STEP ONE -- readings from Food for the Soul

[TYGtoday]

Food for the Soul, p. 196

Set Your Sights on Recovery

For today, I surrender to Step One and admit that I am powerless over my food addiction. I pray to my Higher Power for the courage and the commitment to follow the FAA food plan. I do not listen to my disease and try another feeble attempt to control. I resign from the debating team and focus on recovery.

With surrender to Step One, I acknowledge that I have a biochemical disease. I have a daily reprieve. As I answer the Step One questions, I do not beat myself up for what I did in the past. I can leave the past in the past, realizing that my actions were sincere attempts to be well. By admitting my powerlessness, I open many new doors filled with countless miracles.

With sugar, wheat, and flour out of my body today, I accept that I have this disease without shaming or blaming myself. With this understanding that I am who I am, I can now focus on the present.

For today, I regard food only as nourishment so that I can focus on using my gifts and talents for a higher purpose.

[TYGtoday]

This is one of my very favorite readings from Food for the Soul. It's on p. 5, January 5th.

Step One Leads Me...

Taking Step One, admitting we are powerless over our food addiction, is a great surrender. We can extend that willingness to all areas of life.

Preoccupation with food and unrelenting fear of gaining weight were central to our lives. Letting go of these issues created a space around us, which was perhaps frightening at first, but is now filled with trust and relief that we no longer have to fight endlessly.

Today I seek to turn over to God all that I cannot control. I cannot control world events or other people's actions or attitudes toward me or toward anyone else.

Just for today, I can stay abstinent; I can show up for life. I can strengthen my conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. I can keep an open mind and continue to learn and grow. I can speak from my heart and love those around me. I can do my best to be gentle and kind to myself and to all who cross my path. I can be who I am today, no more and no less.

For today, I know I am present and aware. I ask God to carry the rest.

[TYGtoday]

This is a reading on surrender. It's from January 8th in Food for the Soul:

Changing Faulty Thinking

It is humbling to admit that we are powerless when for so long we believed we had control. We clung to the fantasy that we had great influence on the affairs of our life. We may have believed that if we just tried harder, worked longer, found a new method, or changed circumstances, then we would succeed. Disengaging from these beliefs can be especially difficult if we have experienced some success, which fed our drive for utter control.

We come to a point of surrender, of recognizing that our disease of food addiction is completely beyond our control. We are truly powerless over our addiction. But we have found a solution -- to humbly surrender to the process of recovery.

As we grow in recovery, we begin to perceive our powerlessness over events, people, and circumstances. We learn to control our attitudes, our words, and our actions. We choose to align our will with God's will for us. This wisdom is our greatest power. We are lifted out of the futile struggle and misery of addiction. We live a simple and serene life. We are free.

For today, I ask for God's guidance, and then I listen humbly for the answers.

[TYGtoday]

A reading on Step One from Food for the Soul for January 21st (p.21):

Changing my World

The remarkable thing about Step One is that although it is the most difficult step for many members, it can be the most rewarding. Step One is the pathway to personal freedom, growth, and recovery.

Once I surrendered totally to being powerless over my food addiction, I was able to focus on my life, to blossom and be happy.

I've wasted time and energy trying to control my weight. I brooded. I would explode at my partner in fury when my clothes did not fit. Hours of precious life were wasted.

When I finally took Step One and was freed from the obsession of eating sugar, flour, and wheat, I was free to make changes in my thinking and my attitudes toward the world. Gradually, I became joyful in realizing that my world had changed because I had changed.

For today, I continue to work the Steps in order to blossom into what God wants me to be.

[TYGtoday]

A Step One reading from Food for the Soul, p. 31:

The Action of Surrender

After years of struggling to surrender, I realized that surrender is an action word. The simplest definition of surrender for me today is to follow my food plan exactly as written. I have spent years trying to make the food plan conform to my will. I could talk about surrender, cry about surrender, and pray about surrender, but in the end, I just had to do it! What freedom there is in this surrender.

I will continue to surrender as long as I continue to do the First Step. I need to continually recognize that I am powerless over this addiction. I need to always remember how unmanageable my life is when I eat addictively. I know I am much more willing to resign from the debating team today. I am willing to take direction. I have been warned about giving power to the disease.

When I follow the food plan, I no longer have to obsess about what I am going to eat, and I find that there are many hours left in the day for living.

For today, I surrender my will and experience the freedom from my obsession with food.

[TYGtoday]

From Food for the Soul, Feb. 28th:

I Know What I Know

I don't know a lot. But one thing I know for sure is that I am powerless over addictive foods and my life is unmanageable when I am eating them. I am not powerless because of a lack of willpower, nor because I am a compulsive person (which I am), nor because of what I am feeling, I am powerless because my body has a certain biochemical reaction when I eat addictive foods.

When I eat these foods, my life becomes unmanageable. This is because my body does not want those things in there. It is difficult for me to manage my life when I am ingesting addictive substances. I make everything so complicated, when in fact it is simple. It is as simple as don't pick up no matter what and go to meetings.

For today, I accept the fact that I have a biochemical disease.

[TYGtoday]

Reading on Steps 1, 2 & 3 from Food for the Soul, p. 89 (March 29th):

As Simple as One, Two, Three

A wonderful recovery idea is to be nice to ourselves. The habit of being hard on one's self is a difficult one to break, but we can learn to break this habit through practicing the Twelve Steps.

When we feel ourselves losing our perspective, we can get back on track be being our own best friend--that is, by treating ourselves with the love and attention that we would show to a treasured friend.

The most precious gift we can give ourselves today is staying abstinent.

When we are trying to let go and let God, we can remember this simplified version of the first three Steps:
-- I can't
-- God can
-- I think I'll let God

For today, I am kind and gentle with myself and show gratitude for my new FAA life.

[nictampa]

I am sure glad I read this today. I was having a miserable night with my addiction and I really wanted to quit. I read this and i just said GOD HELP ME. Now I have to leave him to it. I want what I want to eat but I dont want my old life either. I need to pray over and over for help.

[TYGtoday]

Thanks for sharing, nictampa. Don't give up! This isn't always an easy journey, but it's doable when we put down the addictive substances, go to meetings, and ask for help. You can do it... you ARE doing it! Keep coming back, nictampa... we need you just as much as you need us.

Blessings,
TYG today

[nevertoolate]

THANK YOU SO MUCH, TVG, FOR PUTTING IN ALL THIS GREAT, INSPIRATIONAL MATERIAL. : )
Marilyn in Ohio