FA and Undereating

---

The free 12-Step program of Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) can help undereaters stabilize at a normal weight

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) addresses the underlying causes of undereating:

• Anxiety or depression about one's body size
• Inabilty to control one's eating
• Fear of food or of gaining weight
• Excessive dieting
• Obsession with thinness or body image
• Self-hatred

Take this quiz to see if you are a food addict.

TAKE QUIZ

"Thinness was more important than my health. Today, my weight is normal."

When I was an adolescent, I became obsessed with food and weight, and driven to lose weight by dieting and excessive exercise; I could think of nothing else. I starved myself and did not allow any fatty foods to enter my mouth. I was repulsed by the thought of even a single stick of gum because I realized that each stick had 10 calories. I lost water weight by wrapping myself in plastic bags under my workout clothes before I ran for miles or exercised in our basement. If anyone tried to interfere, I became nasty. Finally, I was working out four hours a day, I had to exercise in order to feel thin, but I never felt thin enough. I didn't care if I was sick—achieving thinness was more important to me than my health.

Then, by God's grace, I hit bottom. God answered my prayer and placed Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous in my path. Today, my weight is normal and I am free. I am a miracle.

"I was so small I had to wear children's clothes—then I lost control and weighted 180 pounds."

As a child, I spent hours in front of the mirror. I thought my cheeks were too round, my legs too fat, and that my ears stuck out. When I heard about a girl who was anorexic, I was fascinated.

When I was a teenager, I was thin, pretty, and popular with the boys. Inside, though, I felt that there was something wrong with me. I hated my body. I hated becoming a woman. I felt so out of control; I was disgusted with myself. I thought the answer was to be thinner. I started starving when I was 17 years old, and did not stop until I was brought to a clinic because I was undernourished and weak I could no longer walk. 

From the moment I joined FA, I felt liberated and joyful. Finally, I knew what and how much to eat! I was also very grateful that I felt so accepted.

For the first time, I found a group of people who had the same kind of stories as mine. I was not an awful, terrible person—I have an illness and there is a solution.

I have been in recovery for 30 years. I am married to a wonderful man and have a very satisfying, responsible job. This has all happened only because my life is no longer controlled by my destructive urge to starve. For that, I thank FA.

"I thought I had to be perfect."

When I was a teenager, I began to feel that if I couldn’t be perfect, I was nothing. I used many techniques to control my weight and stay “perfect.” Some of the tricks I used to get the scale to move included obsession with my body weight and the scale, over-exercising, restricting food, and taking diet pills. I had a very hard time owning up to the fact that I couldn’t be perfect 100% of the time.

FA has taught me that I am human and that everyone makes mistakes. It is a relief to be a normal human who does not have to be perfect.

"Whether I was under 100 pounds or more, my thoughts were always on food."

I was never very interested in food as a child, but got the idea that I was fat and ugly and should get thinner. So as a teen, I got into starving myself. This progressed to starving and bingeing. Whatever I was doing with food, whether I was under 100 pounds or more, my thoughts were never far from the obsession about it.

FA broke the obsession. I handed my food over to the scales and a sponsor. I learned to speak kindly to myself. As I used all the tools of the program, my mind and spirit became clearer and happier.

Find out more about how FA works and learn what steps to take to get started.

MORE ABOUT FA