Hi Everyone!
I am back from vacation and my weigh in day is tomorrow. I told my sponsor that a pair of slacks I could not fit into last month, seem to fit ok and could that substitute for weighing in? She said...pause, "No...we need to keep ourselves accountable for our illness and weighing in monthly is being accountable".
Man, I love my Sponsor! She is so cool.
I am now working on Step 3.
My food plan is pretty flexable except for my Red Foods (thanks Marny for the red, yellow green concept) I will never have those again.
So I am back in the work/home routine and I really missed all of you.
Hugs,
Bumps (pray for me for tomorrow) thanks

There are some rockin sponsors out there!

Hurray for the pants that fit!

Hurray! Down 6.2 pounds in a bit over a month.
Bumps.

That is awesome. Congratulations!

Wow that is fantstic, keep up the fantasic work. I have my weigh in next week.

KGB

Well done you!! I’m so happy for you around not just that wonderful weight loss but also to hear your inspirational journey through the steps and about the power of good sponsorship.

Your gratitude shines through Bumps. In AA, they say a grateful alcoholic won’t drink. I like to think the same is true in OA!!! When I remember, I try to pray for gratitude in the day. I’m grateful a lot of the time, but like everything else, it’s in the ‘day’. 24 hours.

Congrats again. Thank you for inspiring me.

WTG on your loss for the month Bumps!!!

Could you point me to where I can find the info on the red, yellow, green concept pls? I couldnt find it.

Hi Robin,
Check in with Marny on this web site she is the one who mentions it in a few of her posts.
Let me know. Otherwise the red foods for me are any foods I just can't control such as an chocolate, cakes, cookies, pizza, chips, donuts and all sweets. My yellow foods are foods I allow myself but I monitor carefully such as breads, popcorn, crackers, potatoes. My green foods are things I never think to overeat , most all are fruits and veges.
Bumps

Thanks Bumps!

I was recently introduced to another concept that is really helping me. It's called "three circles." Basically, I drew a chart with three concentric circles. In the outer circle, I wrote behaviors I engage in when I am healthy. For example, commit my food, exercise, weigh only 1x a month, read and write, make phone calls, go out with friends, dress well etc. . . The next cirlce is called the middle circle. These are behaviors that signal to me that I may need to pay a little more attention to what i am feeling, responding to life, taking care of myself. Thes are behaviors that are not neccesarily destructive, but that, for me, are "slippery." Some of my middle circle behaviors include skipping meals, procrastinating, not washing my face before bed etc, weighing every week. . . The inner circle are behaviors that are compulsive and destructive that i need to avoid at all costs. For me, these include oversleeping, not going to any meetings, watching too much TV, hiding food, staying in the house all day, and binging (obviously), comparing myself to others.

I have been in OA for 9 years. i am pulling out of a relapse right now. I have relapse a couple of times through the years. Each time, the slip started way before the food came back. I really think this Three Circles execrise helps me to see when I might be too close to a relapse again. Also, for me, my compulsions are numerous. The food is so destructive, but the behaviors around the food are dangerous as well. I used to be so focused on what not to eat, that I ignored many behaviors that led me to overeat and just tried to "white knuckle it" when it got hard. By looking at these other behaviors, I can kind of take preventative measures if I see I am engaging in too many middle circle behaviors.

This just really helped me and thought it might help someone else out there. Use it if it helps.

Emily

Emily-

I really like the three circles-- what a great way to self examine. Thanks for sharing.