Living Free

[Ritas]

I am a recovering food addict with an anniversery coming up in December. I have not had clean abstinence from day one. I still struggle with volume and some grey foods. I know some folks see that as failure and I know our rooms have too few members because 100% clean abstinence is too hard for some of us. I am blessed to have recovered from my addiction to sugar flour and wheat. I am thankful that I have a program that has allowed me to loose 80 pounds and keep it off for 3 years. I am greatful for a face to face meeting in my community that has been faithfully meeting for 3 years. I look forward to our annual Florida Retreat in Sebring in the spring and my opportunity to volunteer. I am thankful for my sponsor and my spouse who both support me. I have come to accept that I am a food addict and that will never change. I have to keep my higher power central to all aspects of my life. I try not to sweat the small stuff and really focus on one day at a time. Progress...
Rita S St. Pete, Florida

[Chew]

Thankyou for being so honest about your journey. Today is my first day here. Tomorrow and for the rest of my days I plan to abstain from Sugar flour and wheat.

[CeCe.Celeste1]

I have admitted that I have a problem with food to myself and others. Now I understand why I have had such a struggle all these years because of my attendance to FA meetings. I have had a problem with my weight since I was a child and now as an adult, I have been able to loose weight but not stabilize. After attending meetings and learning about the tools of FAA, I have been losing weight steadily. I am so happy that there is a program that can help me and I have a support group with FAA. I officially started FAA September 23rd. I have been going to meetings for other a year though. On the third day of my FA commitment, I added more vegetables to my food - my sponsor told me I have to start my abstinence count all over again, so now I have two days clean and I am starting on my third day! I am looking forward to today.

[Ritas]

CeCe thank you for your encouragement. This is a life path and keeping a sense of humor after years of self hate is a big step. Bless you. Rita S

[fallingleaf]

I went to the doctor today and he told me to add more vegetables to my diet too.He told me if you are going to over eat it should be on vegetables, he told me to use my will power and not eat the fat and sugar and the foods that are bad for me..Well,I will have a blood test on Monday and if that is okay I will continue what I am doing, but I will have a blood test once a month to make sure I am okay.

[Striver]

Hi Rita,

Do you have time to talk to a new commer who is looking for some support to start the food plan. Each time I try and start I end up fall off.
I need to speak with someone and you sound like your recovering. Please contact me. I feel all alone with this.

[TYGtoday]

Hi,

It's good to read about your experiences here in FAA Online Support. I hope the newer people are still coming and progressing nicely in their recoveries from this disease.

Food addiction is a three-fold illness... it affects our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. FAA offers a complete program of recovery for all three aspects. As it says in our opening readings at FAA meetings, "Abstinence will open the door, and by working the Twelve Steps, we can recover from this disease one day at a time". For me, getting and staying abstinent was the critical first piece that needed to be attended to, and I was able to attain abstinence by following the Guide to Abstinence that Food Addicts Anonymous has. Contained in that Guide is the suggested food plan, which has helped many, many people. I know from the food plan what foods to eat and in what quantities so that my disease doesn't remain active. The food plan sometimes needs to be modified in special situations with the help of a sponsor or physican, but generally it works quite well when we surrender and just go with it. Me, I fought it a bit for a short while in the beginning, but I knew in my heart of hearts that if I could just let go of my self-will and jump in with both feet, that I too could have recovery such as I heard from people I knew followed the FAA food plan. I wanted that recovery more than anything, and I'm so, so happy to say that I finally was able to face in the right direction and take the first step on this wondrous journey.

Personally, I don't believe there is such a thing as "perfect" long-term abstinence (other than perfectly abstaining from sugar/flour/wheat, of course) but perfection is not a requirement in FAA, in my understanding. What I also believe is that the food plan gives me the guidelines to follow for how to eat and I try my best each day to stay within those guidelines. Have I ever eaten the proverbial extra string bean? Why, yes, I have... but rarely, and when it happens I always talk to my sponsor about it. I made a commitment to her to be honest about my food with her and have mostly done that over time. When I eat the extra bean and decide not to tell her, I know I'm back in my disease and at risk for relapse.

This program cannot fail me. It's only the food addict in me that can fail the program. With the help of my Higher Power that doesn't need to happen today. All I need to do is ask for help.

God bless you, my fellow food addicts.

TYG

[Chaim]

The key component in the condition. "Diet that whittles away belly fat is the addition of a monounsaturated fat called MUFA, at every meal". MUFAs are found in olives, avocados, nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, soybean, fla and olive and sunflower oils. Please avoid these food to control your weight.