Recovery Gifts “As Is” Before I fully surrendered, my life was an ever-increasing battle with food, weight, myself, and others. I was a child who didn’t like being given half a cup of juice; I wanted the full cup. After overhearing family conversations about my “puppy fat,” I decided, at age 9, to attend my first commercial weight-loss club. I only had to lose … Read More
Tools & Concepts Thanks for Sharing I haven’t written for Lifeline in a while, but today life got in my way. At least food didn’t, eh? But it tried to. Yes, even with fifteen years of recovery, the thoughts still sometimes make a plausible case for indulging. The Big Book says, “We are without defense against the first drink” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 24), and … Read More
Tools & Concepts Back on Track I experienced miraculous recovery working the Steps of OA. I’d never in my life been more spiritually fit, more emotionally sound, more physically recovered, yet I felt as if I’d just touched the tip of the iceberg of everything the OA Fellowship could fulfill in my life. It was “steady as she goes,” and the pounds came off slowly but … Read More
Diversity Newcomers Threefold Accountability One night, my sponsor asked me how I would feel about putting my scales away and only weighing myself every thirty days. At first, I was like, “What? You have to be kidding me!” I loved to weigh every day because it gave me a measuring stick for my progress. But I was in the program, literally willing to do … Read More
Abstinence Tools & Concepts Understand, Appreciate, Implement, Reflect I came to understand abstinence initially by doing what I saw other recovering OA members doing. This included: weighing and measuring food; following a food plan created by a registered dietician who tailored it for my body’s needs; avoiding sugar and wheat products; doing OA outreach phone calls; attending meetings; doing service; reading OA and AA literature; journaling daily; studying … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Not “Too” Scale “Scale Sanity” (July 2017, pp. 8-9) describes very well some of my own crazy behavior with scales, and the writer discovered a “scale abstinence” that is similar to mine. I wish to thank the writer for her pre-scale prayer. That was something I was missing in my program, so I will remember it. As an anorexic, I get irrational satisfaction … Read More
Abstinence Bumper Bowl I am a coordinated, intelligent, healthy individual, so my lack of skill in bowling would come as a surprise to friends and teammates. At first, I’d knock down a pin or two, but soon the gutter balls would begin. It defied logic. I experimented with different positions, ball weights, finger-hole sizes, and speeds, but in the end, I’d get so … Read More