Snow Day! Those two words light up the lives of students and teachers alike. Having been an elementary school teacher for 24 years, I have experienced my fair share of snow days, but there is quite a difference between a snow day in FA recovery and the “snow daze” that I used to experience prior to finding Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous. Before FA, I spent 18 years in the classroom and my average weight during those years was around 325 pounds. A day off from school was synonymous with a day of unapologetic bingeing. The binge always began the night before the snow day with the grocery store run for “staple foods”. Prior to FA, my definition of staples included boxes and bags of sugar and flour products, a whole host of salty items, and a minimum of two twelve-packs of diet soda. I went to any length to... Continue Reading
90 days. 3 months. 13 weeks. 129600 minutes. 270 meals. 39 meetings. The last 90 days have been a whirlwind. You see, this isn’t my first encounter with the rooms of FA. A friend introduced me over two years ago and I instantly fell in love. I had found what I didn’t know I was looking for. I loved the idea of the support and accountability. I saw members of my fellowship with a peace about their lives. I saw before-pictures that were similar to mine. Most of all, I heard my story. I had thought I was the only one. I was not. (I am not and you aren’t either.) I found a sponsor and started on this journey not knowing what to expect. I didn’t expect to feel good about myself. I didn’t expect to stand in the front of the room and share. I didn’t expect to... Continue Reading
I’ve been in the FA program now for over six years and it’s been such an interesting ride. I remember when I first came into Program, I was willing to go to any lengths to be in a right sized body and not to be crazy about food anymore. I bought my scale, had my food written down, and all my groceries were in the refrigerator, I had my meal plan and I was ready to go for the week – only to find myself back at the store a day or two later because I didn’t have enough veggies. What?!? I ate them all?!? They didn’t turn to green slime in my ‘crisper’? This was a new phenomenon. So off I went, weighing and measuring my food, calling my sponsor at 6 am every day, going to three meetings a week and doing everything possible to stay abstinent. Every... Continue Reading
“I can’t believe I did it again! I can’t believe I ate that way! What is wrong with me?!” Morning after morning those would be my first thoughts of the day, followed by a new resolve to “be good” today. I would eat a healthy breakfast, but then the kids would wake up and make something yummy for their breakfast. I would gobble down their leftovers, which were followed shortly by a large lunch and continuous eating for the rest of the day. I ate large amounts of low-calorie foods, trying to feel full and to lose weight. I would eat quantities of vegetable and sugar-free desserts, but would still have plenty of room for my favorite binge foods. It was so hard for me to feel full. Every diet I tried made me feel like I was starving. It would only last a short time, and then I would... Continue Reading
I reached my 90 days of abstinence on November 29, 2012. I did travel a bit in my first 90 days. This was probably not the best idea in those super fragile, early days, but my husband and I were traveling back to Boston from London, where we visited our daughter and her fiancé. By this point in Program, I’d successfully flown several times with my weighed and measured meals and I thought I’d had this thing nailed down. I was mostly concerned about the five extra hours I was adding to my day. How does that work? With my sponsor’s guidance and quite a bit of prayer, it worked. The last thing I was thinking about was the small, unopened containers of protein I brought for breakfast and lunch. I’d traveled with this food item several times before. Alas, Heathrow security had other plans for me. I had no idea... Continue Reading
