New to FAA

[cindyskylar]

Hi there,

I am new to FAA. I have been abstinent since Sept 1--so for 3 days (not including today because I havent made it throughthe day yet!). I went to a meeting yesterday and was relieved and was able to buy a Intro to Abstinence booklet which was helpful. I have a couple questions though: if I dont yet have a sponsor, can I leave my food on this thread? Also, Im a little confused about the phone meetings--how they work and so on. Also what should I be doing as a new newcomer? Aside from being abstinent--should I get the literature and begin reading? what outside meetings does FAA recommend attending (there are FAR, OA, Greysheeters, CEA/HOW meetings where I live *or should I just attend FAA and AA?)--

Thank you so much for listening.*:chuncky:

[step3]

Welcome to FAA, Cindy :star:

So glad to see you getting right into the program the way you are... getting onto the food plan, going to a meeting, getting some literature. Yes, if you'd like, you may leave your food plan for the day here in Online Support. What I'd do, though, is make it a top priority to get a sponsor as soon as you can to help with that. If you don't find a sponsor right away, maybe you can ask someone if they'd be a temporary sponsor for you. What's helpful about that is that they are familiar with the food plan and can let you know of any corrections you might need to make to what you've planned.

I myself found the FAA literature extremely helpful. The Green Book, which is the "text" for FAA, has a lot of good chapters for food addicts in the beginning of the book, then stories of successfully recovering food addicts in the middle of the book, and ways of implementing abstinence toward the end of the book. The Food for the Soul is a daily meditation book, which is really nice. You can see some of the readings from it here in Online Support if you'd like:

http://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org/forums/showthread.php/733-FAA-Food-for-the-Soul

I (http://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org/forums/showthread.php/733-FAA-Food-for-the-Soul) personally prefer going to FAA meetings rather than other 12 Step food program meetings, only because I found the solution to my food addiction here in FAA and it's in those meetings I hear the message of recovery I like. I've found that having 5-6 phone meetings each day available, plus a weekly face-to-face meeting, and the 24/7 FAA Loop sharing gives me what I need. There are also two online meetings each week on the weekends you can go to. In AA meetings, we can substitute "food" for "alcohol" and "food addiction" for "alcoholism", etc. Some FAA members have found it useful to go to AA meetings to supplement their in person contact with food addicts. And of course, there's Online Support here... you might want to start a thread on how you're doing day by day as you progress in the "Newly Recovering in FAA" forum.

I'm glad you're here, Cindy, and encourage you to go to a lot of meetings for the support. Also, you can get phone numbers and call people in between meetings, and/or come to the Open Chat for Newcomers on Friday nights at 9pm Eastern in the FAA Chat Room. Keep coming, this program does work!