In early recovery I was told, “This program is portable and can be worked under all conditions.” Fortunately, that has been my experience. This is my second time in FA. I was in for about a year about 10 years ago, where I was able to attend meetings. I struggled with the program and getting time up, trying to put FA on top of my “busy” life. I moved, where there are no meetings and left the program, doubting whether it was possible for me to get abstinent without meetings anyway. The “gift of desperation” brought me back four years later. Since that first day, through God’s grace and the tools of this program, I’ve not needed to pick up the food, one day at a time. I believe this is largely due to the enormous support this program offers including outreach calls, the audio recordings on CDs and downloads,... Continue Reading
Today, I know I’ve discovered a miracle. I didn’t come to FA for that reason, but amazing things happened when I became willing. I came to this program because I was fat. I finally became willing during the period between my two children’s weddings. I had been “dieting” for a nearly a year, unable to lose the 10-15 pounds (4.5-6.8 k) needed to fit into an already-purchased dress for my daughter’s wedding (the second of the two). At my son’s wedding, I had still been hovering a few pounds over 200 (90.7 k) and had had to buy a dress in a size I’d hoped to never see again. That size represented the shame associated with my weight. “Here I am again, unable to get it together, even for something as important as my son’s wedding.” Every day when I got up, I had to face the dress for my... Continue Reading
When I first joined FA I knew I was home. I went to four meetings per week, not because I had to but because I didn’t know what to do with all my free time now that I was not eating addictively all day. When I put down the flour, sugar, and other substances, the young, 21-year-old egotistical part of me could not wait to get my 90 days and qualify in front of the room and share my story, because I was so thrilled to be in FA and share what I had found. I had 65 days of solid abstinence and was on my way! However, one night while baby-siting, the mother of the children offered me a snack. I politely declined, but she kept offering it to me over and over. I was so intimidated by her that I just took the treat and popped it in... Continue Reading
At my first FA meeting, I was angry. I weighed 243 pounds (110.2 k) and was humiliated that I had to be in what I thought was “group therapy” for fat people. The funny thing was that only three of us in the room were fat. The rest of the members were slim, and I thought for sure they knew nothing about food addiction or being overweight. I decided that I would play the game. I would simply go along with them in order to get the food plan. I’d go to meetings long enough to lose my weight, and then I would vanish and live a happy life as a skinny person, riding off into the sunset. It is six and a half years later, and I do live a happy life and am in a right-sized body. However, I have not vanished from FA. I didn’t leave FA... Continue Reading
Twenty years ago, I saw a new doctor for a package of symptoms including arthritis, aches and pains, and depression. She explained the results of a battery of blood tests, exam results, and consultations. Then she diagnosed my only real medical problem—obesity. She handed me the FA leaflet and suggested I consider the program. I resisted. I had been in OA and hadn’t lost enough weight to matter, had a history of serious dieting, and had given up. Other than a few light mentions of the benefits of weight reduction, no other doctor had ever confronted me about my weight or used that word (obesity) in connection with me. I was angry and resentful. It took me three months before I came into FA. My sponsor suggested I try making three calls after breakfast and not think too much about what I was going to say. In the past, I... Continue Reading
