Hi there.

My name is Selena. I live in Alberta, Canada. I have been lurking in this forum for quite some time now and have finally found the courage to post. This is the first forum where I have found people like me. People that understand the havock food can play on your life.

I grew up in a home where food addiction was the centre of the home. My mom acknowledged her addiction, but couldn't beat it. Her addiction made for a very uncomfortable home environment. Her moods were erratic and she suffered from severe depression. We walked on pins and needles all the time. Although the admittance of her addiction was a step in the right direction, she never quite conquered it.

I too suffer from a food addiction. I binge frequently and have a love/hate relationship with food. I love going grocery shopping and filling my cart full of fruits and veggies only to have the food sit in my fridge and go bad because I decided to eat three loaves of bread that week instead. I love to search on the internet for good healthy recipes to make, only to be so tired at the end of the day because of binging on sugar and wheat that I just binge some more because I don't want to cook.

My addiction causes irritable moods, self loathing, depression, loneliness, and shame. One of the hardest things to deal with is the fact that people don't understand that food is an addiction. I don't share my struggles with people about this because they don't understand.

I would like to know if OA is for me. First of all, I do not consider myself a religious person. I am not convinced there is a "God". However, I am very spiritual and I do believe that there is an afterlife, and guardian angels watching over us. I believe that nature is "my God". Secondly, I don't have an OA meeting group in my community, so I would have to find a meeting on-line.

I believe that sugar is my trigger and that I should be avoiding it. I like the fact that OA members understand what it is like to be addicted to food...support that is VERY hard to find.

My question is, should I be even looking at OA? I would have to find meetings on-line and a long distance sponsor. And if I don't believe in "God", how do I follow that step?

Thanks for listening.

Selena

Hi I don't know about OA but why would an eating support group depend on religious outlook? That sounds very strange to me! I was raised a Christian but grew up to find insitutionalised religion extremely damaging to me, and am an athiest pending better evidence of a higher power. As far as I'm concerned, a support group unless specifically faith-based should be about humans supporting eachother. I'm sure you'll find that here if not at OA. Although some people are of a religious faith, which I respect and admire, that is a personal choice and humanism is definitely the theme.

Hope the OA thing works out for you.

PS - two non-religious philosophers who've proved very helpful to me in taking control of my life are Sartre (Existensialism and Humanism) and John Stuart Mill (On Liberty).

Hi Selena! I, too, avoided OA because I'm not particularly religious. I consider myself spiritual, as you do, but organized religion was definitely not for me.

When I started OA, my sponsor invited me to write a "help wanted" ad for my Higher Power, detailing exactly what I wanted and what I needed. Then she asked me to suppose that that ad had been answered, and how I would feel. In that way I completely defined what MY higher power was (actually, my HP's name is the Welsh word for hippo!) and what my HP could and would do for me.

The thing about religion in OA is that it's "God of your understanding". They don't support any one particular religious doctrine (though I have been at meetings where they've said the Lord's Prayer, I just didn't participate in that) or insist on a Christian God. They don't insist on ANY God. People talk about their Higher Powers, but no one presses for details, and no one EVER criticises another person for what they believe.

I have heard about some people who definitely are not religious, and so believe in the "Higher Power" of the group energy. One guy I heard of considered the trolley his Higher Power--because it could drive by the fast food places every day, and never stop! Really, your HP is up to you.

Do some more exploring, maybe find an online meeting. OAs are out here, we'll listen.

Hey Selena-
Welcome! I recommend that you go to www.oa.org . You will find the answers to some of your questions there. I also recommend reading step 1 in the book "THe 12 steps and Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous"

Here are the meetings in Alberta:


City State Country Day Time Meeting Place
AIRDRIE AB CANADA Thursday 7:00PM ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI ANGLICAN CHURCH
CALGARY AB CANADA Monday 7:30PM BETHANY CARE CENTER
CALGARY AB CANADA Saturday 9:30AM FIRST ALLIANCE CHURCH
CALGARY AB CANADA Saturday 9:15AM MCDOUGALL UNITED CHURCH
CALGARY AB CANADA Sunday 10:00AM TEMPLE B'NAI TIKVAH
CALGARY AB CANADA Sunday 9:00AM BETHANY CARE CENTER
CALGARY AB CANADA Sunday 7:30PM KING OF GLORY LUTHERAN CHURCH
CALGARY AB CANADA Thursday 7:30PM SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS LUTHERAN
CALGARY AB CANADA Tuesday 7:30PM SOUTHWOOD UNITED CHURCH
CALGARY AB CANADA Wednesday 1:30PM HOLY NAME CHURCH
CALGARY AB CANADA Wednesday 7:30PM WOODCLIFF UNITED
CALGARY AB CANADA Wednesday 9:30AM WOODCLIFF UNITED CHURCH
EDMONTON AB CANADA Friday 5:30PM ST LUKES ANGLICAN CHURCH
EDMONTON AB CANADA Saturday 11:00AM MISERICORDIA HOSPITAL
EDMONTON AB CANADA Sunday 12:30PM ST ANTHONYS CHURCH
EDMONTON AB CANADA Tuesday 7:00PM ST ANDREW MEETING HOUSE
GRANDE PRAIRIE AB CANADA Monday 7:30PM NORTHERN ADDICTIONS CENTRE
PROVOST AB CANADA Monday 7:00PM HOSPITAL MULTIPURPOSE ROOM
RED DEER AB CANADA Tuesday 7:30PM MOUNT CALVARY CHURCH
SAINT ALBERT AB CANADA Monday 7:00PM STAR OF THE NORTH RETREAT HOUSE
SHERWOOD PARK AB CANADA Thursday 7:30PM BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH
VIKING AB CANADA Sunday 7:00PM GOLDEN VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH

I drive 30 minutes to my meeting twice a week. I would drive 2 hours if I had to. The recovery that I have recieved, the friendships that I've made, the serenity and sanity that I've found could not be matched or replaced by anything else.

Thanks to all of you.

Me23...thank you for the names of those philosophers. I will have to check them out.

Sidhe...thank you for the clarification of the "higher power". I love the idea of the "group energy". I have always believed in the power of positive energy and groups

Marny...thanks for the meeting list. Unfortunately, the closest meeting to me is Calgary and that is 3 hours away...welcome to Canada!

Can any of you suggest an on-line meeting group that is good? Or should I just be sticking with 3FC? Could I just use this forum as my support?

Oh and by the way...after doing some research, I have decided to start with cutting out sugar and eating three meals per day and one fruit as a snack. I really believe that sugar is the biggest enemy in my life. I have tried to cut out sugar many, many times. The first time I tried it I stayed off of almost all sugars for three years. It was the best time of my life health wise and I felt so good. Then my father died and I started on a eight year binging spree that has lead me to where I am today...I have tried in the eight years to go off of sugar many times.

This time is going to work...I have finally found a place where people understand.

Selena

Selena-

A good place for online meetings is www.therecoverygroup.org However, nothing can take the place of a face to face meeting. Perhaps you could go to the one in Calgary once a month. By getting to know the people there you may find that there are others where you live that you could start a local meeting with. It only takes two people to have a meeting. My very own meeting started with two people, and we've grown to two meetings with weekly attendance of around 15.

This is a great place for support, but it doesn't take the place of working your program: reading OA literature, working the steps, working with a sponsor, and developing relationships with other recovering compulsive eaters.