She writes long essays on various OA topics. This one and my responses centered on differentiating those unmanageable aspects of life are really subject to our control. Putting the serenity prYer into practice.
Tough day for me today - business travel with airport food and corporate box lunches the only options.
Well, I did great the entire time that I was away. But, it was a very stressful trip. And, I think that I probably didn't eat enough during the day, so when I came home after 11, I was a little hungry. And, I ate a little standing in the kitchen. I caught myself very early, and stopped before any real damage was done. But, that's compulsive eating and outside of my definition of abstinence, so today I look forward to my first day of abstinence with gratitude that I came back to it very quickly and that I was able to limit my compulsion.
It's great you put a limit on that behaviour, Danny.
Travelling can be really stressful with mindful eating, that's for sure. So much seems out out your control.
When you can stop yourself from the behaviour that is only due to your compulsive eating (like the standing thing) that's excellent.
I can so easily take advantage of stressful situations to mess up even the stuff in my control.
Nice to hear your updates. Sorry to be MIA-- exams and papers. Maintaining abstience, though! It makes the whole nightmare of it all way easier to bear.
My sponsor thought last night was a great success because I had used the skills appropriately to curb the behavior. I became mindful that I was eating out of compulsion due to being tired and stressed and that enabled me to cut it off early. Over time, the gap between the start of compulsive behavior and your mindfulness of it will shorten. The goal is to be continuously mindful of how you're feeling. So, if I had been in touch with how I was feeling when I first arrived back home, I would have avoided the compulsive eating from the beginning.
It seems obvious, but if I acted that way naturally, I wouldn't need OA!!
Worked w/ a trainer on Sat. morning and, man, was I hungry Sat. afternoon. Next time I'll have to remember to eat something right after the workout. Not too bad a day, though.
Got my weekly F2F tonight. Beautiful day out - looking forward to spending some time outdoors.
I need to do a meeting vicariously through you for now!
What do you think you get out of meetings?
I am not sure how much recovery there is in my chosen meeting.
When I'm done exams I'm going to venture further out to more inconvenient meetings to see if things are different there.
There seem to be a couple of hardcore old-timers with tonnes of recovery, and a whole lot of people middling with weeks of abstinence and then setbacks. And always new people (which of course includes me).
Meeting was good. I find that speaking out at meetings is a really good way to reinforce my commitment, and doing so in a room of live bodies is a more "real" experience for me than typing something on a computer. And, often times people share thoughts that are very helpful to me. Hearing it in person makes it resonate all that much more.
We read a section from the AA BB about how the alcoholic deludes himself into thinking that it is ok to just take one drink. To me, that means the danger of just one bite. Oh, yeah.
Hang in there!!
(Not sure I knew you were in the TRG FreeThinker Loop; so am I)
Thanks for the check-in. I'm doing fairly well. Going to meetings 2X a week, and am still abstinent according to my plan. That is a miracle.
That said, I'm in a great deal of personal turmoil and feel my recovery keeps getting threatened. One example has been my boyfriend telling me that he'd considered breaking up with me when my bulimia was bad. I'd had no idea... and this makes me feel that I am only loveable when happy, optimistic, abstinent. I have been feeling resentful.
There are some travelling challenges-- visiting family--- I'm facing this week and am not feeling ready to assert myself.
I suppose this sounds bleak... but truly, I am still very glad to be in OA and still believe my surrender to the program is they key to the recovery that has eluded me so long.
I've been doing well and have been abstinent despite some really tough challenges, including dealing w/ some serious health issues involving an immediate family member and some serious emotional fallout involving the rest of the family. Results are definitely showing on the scale as well.
I'm at Step 12, and my sponsor told me that I'm ready to be a sponsor myself, so I've added myself to the TRG sponsor list. No sponsees yet.
I was really skeptical about how helpful some of the steps would relate to my recovery, but they really have.
Hello, I thought I would jump in cuz I am on day 5! Yipee! New around here... I am doing the 90 day OA w/ a food plan weighing and measuring. Today I felt A LOT better! Not as tired. Helped that I got 9 hours of sleep last night too! Taking vitamins now too. Hope you are all doing well. Sheila
The 90-Day Format meetings are a special focus group of Overeater’s Anonymous. At a 90-day format meeting it is suggested that only those with three or more months of continuous “90-day” format abstinence share their experience, strength and hope. OA as a national organization does not endorse any specific food plan, but many of the members in the focus group practice a particular program of abstinence which is known as the 90-day format.
For most people in the 90-day program, abstinence is defined as three weighted and measured meals a day under the supervision of a qualified sponsor. A sponsor, with at least 6 months of back-to-back “90-Day” abstinence will give each sponsee a food plan and other suggestions for recovery.
My food plan is 3 measured meals a day and nothing in between. No flour, no sugar and no deep fried food.
