What brought you here?

[nevertoolate]

It might be good to have a place where people, if they want, could let others know WHAT BROUGHT THEM HERE, TO FAA, why they think they needed a program like this.....
I came here bec I'm still heavy, am 72, diabetic, high blood sugar, couldn't seem to stop eating and just couldn't GET A GRIP! Sitting at DD again with a box of my favorite flavors and a cup of coffee, sugar all over my chest, thinking, WHY AM I DOING THIS, what in the !@&&&$#@!#@ is wrong with me.....coming home, looking on the Internet for ANY SOLUTION, ANY HOPE....typed in food addiction and up comes FAA....never heard of it before, used to go to the other 12 step food group but it didn't fit me for some reason.....anyway, that's why I'm here...... :)
Marilyn, grateful and recovering in Ohio

[cee]

What bought me here today is that I am surrounded by s/f/w on my job and I am at my desk wishing to share with someone that that food is not my food. I have my dinner with me, but it is too early to eat it. I keep breathing deeply, walking to the bathroom, saying the serenity prayer and waiting for the cravings to pass. Right this moment as I type this, I am focused on other than what's in the office kitchen. It does help to write down what I am going through. What I am going through right now is the habit of picking up the sugar that is laid out for all of us at the office and sits out all day. It is not my food and and is almost like poison in my body. I want to feel my feelings today.. good, bad or indifferent. I want to be alert and attentive and not have a "oh, no.. not again day." Thanks.

[alicemdavid]

What brings me here?

I want to do everything I can to become a healthier person and to carry the message that has been so freely given to me, When I started my journey with Food Addicts Anonymous, I weighed 343 lbs now down to 220...I was diagnosed as a diabetic, had anxiety, high blood pressure, and severe asthma!! I took countless pills & did inhalers, was in terrible pain could barley walk I was in a food fog, now I take an aspirin & vitamin, one blood pressure pill and my doctor tells me if I keep doing what I am doing I will not have to take any b/p meds!!

I have also learned how to deal with my emotions and not run to the the refrigerator and grab a box or bag of poison. I have become stronger not just physically but emotionally too! I It took me many 24-hours to come this far and I need to keep coming back... I can't miss a day because "I only have today!" I also found, that I have a higher power far grater than my self who can handle anything and when I say anything I mean anything.

I have been studying the 12 steps & 12 traditions they are truly wonderful, I have not worked each one individually yet but I am on a journey and this is my journey, and I am doing it one day @ a time! I have come so so far but my journey has just begun, so I am here to learn about self care and I have also learning how to be compassionate, trusting, loving, forgiving and kind to my self and to those who cross my path as I continue to stay abstinent .

Just one other thing, I am a person who learns by doing and also I learn by watching other people doing, So just maybe if some one learns like me... I can set an example for them just like you all have been doing for me, thank you all for lighting my path and not quiting no matter what!

[cre8ted1]

I am here because I need a little more help. My church sponsors a Celebrate Recovery group that I have been attending for codependency issues since '08. I have one good friend there who is doing the abstinence eating. Losing weight/eating healthy (abstinece eating?) is my 2nd battle. About a year ago when I first started this battle, I lost 40 lbs. But, then I plateaud. Recently, I started gaining. Today is my first day with the FAA food plan. I planned, ate according to plan.. up until I came into work. I'm not happy that I messed up when I came into work, but I know this place is a battlefield for several reasons. I am seeking a sponsor, but have never had one. I struggle with feeling the need to eat every half hour and headaches. My work/life schedule has made it so that I have actually found an eigth day in the week (but I have yet to name my new discovery). Because of my work schedule I don't sleep much- maybe 3-4 hours a day. I am also a newlywed. I am here to keep walking.

[Athiria]

I'm here because I'm depressed, miserable, isolated, and I'm not living a real life.
I'm living in a freaking hole and are refusing to stick up my head and look into the truth.
I want to be a real person and I want to have a real life:(
I'm tired of living in a fantasy world.

[shines_so_bright]

I was bingeing and could not stop. I found FAA and learned that if I got onto the food plan, I would be able to stop bingeing. I did get onto the plan right away, but didn't let go of everything. I still wanted to hold onto a couple of things, and I was doing "sort of" OK for a while, but would still have cravings when I'd pass a pizza place, as an example. But then I started going downhill and my "abstinence" (it wasn't 100% clean abstinence yet) started getting very shaky. Fortunately, I was working on my First Step and finally just threw in the towel.

I realized I couldn't do this without a sponsor and I became willing to let someone help me. I became fully abstinent and got my sponsor right around the same time, and would not have been able to stay with this for as long as I have without the help of my sponsor and others in the program. I read the literature and I go to FAA meetings. I call others in the program, including keeping in close contact with my sponsor, and I give service so that I can pass along what was so freely given to me. That may help another, but it definitely helps me to stay abstinent!

[here42da]

Hi shines_so_bright,
What a wonderful way to describe what happens in our lives when we follow the program and food plan and use the tools of the program to maintain abstenence and recovery from our food addiction. I too was advised to get and use a sponsor and that has been a valuable part of the process. I do this one day at a time. Life is now worth living, and we never know what or when something that we share is that information that touches another, helping another member to understand what a miracle is waiting to happen. thanks for sharing and caring.
Here42da

[MariaLiz]

I'm here because I don't want to be a slave to food any longer. I am tired of the shame I feel, sitting in a fast food parking lot, eating too much and hoping no one will see me. I'm tired of starting diets only to have sucess for a few weeks or a month, then slowly lose my ground until I'm bingeing again. I want to know what it's like to feel healthy and give my body what it needs, not what my addiction wants. I want to learn tools to feel and survive emotions rather than stuffing it down with food. I want hobbies, interests, and experiences that don't involve secretive eating. I want freedom!

[Step One Australia]

I am here because I want a better quality of life. I don't want to be constantly obsessing about being overweight, talking about being overweight, being depressed about being overweight and continuing to eat my addictive foods. It was a hellish merry go round that was so hard to get off. I know that I am addicted to food, particularly refined carbohydrates and that when I eat them I become "stoned" and it sets off a craving that I can't control. I have tried other programs for food, but none suited me long term. So far FAA has been amazing and I am really excited to find out about it and read everyone's shares. Thank you.

[RunawayBunny]

I'm here because I am so tired of obsessing about food. It's the first thought when I wake up and the last thought before I go to bed. I'm here because I am constantly counting calories and dieting. I am here because I am bulimic and I can't stop by myself. I am here because I am disgusted with my body and the way it feels. I am here because I am finally, finally, willing.