Plan of Eating

[Biscuits]

Hi all

After being away for a while i have spent some time catching up on all the post that have been put up since my return. It was great to see so many new faces and hear so much encouraging words by others who share my desease.

I noticed in alot of the posts around the issue of food and what to and what not to eat so i'd thought i would share my own experience on this. When i came into OA 11 years ago i was emotionally, physically and spiritually beat and did not hold out much hope for things to get any better. I had tried countless diets, read many self help books and basically thought i would die the way i was, miserable, lonely and obese. Well God had other plans and i stuck around for the miracles to happen.

My recovery did not happen over night although being able to share with like minded people straight away was a miracle in itself. When it came to the food i had to get honest and chose a sponsor who i saw working a very strict program, she was someone who had what i wanted and someone who i thought i could not pull the wool over her eyes. I needed this as along with my many defects dishonesty was one of them.

Anyhow we worked together on the steps and she also introduced me to a plan of eating as a tool. This plan did not work straight away as each morning i would write it out only to cave in and binge later in the day and ususally vomit straight after. Anyhow she encouraged me to continue using it and also write down my thoughts around food before my binges. I learnt alot from this exercise as i noticed a pattern in the food i binged on. Once i had some certain foods they created the physical craving within me and i ate until physically sick.

She encouraged me to take an honest look at the foods that cause me to binge, these for me are mainly white flour products, high sugar products and salted snacks so i had to one day at a time become willing to give these things up. I thought she was mad when she said all i need to do was to continue to work through the steps and pray for willingness to give up the food that cause within me the physical craving. I thought i was going mad when she said that one day i would be able to live without biscuits and chocolate and not find them interesting anymore but she was right. This program is not about controlling my food it is about being relieved of the mental obessesion to overeat food that cause me to binge and only God has that power so i have turn my will and life over to him each day including what food i am going to eat each day. I never did that before because i though it was too insignificant but guess what God listened to me and as long as i continue to work this program one day at a time i will stay in recovery, but i MUST continue to work it each day i will not keep my abstinence based on what i did last year or even yesterday.

Well I became abstinent on the 9th July 1997 and have used a plan of eating everyday since then, i choose to eat three meals a day with nothing in between but drinks and this works for me. Over my years in program my food choices have changed alot, i no longer rely on comfort foods to feel better but have comfort rituals, these include phoning a friend, playing games with my children, going for a walk and endless others that make me feel good in a healthy way.

Each moring when i wake i make contact with HP and hand my will over to him, i ask for direction for the day and spend time meditating. I then read my daily readers and reflect on what i have read and then when my mind is clear and close to God i choose what foods i am to eat today. I do it this way as i have clarity of mind and my choices are made on sane thinking rather than insane thinking. My desease is very powerful and i respect that today, its not good for me to not plan my food and go into the kitchen when my day has already begun and i am feeling the demands of living in the modern world, my choices are more based on how i am feeling rather than what my body needs to nourish itself. If i ever need to change my food plan during the day i ring my sponsor if she is not available i check my motive for needing to change it and more than not i tend to stick to the original plan made earlier in the day when my mind was clear.

Just for today i have been abstinent for 10 years and 5 months, this is a miracle to me but it would not be possible without the many things i do each day to reamin living free of the bondage of food.

So today i will share my Plan of Eating with you my wonderful friends.

I today have a list of food that i no londer choose to eat, it has grown over the years and i am never afraid to add more food to it as it is a work in progress just like me. These food include, White flour products such as white bread, biscuits, cakes, prok pies, pizza, sausage rolls etc. Chocolate in any form even drinks, sweets of any kind, pate, brie cheese and crisps and peanuts. There are probably others out there any my HP will guide me on these as long as i continue to be honest about my addiction.

My food for today:

Breakfast: Bowl of porride and a banana

Lunch: Chicken salad with 2 satumas

Dinner: Spaghetti bolognese with wholemeal pasta

I think i may have rambled on a bit but please forgive me , my passion for recovery leads my finger to write more than i intended.

Lots of loveI

[Pony]

Biscuits, You didn't ramble at all. thanks for sharing all of that. I need to run for now, but I loved reading your post and wanted to tell you. It will be great to have you here sharing your experiences helping support everyone here. You have alot to share with us. Thanks

[sugarssweetpea]

It is absolutely AMAZING to me that you have been abstinent for 10.5 years. AMAZING & AWESOME!!!! I am finally getting to the point that I am coming to accept that I may not ever be able to eat the sugar again. I have never really considered it for real. The thought has crossed my mind within the last couple of years, but I always fought it. I cannot imagine my life without ever eating sugar again. When I looked upon that statement earlier today, I remembered saying the same thing about drugs & alcohol & I have almost 7/6 years respectively. I am trying to change my outlook on the whole thing. Trying to put up boundaries. Trying to do what is right for me mentally & physically & what is pleasing to God. Living in bondage to this food addiction is none of the above.

Biscuits, thank you for being such an inspiration & for sharing your ES&H with us. Thank you.