My Mission / Non-Mission

My hope is hope!  To me, the whole point of this blog is to let YOU, the compulsive overeater, know that there is HOPE!  You do NOT have to live in guilt and shame for the rest of your life!   You do NOT have to spend every waking moment wondering what people are whispering about you, scheming your next secret “food fix,” trying to decipher what the number on the scale says about you as a person, calculating the number of pounds you “need” to lose before the next big family gathering,…  You get the idea.  The list is endless!  But it doesn’t have to be that away anymore!  If you can open your mind just a crack to the mere possibility that a spiritual solution might be the answer you’ve been looking for, you’ll be on your way to freedom, delicious freedom!!

I feel the need to add a few disclaimers here…

What this blog is NOT about:

Trying to force the 12 Steps on people.  I know many food addicts who have been able to find long-term relief from eating disorders without joining a 12 Step Program, but all of them have a relationship with a God of their understanding.  Therefore, I am certain that there are other paths that could lead you to the same spiritual solution – – this just happens to be mine.  As they say in program, “Take what you need and leave the rest…but be willing enough to listen.”

A bunch of diet and exercise tips.  I know many people who have benefitted from both, but I am not one of them.  For me, before I could even begin to think about weight loss and physical activity, I had to get to the real root of why I repeatedly felt compelled to eat, for example, an entire box of cereal in one sitting.  I will offer the little “tricks” I use to help me stay on my food plan, but the food plan itself is not a diet.  It is a way of eating that I can stick to no matter where I am, who I am with, or what is going on around me.  In other words, it is a plan of eating that is both flexible and realistic.

Nutritional or medical advice.  I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on tv (or anywhere else, for that matter).  You should NEVER start ANY type of diet or exercise program without first consulting your doctor.

A quick fix.  Everything I write about has come as a result of either years of working my program of recovery or years of beating my head against the wall of my addiction.  I am offering you a completely new life, which means alot of work on your part, and a lot of time for it to take place.  I’m talking YEARS, here!  Sound scary?  Well, consider the number of years you have been struggling with your compulsion to overeat.  Isn’t a life of sane and happy usefulness* worth at least the same amount of time and effort?  And besides…where are you going?  What’s the rush?  Aren’t minor, permanent changes that eventually lead to long-term results better than major, temporary ones that only lead back to relapse?  Just give it a try.  You’ll see what I mean.  Trust me.

The Opinion of Anonymous/12 Step programs.  The only opinion you will find in this blog is mine and mine alone.  I do not represent “the voice” of OA or AA.  All I am sharing on these pages are my experience, strength, and hope.  Any implied or direct suggestions that are not exact quotes from the Big Book are opinions, period.  My only aim is to give you ONE concrete example of what it is like and what happens when ONE average person incorporates a 12-Step program into everyday life.  As you recover, you will develop your own routines based upon your personal experience with (and your interpretations of) the Big Book and the 12 Steps.  As a result, your recovery will become uniquely your own, just as my recovery is uniquely my own.

Original ideas.  Nothing that I write in this blog is original.  In fact, I’d say 95% of it comes from what I have learned from people in program, from books and other program and non-program literature, and from my own experience, which only came about after trying the suggestions of others.  The only original thing may be my perspective: that of a technologically-impaired 44-year-old Child Of The 80’s who happens to be addicted to both Spongebob Squarepants AND putting her feelings into words she can see, equally.  A few original stories?  Maybe.  But original ideas?  Sorry, you won’t find any of those here.

*P.S.  Throughout this blog, words that are underlined are direct quotes from “The Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous.

!!WARNING!!:  This blog DOES mention specific foods.  I felt that it was necessary in order to help newcomers better identify with my food-related struggles.