Abstinence - 76th Day

Breakfast 1 cup Life cereal 1 cup vanilla soy milk 1 cup coffee 1 banana 16 oz. water Lunch 1 peanut butter & sugar-free blackberry jam sandwich on Health Nut Bread Medium salad with romaine lettuce, mushroom slices, grape tomatoes, baby carrots, almonds, and Vegan Caesar dressing 1-1/2 oz. box of raisins 6 oz. soy yogurt with peach 16 oz. water Dinner Rotisserie chicken leg & wing with skin 1 cup mashed potatoes with vegan margarine & vanilla soy milk 1/2 can light fruit ****tail 1 can New England clam chowder 1-1/2 cups vanilla soy milk Dessert 2 Tofutti Cuties Mike & I are attending a choir party tonight.  I intend to keep my abstinence by only drinking decaf coffee or diet pop.  I will not touch any of the "goodies" they have to eat, since that would be breaking my abstinence.  Those "goodies" are not part of my food plan, so they're out.  I'll pray to God to give me the strength and willpower (His will) to resist them.  Wish me luck! Denise Phares/kitties4 My sponsor told me yesterday that I don't take abstinence (refraining from compulsive overeating) seriously enough.  We are currently going through Bill W.'s story in the AA Big Book, one paragraph at a time.  She's been in OA thirty years, and there wasn't an OA 12 and 12 back when she started.  Her sponsor took her through the Big Book, too.  I've never had any sponsor do this with me before.  It's a very well-written book. DP/k4

The Big Book helped me as well. For those who may not htink it pertains, just read it and insert "abuse of food" or any other probelm every time it says "alcohol"

Denise..   Is it possible to take your own snacks when you have these events to attend.  I usually put something in my purse which is on my plan so in the event I'm tempted, or even actually get HUNGRY.... I can just dip in a little snack baggie and chew on a couple of macadamias or something.   Even when I was cooking for the fellowship dinners at church, I would be sure to cook something I knew I could eat.  Of course I made enough for everyone, and did find myself explaining more than once why I couldn't indulge in most of the dishes other folks brought..... but it allowed me to attend the fellowship dinner without feeling deprived or make others feel uncomfortable because I didn't eat anything at all.  :)   Are you allowed to do something like this with your program? Lori

Dear Future Legend: I did fine!  I went to the party, and simply sipped on a glass of Sprite Zero, which has no sugar, and no calories.  They had various kinds of pop.  Nobody questioned why I ate nothing, and frankly, not very many people were eating the food, anyway.  There was alot of food, and very little eating.  Even my husband had four cookies, two buckeyes, and some fruit.  He ate less than usual, too.  After dinner, I ate a Slim A Bear sugar-free, low fat ice cream bar, so I wouldn't feel deprived at the party.  And it worked!  I didn't even feel hungry for their food, since I had already had something sweet at home.  Thanks for your concern! Denise Phares/kitties4

I haven't visited this board often, but the times I have I've noticed your abstinence posts. I'm assuming perhaps you work with an OA program?  What do YOU consider abstinence? I think OA might help me again, I tried it once years ago. Thanks, Leslee

Overeaters Anonymous is a spiritual program, where the goal is to be abstinent from compulsive overeating.  While on abstinence, your mind clears, because you aren't drugging yourself with excess food, so you can work their Twelve Step program of recovery, which involves turning your will and your life over to your Higher Power (God of your understanding); doing a moral inventory, whi*****ludes your wrongs as well as your rights (must be balanced); reading that inventory to yourself, to God, and to another person, perhaps your sponsor, or a trusted clergyman or a trusted OAer; asking your Higher Power to remove your character defects, which you get from the Fourth Step inventory; listing all the people your have harmed while in your addiction, and eventually, making amends to them all, as long as doing this doesn't hurt anyone else in the process.  Steps Ten, Eleven and Twelve are maintenance steps, in my opinion, because they are daily versions of Steps One through Nine. I define my abstinence as three meals a day with nothing in between; eating moderate portions of healthy food; avoiding binge foods, or those foods I lose control of when I eat them; and not using food to cover up my unpleasant emotions.  That's what OA is all about, for me.  It's not for everyone, because we are taught in OA that compulsive overeating is an incurable disease, and the only way to recover from it is a daily reprieve contingent on being spiritually fit each, day; in other words, you must pray every day, and surrender your will over to your Higher Power, doing God's will, not your own.  This means you must give up self-centeredness, and follow the will of your Higher Power. I know this must sound pretty overwhelming.  I didn't agree with alot of it when I joined OA twenty years ago.  I dropped out after two years, having lost 70 pounds, but I didn't keep it off, because I did not know how to eat to maintain a thin, healthy body.  I rejoined for good in February 2006, but I still find myself struggling with my eating sometimes.  I am working out of the AA Big Book with my present OA sponsor, who has been in the program 30 years. The whole point of all these steps your go through is not only to keep your food addiction under control, but to learn to love yourself, and help others with this afflication.  That is the whole gist of the OA program.  I hope I've answered your questions. Denise Phares/kitties4