Abstinence question

If you were being faced with the question What is abstinence for me when it comes to food what would you say?? 

Is it abstaining from a certain food? 

A way of eating?

What would it be?

Abstinence for me is following the dietary guidelines in the Barix Bible...meeting my protein and water goals, and no sugar and low fat.  5-6 small meals a day, nothing in between. 

When I was in OA, people defined abstinence for themselves.  Some followed a Grey Sheet food plan.  Some did no flour or sugar.  Some had three meals.  Some had 4-6. 

I believe a person should always follow medical advice from their own medical professional, or nutritionist.  There were too many sponsors telling their sponsees what their food plan should be. 

I hope that makes sense.

Hugs,
Trish

Personally?  I think it would be abstaining from a certain food.  I, personally, don't think that following guidelines is abstinence,  unless there are certain foods that you do not eat (or are told not to eat it) at all.

I agree w/ Trish that everyone should follow the advice of their medical professional.

For me, according to barix guidelines, I should be abstaining from foods with 2gm or more of added sugar.  Most of the time, yes....I do.  But I wouldn't define myself as fulfilling that "abstinence" rule, because I do have stuff over that and I'm not the strictest.....

 

Nicole,

When I think of abstinence, I think back to my childhood when my mom would be like the food police and deny me of things. I know now that she only had my best interests at heart, but as a kid you just don't get it!! Since RNY, I have learned to live without certain things. Does it make it any easier? NOPE!

I have to agree with what the others say. Follow medical advice. Some people go too far as far as abstaining from things. You cannot live your life that way.

Love, Beth

When I say abstinence I am not necessarily speaking of a food perse.
It is more of problem food behaviors and sometimes that includes specific types of food

Nicole,

As I understand abstinence and try to practice it, it means eating "according to plan."  My personal plan at this point in my journey is to abstain from foods with more than 2g of added sugar (which I've been pretty successful at doing, surprising myself), to emphasize lean proteins and the good carbs of vegetables, to maximize fiber, and to minimize refined carbs.  When I do eat refined carbs, I strongly lean to whole grains.  I also work really hard to make sure that I get my 64oz of water every day and that my portions are well controlled and that I eat about 5 times a day (I've found that 6 is just too much for me).

When I have followed that plan on a given day, I feel like I've met my goal of abstinence for that day. 

I would LIKE to work on adding abstinence from flour (refined flours), but just can't seem to get there mentally yet.  That's part of the "work in progress" part of me ;-).

I strongly believe that everyone has to define their own version of abstinence, based on a clear understanding of the way that your own addiction manifests.  While I think that the Barix plan is great, and is a clear way to lose the weight in the first year or so, I also believe we each have a personal responsibility to define for ourselves after that first year or two (working with our doctors and nutritionists and trainers and therapists and whoever else makes sense) what our LIFE-long plan needs to be to maximize the sustainability of the weight loss, coupled with health, energy, and support for an active lifestyle.

Karen

As you know, I consider abstinence to be a moving target for me.  I can tell you what "perfect" eating looks like for me, but I'm not able to achieve that perfection at this time.  OA literature tells me to identify "problem foods and behaviors" to avoid.  So here's mine right now.

I do not eat sugar, snack-type foods (pretzels, popcorn, chips), or fast food.

I haven't had a "food" problem since leaving those things out of my diet.  The one behavior I see as problematic for me and that I would like to change is eating anything between meals, which would include picking while cooking or cleaning up. 

In trying to deal with my compulsive eating, the first few weeks in OA found me obsessing about food plans, abstinence, eating too much, eating too little, menus, etc.  I was still food obsessed.  I've had to talk myself down quite a bit.  Now I keep it simple:  no sugar, snacks or fast food, just for today.  Is it perfect?  Hell no!  Is it progress?  Most definitely!  I'm going to get some time under my belt with this (like I did 90 days in AA without even thinking about food issues!), and then if I want to tweak the plan, I can do that. 

I've thought about getting a plan from a nutritionist, but I still get that "diet" mentality that led me to GBS in the first place, and I don't want to go back there.  I'm not sure weighing and measuring is the right thing to do, but could change my mind about that in the future.  For me, it's less about what I put into my mouth, and more about keeping my sane brain running the show.  Working the 12-steps really helps me with that.