Columns and Suggested Topics for Connection

Ideas to get you writing for FA's magazine by food addicts for food addicts

Ideas to inspire your story

Readers want to hear what you were like physically, mentally, and spiritually before FA, how you found FA, and what you are like now in recovery. Please review Connection Writing Guidelines.

Columns currently included in most issues:

Qualification: Tell your story as you would when qualifying at a meeting. Some members write their story as a chronological history of their food addiction. As suggested in the A.A. Big Book, describe “what it was like, what happened, and what it’s like now.”
Feature: A feature is a theme-based article focused on a specific, meaningful event or incident. Your story might describe experiences while eating addictively and how you used the FA tools or Twelve Steps to face a challenge. A feature article may compare how you dealt with a situation in recovery, contrasted with what you did before FA.
No Matter What: This type of story describes a challenging situation and explains how you got through it abstinently. Common themes are attending special events or holiday parties, dealing with serious illness or death, dating, falling in (or out of) love, etc. Provide the details about what was going on, the tools you used or actions you took, and how you stayed abstinent.
First 90 Days: Describe your path to abstinence in FA (regardless of how short, long, or crooked it was). Help newcomers relate to your experiences during your early months, when regaining your abstinence, or following a return to FA.
Lighten Up: Relate a humorous, surprising, or witty encounter related to your recovery. Friends and family, especially children, provide excellent source material when misinterpreting or “reinterpreting” our FA practices, jargon, or phone calls. Be on the lookout for these special moments and share them.
Notable & Quotable: This is a recently added interactive column that draws on the wisdom of members in our fellowship. Each issue includes a question or prompt that the Connection committee has put out to the fellowship. Your short responses (one to five sentences) are compiled and published several times a year. Look for questions like “What have you learned about dating in recovery”, or “Which of the promises have come true for you in FA.”

Topics and Ideas

If you are here, you have a story of recovery to share. Keep in mind that it is most helpful to share, and even compare, your experiences before and after joining FA.

Early Days in FA

Sharing how you discovered FA
Learning how to shop for groceries, cook, and weigh and measure your food
Attending committed meetings every week
Feeling awkward during the 10-minute break
Learning the importance of service
Qualifying for the first time
Feeling the truth of “I am ____ and I am a food addict.”

Living in Recovery

Attending birthdays, weddings, graduations, and other special events
Having or not having children; parenting
Dating, being single, marriage, or divorce
Attending high school, college, and graduate school
Traveling
Eating in restaurants
Thinking through the consequences of breaking your abstinence
Addressing difficult or negative patterns of behavior, thought, or emotions
Learning patience and humility

Ways We Take Care of Ourselves

Recognizing when and how to use the FA tools
Being quiet/meditating for an entire 30 minutes
Building a relationship with a sponsor
Sponsoring others
Stretching out of our comfort zone
Doing service
Setting boundaries around work, family, friends, time, electronics, shopping, etc.
Resting when needed
Developing connections through phone calls

Spiritual Awakening

Recognizing that your food addiction isn’t just about food
Developing your understanding of, and connection to, your Higher Power
Describing when and how you “hit bottom”
Discovering or experiencing a miracle
Surprising yourself by saying or doing something that reflects your recovery

Consequences of Food Addiction

Having a near accident while driving and eating
Being diagnosed with any number of physical conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes
Relapsing and renewing your commitment to recovery
Being embarrassed when caught eating
Coming back to FA after leaving and gaining weight
Going into debt with overspending