I was 21, bulimic, and beaten by food, but not beaten quite enough to be willing to take suggestions from a sponsor, or anyone else for that matter. I had been “in” the Overeater’s Anonymous (OA) 90-Day program in Boston in the late 80s. I spent three years fighting and, not surprisingly, I continued to binge and purge on a daily basis. I came into FA after struggling with the food for another six years. I do have to say that I had several breaks in the first four years of FA, so I experienced the first 90 days multiple times. I was quite willing in many ways. I got up much earlier than I was used to, called my sponsor on time, followed my food plan and suggested meal times, and drove an hour to the only FA meeting in my area. But unfortunately, I still held onto some... Continue Reading
I am 46 years old and I have spent the last 33 years tormented by food and my weight. It was self-inflicted torture and it affected every aspect of my life. Until the age of 13, I was obsessed with food and did anything to access food. Evidence of my food addition goes back to when I was three years of age. I remember the family story that had me disappearing at the end of a meal while everyone was still sitting at the table. They found me a few minutes later in one of the lower kitchen cupboards, with the door closed, crunching on the leftover dessert. There are also stories of the never-ending battle over the Christmas baking. I had to have the food. It went so far one year that my mom locked the food in the trunk of my fathers’ car. I still got at it.... Continue Reading
Several weeks ago, I was admitted to the hospital for colitis, after a reaction to antibiotics that were prescribed for an infected wisdom tooth. Before I could get the infected tooth pulled, I ended up staying for four days until the colitis cleared. Because I was so ill I was unable to eat, and when I did, I wasn’t able to keep it down. In the four years that I’ve been in FA, this was the first time that I didn’t have complete control over what I ate and the first time that I was ever too sick to eat. Before Program, nothing could ever stop me from eating! While I was in the hospital, the doctor ordered my first-ever colonoscopy. As a food addict, my only thought was that I had to fast and wouldn’t be able to eat. I ended up throwing up some more while having to... Continue Reading
One early morning, I was visiting an unfamiliar FA meeting and a very attractive, slender, older woman stood up to share. She explained that prior to retiring, she had worked in television and had lived quite the pampered life. Each morning she would call for a limo, and then was fed, prepped and made up for the camera. She had assistants do and tell her everything she needed to know, and all she had to do was show up. She said her FA life now was very similar, but even better. Carefully, I strained to hear her, knowing how unglamorous my FA life of shopping and chopping seems sometimes. She continued saying that when she gets on her knees in the morning, it is like the limo is being called and her higher power arrives shortly thereafter during her quiet time. They discuss her day ahead and strategize about difficult... Continue Reading
Before I came into FA, I did service and performed many acts of kindness. But I find that service in recovery is different. For me now, doing service comes from a deep desire to arrest my own suffering, and to help others with God’s wonderful gift. I feel good when someone else finds the freedom I have found. It is not important that I like doing the service, but rather whether it gives someone else the opportunity to share the joy I have found. Learning to do FA service and do things I ordinarily don’t like to do was an acquired taste for me. Service has become an expression of my recovery, but it is also has been a route to getting there. I remember my early days in program 16 years ago. My sponsor and old timers had to teach me to love and do service. “Could you stop... Continue Reading
