelve Steps were related to our problems. As we progress in the program, we see that without the spiritual growth, which they facilitate, we cannot be fully open to the light from our Higher Power.

Prepare me to reflect Your light.

Didn't do a good job today. I bought brownies and before I knew it they were all gone. There are 8 in a pkg. and round like a cupcake, the only thing is it takes two brownies to make a whole cupcake. I had two cupcakes, and when they kept calling me, an hour late I had another one and emptied the bag.

It is bad enough that they are chocolate brownies, but I added chocolate icing. I didn't stop to think of them as stuffing, fear, and comfort. I don't like Friday and ever week it is a confrontation between my son and myself.

I did meditation earlier in the day, again when I posted, but in between I had already bought the brownies. :( I have to forgive myself and ask my God for forgiveness. I thought they were better than taking pills, but it just goes to show you, the substance comes in many forms and they all lead to wanting more. Just for today,I choose not to buy any more brownies.

I knew it was wrong but I turned a blind eye and blocked the light.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, August 9, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Daily Inventory

When we are not functioning up to par, we need to find out where the problem is. If the day begins to fall apart and we feel overwhelmed and unable to cope, it may be a good idea to stop and take inventory.

Examining the quality of our abstinence is a good place to begin. Have we permitted thoughts of making a small exception here and there? Are we dwelling too much on what we will have for the next meal? Did we make a substitution, which gave us more carbohydrates than we could handle?

If the problem is not with abstinence, then it must be in our emotional or spiritual life. Are we harboring resentments, which are poisoning our outlook? Have we made a mistake, which we are unwilling to admit? Is there something we need to do for a family member that we are procrastinating about doing? Are we denying a legitimate need of our own?

Grant me the honesty to confront my weaknesses.

So important to my recovery. I went to meetings for about 10 days and just about every meeting I went to was Step 10. I went to a Big Book study out of town, thinking to escape Step 10, they were reading Step 10 from the Big Book. I went to Al-Anon and it was Step 10. Went to a 12 & 12 group I seldom go to, and they were discussing Step 10, I finally got the message when I went to NA and realized that I was doing the Step in the evening, and it was a recovery tool, to be used all day long.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, August 10, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

No Compromises

Where abstinence is concerned, there can be no compromising. In order to control our illness, we are willing to go to any lengths to maintain abstinence. Nothing else is as important to us.

If we are eating in a restaurant where the right kind of vegetable is not available, we can order two salads or do without a vegetable for one meal, rather than substitute a starch which will activate our disease. We learn what we can handle and what is not for us, and then we act on that knowledge in every situation. To compromise "just this once" is an invitation to trouble.

Just as we have a certain way of eating for the maintenance of our recovery, so we have a way of living based on the principle of rigorous honesty. Honesty in all of our activities is what makes us strong and effective. Where the core principles of our program are concerned, we do not compromise.

By Your grace, may I maintain my integrity in all situations.

So far, so good, no more brownies. Today it was do I get a sub or a pizza. I ended up with a medium mushroom and pepperoni pizza, which I ate half of.

Not the healthiest of choices, but my feet wouldn't take me to the mall Even if I can't eat big meals, I try to graze, a muffin, some fruit, a sandwich, etc. It seems like it is only with brownies that I just can't seem to have just one. God and I are still working on it.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, August 11, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Sloppy Thinking

If we begin to entertain thoughts of slight deviations from our food plan, thoughts of former binge foods, thoughts that maybe once in a while we could eat "normally," we put ourselves on shaky ground. Our disease is never cured, and sloppy thinking can lead to a weakening or loss of control.

"Normal" eating for us is abstinence. Our food plan is what saves us from bizarre eating behavior. There is no such thing as taking a vacation from abstinence.

The less we think about food, the better off we are. To remember the so-called pleasure we once associated with certain foods may cause us to forget the inevitable pain and anguish which eating them eventually produced. We do not want to ever return to the misery of compulsive overeating.

Giving our minds to our Higher Power ensures positive, healthy thinking.

Take my thoughts, Lord, and straighten them out.

Never thought of my thoughts as sloppy. If I think about it, if I don't stop to Hesitate and Meditate before I speak, they could certainly come out that way.

Not too big on organizing and discipline, as I believe in prayer and praying and asking my God for the words I need to say and the clarity and the knowing I need each day. My life is very much going with the flow. I am aware though that the second half of Step One, says my life is unmanageable. My life is unmanageable when managed by me. Control is an illusion. They say we can plan, but don't plan the outcome. That is good when not taken to the extreme because we want to control, people, places and things.

When I try to control my eating, I still think more. I believe that comes under God's Good Orderly Direction.

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

The Beacon

There are times when we get tired and depressed or elated and confused. We are mentally uncomfortable, knowing that something is wrong but unable to pinpoint the trouble. Our first thought may be to reach for food, but we know that way leads to disaster.

We compulsive overeaters have a beacon light for our dark and confused moments. It is our commitment to abstinence. No matter how confused we may be, we can remember that abstinence is the most important thing in our life without exception. Whatever happens, we will not be lost if we hold fast to our abstinence. From the commitment, everything else follows. As long as we do not overeat, we will be able to find our way out of a difficult situation.

Our Higher Power gives us the beacon light of abstinence, and with it He gives guidance out of our perplexities. Patiently waiting until we clearly see His will keeps us from getting lost in the darkness of self-will.

Thank You for the beacon light of abstinence.

Not sure I should respond, went to sleep in my chair, with a bad head ache and woke up stiff and sore with a worse one. It might have helped if I had gone to bed.

When I first saw this reading, I thought 'bacon' and then it grew into "bring home the bacon." It is ironic because I have trouble smelling bacon cooking.

As the reading says, "The beacon of light is there." It is up to me to acknowledge it instead of putting on the mask and shutting it out. Some people seem to find the darkness comforting because that is what they are use to and are afraid of what the light will reveal. It isn't about playing Blind Man's Bluff, it is about bring things to the light so they can heal.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Be Prepared

We need to be prepared for times when we will be tempted to eat the wrong kind of food. This may mean eating our planned meal before going to an event where the right food may not be available. It may mean adjusting our meal schedule so that we can wait to eat until after an event where the wrong kind of food is served.

In the past, we may have used the excuse of not hurting someone's feelings in order to rationalize a deviation from our food plan. No hostess should expect a guest to consume food to which he or she is allergic. We alone are responsible for what goes into our mouths. If we are faced with food, which will activate our illness, it is better to be hungry than to eat what makes us sick.

When we are willing to go to any lengths to maintain abstinence, we can find a way to deal with dangerous food situations. "No, thank you" is a very useful tool.

May I be prepared for times of temptation.


Like the "No, thank you." It speaks volumes as long as I continue to say it. I can only continue to do so, with the courage and strength that comes from my God.

We go through a grieving process when we lose the foods that we can no longer eat. Self-justification and rationalize are a danger. For example, me saying I can have it is made of chocolate. It is the amount of chocolate and the type of chocolate that I tend to stretch the truth on.

I also needed to be prepared for my disease slipping in, I don't have to physically pick something up, but I can be obsessive and compulsive about certain foods and think my way into eating.

I can allow my emotions to build without dealing with them and applying my program. Just because I have a feeling, doesn't mean I have to act on it. Old behaviours, I don't like this feeling, I don't want to go there, and we reach out for something, anything to stuff it and make it all go away.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, August 14, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Rationalizing

We compulsive overeaters are experts at making excuses for taking the line of least resistance. Before we entered this program, we could always find a reason for eating. How many times did we say, "Just one little bite can't possibly hurt"?

It is hard to say no to ourselves and to other people, even though we may realize that saying yes would be hurtful to our health or our integrity. We think up reasons for going along with what other people want us to do, rather than "rocking the boat" by standing up for what we know to be essential for our recovery.

Often we convince ourselves by rationalizing that all is well when it is not. Our emotional and spiritual health requires that we examine honestly our behavior and our relationships. When they are not right, we need to take action to correct them.

By Your light, may I see clearly.

Seems to me I was justifying about justifying a few days ago.

We don't have to give a reason for being, and I thought I did. I thought I had to justify my existence, those old tapes were hard to erase. How can you make a new tape when you don't have a clue, you can't know what you have never been taught.

Saying what we think someone else wants us to say, leaves us with no identiy and we live our life through others and lose ourselves.

[MajestyJo]

Friday, August 15, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Inner Tigers

What we fear facing and dealing with is often inside. We may transfer our fear and irritation to external circumstances and the people around us, when what we need to do is look inside. Usually, we are our own worst enemy.

Our fears go back to a time when we were very young and relatively helpless. We may still be afraid of rejection, of being inferior, of being hurt with no one to take care of us. We may have an irrational fear of economic insecurity, which comes from a time when we were aware of financial problems but were too young to understand them.

Whether our inner tigers are real or made out of paper, we need to face them instead of eating to appease them. As we recover from compulsive overeating, many of the fears, which we had tried to bury with food, come to consciousness. With the Power greater than ourselves, we are able to tame the inner tigers.

Secure in Your care, may I not fear self-discovery.

They use to tell us many years ago to put a tiger in the tank.

Sometimes that is good, because it can motivate us to get our rears in gear and get on with life.

Over the years, we forget he is there, and that our insides are often in an uproar, and all the chaos, fears, and bug-a-boos, we think are there, creates a lot of issues we need to deal with. We fear to look, maybe because we know there is a tiger in there and we are fearful, forgetting that he is a friendly tiger.

With our God, we should not fear. Fear is lack of faith and not putting our trust in our God to see us through it.

I believe it says in the Big Book of AA, if you have fear, go back to Step 3.

It doesn't matter what substance got us into this situation, God is willing and able to help us with ALL things. We are asked to put our life into His Care. Not just a portion of it, not just the things we can't control, because control is an illusion. As I have posted many times, because I was told many times, "Control is an Illusion, I don't have the power." When I surrender to God's Will, we are empowered to do what we need to do in today, to stay clean and sober.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, August 16, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Today Is the Day

Many of us have spent most of our lives dreaming of the day when we would be thin and attractive and able to do the things we want to do. We have put off living to some indefinite time in the future. As long as we were fat, we had a reason to avoid challenges and delay satisfactions. By not attempting to realize our dreams, we averted the risks of failure and the possibilities of success.

The OA program teaches us how to live today. One step at a time, we begin today to do the things we were putting off until tomorrow. We learn that we can live now, day by day, instead of waiting for the future.

Abstaining from compulsive overeating brings self-respect and determination to develop our unique potential. The time to get a job, take dancing lessons, be a friend - that time is now, today.

Thank You for the opportunities of today.

Each day is a new beginning. A day can start any time.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, August 17, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Punishing Ourselves

Most of us have been carrying around a load of guilt. We felt guilty about overeating and periodically used dieting as a form of self-punishment. We felt guilty about not being perfect, and we felt guilty unless we said yes to everything that everyone expected of us.

In this program, we learn to accept the fact that we are human and not perfect. Through the Steps, we are able to get rid of unnecessary guilt and make a fresh start each day. We do not need to continue to punish ourselves for past mistakes, either by overeating or by denying our legitimate rights as individuals.

Abstinence gives us freedom from compulsive overeating and freedom from self-punishment. We give our bodies what they need, and we also nourish our minds, hearts, and spirits. In our fellowship and in our contact with God as we understand Him, we experience the Power of love which wipes out guilt.

I am glad to learn that self-punishment is no longer necessary.

It is so important to take ourselves off the flogging tree. No one beat me up more than I beat up myself, and in my case, that took some doing. It isn't just about physical and cutting, but mental and emotional abuse.

I not only had to learn to love myself, I had to learn to like me too.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, August 18, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Self-Respect

When we were overeating, we did not have much self-respect. Because we felt guilty about the quantity of food we were consuming and the way we looked, we had a very poor self-image. Since we did not respect ourselves, we did not act in a way which evoked respect from others. We put ourselves down and allowed other people to use us.

Abstinence and the OA program produce a change, which is often astonishing. Our self-respect grows in direct proportion to the control we acquire. When we stop overeating and begin to live in accordance with the will of our Higher Power, we can accept and respect ourselves. Those around us respond to us differently as our own attitude improves.

What we realize is that self-respect and inner acceptance are more important than any external approval or disapproval. Instead of living for the admiration of others, we seek each day to follow the will of our Higher Power.

I am grateful for the self-respect OA has given me.

How can I expect others to respect me, if I don't respect myself.

Respect is something that is earned. I needed to earn it back because I didn't have very many principles left. Every time I picked up, no matter what the substance was, I lost a piece of me. It didn't matter what kind of food it was, whether it was pill to calm me because I was too fat or thin, or a little vino to wash it all down with. It was all about escape and coping with life., which I couldn't do without using people, places, and things.

I had a big void inside that needed filled with spiritual things.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, August 18, 2014

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go

Valuing this Moment

Detachment involves present moment living - living in the here and now. We allow life to happen instead of forcing and trying to control it. We relinquish regrets over the past and fears about the future. We make the most of each day.
—Codependent No More

This moment, we are right where we need to be, right where we are meant to be.

How often we waste our time and energy wishing we were someone else, were doing something else, or were someplace else. We may wish our present circumstances were different.

We needlessly confuse ourselves and divert our energy by thinking that our present moment is a mistake. But we are right where we need to be for now. Our feelings, thoughts, circumstances, challenges, and tasks - all of it is on schedule.

We spoil the beauty of the present moment by wishing for something else.

Come back home to yourself. Come back home to the present moment. We will not change things by escaping or leaving the moment. We will change things by surrendering to and accepting the moment.

Some moments are easier to accept than others.

As the slogan says, "This too shall pass." That means the good and not so good, so enjoy the moment when it is here, it may not pass again. If it does come back, it may be in a different format or another reality, and things just don't seem the same.

As it says, "We don't always find it easy to accept, but we don't have to like it, we just need to accept, it is the key to willingness and moving on with our life.

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Highs and Lows

Abstaining from compulsive overeating does not guarantee that we will always be on an even keel emotionally. We continue to have ups and downs, and often we feel emotional distress even more keenly when we are no longer using food as a narcotic.

Part of our program involves the striving for balance and perspective. Experience teaches us not to get carried away by either elation or depression. These are moods, which will not last, and we prefer to base our actions on the rational decisions, which we make in times of quiet reflection.

Contact with OA friends during periods when we are either high or low helps to put our emotions in perspective. By expressing what we feel, we are better able to deal with it. Some of us tend to make calls when we are up and others of us reach for help when we are down. Ideally, we will make contact both times so that we may strengthen each other and learn not to be overwhelmed by mood swings.

May I remember that You can control my highs and my lows.

So many times I hear people say, "I have control of myself." That does not carry a very good message. I have no control, I am powerless, without the empowerment of my God.

Control is an illusion, It is all in our head.

May I remember that You can control my highs and my lows.

The key word is "You." this is a 'we' program, I can't, God can, and each day I have a choice.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Togetherness

In this program, we are able to do together what none of us could achieve alone. We may have tried many ways to control our disease before we came to OA, but they did not work or we would not be here.

We share a common illness and a common cure. Abstinence is possible as we share it with each other. The program works as we work it together. Each of us is an individual, but we function best with the support of the group. If we neglect to go to meetings and make phone calls, we cut ourselves off from the strength and inspiration we need.

Our Higher Power works through each of us as we share what we have been given. We do not achieve and maintain abstinence by ourselves. Most of us overate alone. Learning to live without overeating involves learning to live with other people. Our fellowship is our recovery, and together we grow.

Thank You for our togetherness.

A support group was so important, especially getting together with my sponsor.

I lost my first little black book, and I phoned my sponsor, full of fear, I thought I would relapse without it. I was fortunate, my room mate had put a lot of my number on speed dial on the phone. My God does work in my life and He puts wonderful people in my path.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, August 21, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Fake Gods

Our Higher Power is that which we can turn to in times of stress. In the past, we turned to food, thus making it in fact our Higher Power, even though we may not have realized what we were doing. Food is not capable of being a Higher Power for anyone; food is a thing. By turning to food in stressful situations, we cheated ourselves with a false god.

Lurking in the back of our mind, there may still be some false gods. We may think that more money or an exciting love affair would give us permanent security and happiness. The desire for popularity may be deluding us into thinking that we can please everyone if we try hard enough.

The beauty of the OA program is that it shows us, day by day, the Higher Power who will not let us down. As we see our false gods for what they are, we grow in truth. Daily communion with God as each of us understands Him gives us an intimate relationship with the One to whom we can turn in times of stress.

Thank You for revealing my false gods.

I was told that anything that I put before my God and comes between us and is a priority in my life, becomes my false god.

Found this to be especially true when it came to my computer and eating disorder.

Sorry I didn't copy this from my other site or I put it in the wrong place somewhere. Looks like I had a senior moment.

[MajestyJo]

Friday, August 22, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Emotional Abstinence

When our eating was out of control, our emotions were also out of control. Even after we accept physical abstinence from compulsive overeating, we may still go on emotional binges. This indulgence leaves us depleted and hung over and wreaks havoc in our relationships with those we love.

The Twelve Steps are our guide to emotional abstinence. They are the means by which we can live without being destroyed by anger, envy, fear, and all of the other negative emotions. Working the Steps frees us from our slavery to self-centered, irrational reactions, which harm ourselves and others.

Realizing the damage, which comes from hanging on to anger and resentment, we gradually become able to turn these feelings over to our Higher Power before they get out of hand. Accepting ourselves means that we can accept others for what they are without trying to manipulate them or expect them to be perfect. Controlled by our Higher Power, we learn to avoid emotional binges.

May I remember the importance of emotional abstinence today.

A good one! So much of addiction is due to emotions and allowing them to direct us and my thinking always took me into more.

I never thought that I had an eating problem. I remember saying, "I am eating because I am upset, if that a$$hole didn't do...."

Never under stood how that more feeling was associated with me eating, whether I didn't because I was fat or because I was fat and who cares and ate what I wanted, 80% not healthy, especially when I add the butter. Everything is better with butter on it, has been my slogan for years. The same as a little bit of sugar will make things go down real smooth and make everything taste better, whether it was food or just life in general.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, August 23, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Envy

When my inside looked at your outside, I overate. Envy of what others seemed to be and of the possessions they had was a prime trigger for overeating, turning to food to compensate for an apparent lack. No amount of food can satisfy envy.

Why is it that the other person seems so much more fortunate, or talented, or happier than we? We are painfully aware of our own inadequacies and quick to envy whoever appears to "have it together." Looking at the outside image or mask is deceptive, however, and prevents us from seeing that underneath is a fellow human being beset with problems and difficulties just as we are.

Who we are, where we are, and what we have is God's gift to us. What we do with ourselves is our gift to God. The more we seek to do His will, the less we envy our neighbor's abilities and possessions. The peace of mind we receive through this program fills us with such gratitude that there is increasingly less room for envy.

Take away my envy, I pray.

What a soul eating defect of character defect. So much of my life was looking at what others had, and as they say, "The grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Had a lot of healing in this area. For one, it was okay to be me. Secondly, when I quit smoking, drinking, and partying I had money to spend on healthy things. When I started buying foods that were good for me and cooking them in a healthy way, cut back on my portions, and learned to exercise by pushing myself away from the table.

My doing the right do thing for me, I lost weight, about 30 lbs worth.

It seemed like I always wanted what I didn't have. I would get a thought about a certain dress or an article of clothing or house wares. Before you know it, I had bought it, only to learn it wasn't worth all the obsession and compulsive spending and always wanting that 'more' when in fact, I should have taken my feelings to my Lord.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, August 24, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Exercise

We are made to be physically active. When we were loaded down with food and fat, we probably moved around as little as possible. Now that we eat for health, we have the necessary energy to exercise our bodies.

Taking the stairs rather than the elevator, walking instead of riding, a few simple calisthenics when we need a break from work, a jump rope - there are many ways to begin an exercise program in easy stages. We do not need to train to become Olympic athletes, but we do need to keep our bodies in good working order.

Each day we also need mental, emotional, and spiritual exercise. Reading something worthwhile, refraining from criticism, performing a service for someone anonymously, taking time for prayer and meditation --these are actions which develop our minds, hearts, and spirits. Our growth in the program depends on overcoming resistance and inertia each day and taking concrete steps to improvement.

By Your power, may I overcome laziness.

Had to look at my lack of energy and chronic fatigue as a natural things or just a laziness thing. My father use to tell me I was born lazy. When I look at past work, I often did the work of 2 or 3 people. Perhaps my thought of laziness was mental and emotional fatigue, even back then.

I know I am quite capable of being lazy. There is a difference between getting showered and dressed and unable to get out my door.

Sometimes I don't want and I don't, just because. In the past, I had to have a list of self-justifications and reasons for being as to why I didn't want to do. Today I don't have to justify my reason for being. If I don't feel like cooking or eating, it just is. Some days just making a sandwich seems like too much. If I cook, I often can't eat.

Not sure if it is part of my eating disorder or Fibromyalgia, it doesn't matter, it just is and I need to be accepting in the moment in order to change or to just be and allow my God to heal in the moment.

Many times if others cook it and put it in front of me, I still can't eat, although I make a valiant effort. It could be mental blocks too, it doesn't matter what label is put on me, it is about what I do with it. Most times it is just take it to my God and we will work on it together.

When it comes to exercise, I know it is not good to be a couch potato. Once I get down there, I don't want to get up.

Sometimes it is just going downstairs or a walk to the mall with my walker. Other days it is just getting up and doing my daily routine, but I have been given exercises to help my circulation by a physio therapist. Sometimes I forget to do them until I am hurting, but my memory does that to me. I often forget to eat too and don't eat until 8-9 p.m. and that is not good for my diabetes. There is so much in a day, that I am grateful that life is about one day at a time.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, August 25, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Being Available

In our search for security, we turned to food in times of stress. Now we are growing in reliance on our Higher Power instead of food. We do not, however, "use" the Higher Power the way we tried to use food. We do not use God; He uses us.

What we do is make ourselves available to the Higher Power, and open to light and guidance. We pray each day that we may do His will, not ours. Often this means a more flexible schedule than we may have had in the past. Since the Higher Power is ever creative and new, we cannot cling to our old routines and habits. To insist on our time, our way, our plan is to block out God's guidance.

Sometimes we may be called on to perform a service, which means giving up our plan for the day. When the prompting comes from deep within, following it will further our growth in the program.

Today I will be available for Your use.

This is why I say that I used and abused people, places, and things for years. In today, my God utilizes people, places, and things to show me a new way of living.

So grateful for the people my God has put in my path, even those who have taught me what not to do in order to recover.

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

A Living Program

The Twelve Steps are a program for living and they are also a living program. Taking them is not something we do once and for all, but something we repeat over and over in greater depth. They are our guidelines for each day.

Our program develops as our understanding matures. When we first join OA, physical abstinence from compulsive overeating may be all we can handle. As we learn from fellow members and are increasingly exposed to the power of the group, our program comes to include more emotional and spiritual elements. The possibilities for development are limitless.

One thing leads to another. The creative force that guides OA directs our individual efforts. When we are open to the challenges and willing to give up self-will, we make progress, which gratifies and astounds us. This program not only works as we work it; it also grows as we grow.

We thank You for Your creative spirit.

Have a creative program sure make life more interesting and enriching. Even creative ways to look and prepare food, will help us what to eat healthy.

I used smaller plates, easier than putting less food on a big plate.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Accepting Reality

Failure, death, divorce, disease, and betrayal - these are all part of the world we live in. We agonizingly search our minds to figure out why, but are unable to come up with any satisfying answers. We pray for the serenity to accept the reality of life.

Previously, we tried to deny reality by overeating. What that did was make reality worse for us. Abstaining from compulsive overeating and working the steps of the OA program give us the strength to cope with reality and accept the things we cannot change. We often feel as though we are on a long uphill climb. Let's not forget that if it were not for abstinence and our Higher Power, we would be rapidly sliding downhill.

Whatever our situation, it is better to face it squarely than to delude ourselves with excess food. None of us escapes pain and suffering. By turning them over to our Higher Power, we are strengthened by our hardships, rather than destroyed.

May we have the courage and strength to accept life as it is.

Had to accept today, I was sick. I bought some instant cup of chicken soup. Upset stomach, chest pains and cramping made it easy to see, I was sick and had to give myself some TLC.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, August 28, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Willingness

When we were overeating, we were negative and fearful. We alternated between avoiding work and feeling responsible for everybody and everything. An important part of our recovery is willingness: we become willing to change, willing to abstain, willing to learn. As we work the program, we become willing to allow our Higher Power to remove our character defects.

All of this does not happen overnight. When we get discouraged and make mistakes, we are willing to try again. We are willing to follow the lead of our Higher Power. As we see evidence of His care, we begin to trust that He will not require of us more than we are capable of doing.

To be willing is to hold ourselves ready and available for God's direction. We do not jump into situations prematurely, and we do not close our minds in refusal to change. We are willing to grow and serve and, especially, willing to believe.

Increase my willingness.

As I have found many times in recovery, I have had to pray for the willingness to be willing.

[MajestyJo]

Friday, August 29, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Love God and Work the Program

How clear everything becomes when we put abstaining and recovering from compulsive eating first in our lives! As we recover, we grow in love for the Higher Power, which makes possible our new life. Loving God and working the program becomes our main purpose every day. From this, all else follows.

When we are confused and harried by conflicting demands on our time and attention, we need to withdraw for a moment and get back in touch with the God within. As long as we are sincerely trying to do His will, we do not have to be upset by negative responses from other people, whether their disapproval is real or imagined.

As our Higher Power provides a focus for our love, working the program provides a focus for our energies and ambitions. Whatever our situation, we are each capable of growing along spiritual lines, and it is this growth and progress which gives us deep, lasting satisfaction.

Accept my love and work.

Sorry, when I posted this yesterday, didn't notice that it hadn't changed and ended up with a duplicate.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, August 30, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Getting Honest with Ourselves

The day we realize that we are and always will be compulsive overeaters and that we can permit ourselves no deviousness when it comes to food - that is the day when we begin to take the OA program seriously. Half measures do not work. Lingering exceptions in the back of our minds will defeat us. Beginning the program with the idea of quitting when we have lost a certain number of pounds will not bring success.

Nothing short of an honest, wholehearted commitment to abstinence and the OA program will give us the ability to stop eating compulsively. If we think we can get away with small deviations here and there, we are deluding ourselves. Our disease is progressive, and unless we take the steps outlined in the program, it will eventually destroy us.

If we are not honest with ourselves, we are divided, weak, and sick. Getting honest means getting strong and well.

May I be directed by the truth.

The program doesn't work without that self-honesty. It is need to work the Steps, but it also needed for total abstinence from all drugs.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, August 31, 2014

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Accepting Guidelines

Some of us have gone through life thinking that we did not need to follow any guidelines. Somehow, we got the idea that special circumstances placed us above the rules. We looked for shortcuts and rebelled against the tedium of discipline. Considering ourselves exceptional, we decided to make our own guidelines. These were usually based on doing what we felt like when we felt like it.

When we get to OA, we may spend a short or a long time experimenting with the program, adjusting it to suit ourselves. Sooner or later, we discover that our adjustments do not work. The OA program works, provided we follow the rules and work it as it is, not as we might like it to be.

Once we accept the rules at a gut level, they lead us out of negative restraint into positive freedom. By following a few simple guidelines, we become free from slavery to compulsive overeating and self-centered confusion.

Thank You for Your guidelines.

It took a lot of accepting on my part. All my life it was rules and regulations, and I felt they were meant to be broken, and if you didn't break them, you bent them to fit the occasion.

I was one of those people that tried to put things together without reading the instructions first. :(