Simple and Sane

After more than five years in OA, I can look back and see the grace of my Higher Power in the early actions of my sponsor when she immediately suggested we work through The Twelve-Step Workbook of Overeaters Anonymous. One of the earliest benefits of our work together was that I became aware of how much time, energy, and effort I’d been giving away to food and food-related behaviors.

As a food addict and compulsive overeater, it was my common practice to pore over cookbooks, read grocery ads, watch cooking shows, talk about recipes with friends, and bake for others. A huge percentage of my waking time was devoted to food. My denial about this was gradually revealed to me through our Step work. I didn’t readily give up what I believed to be innocent hobbies or acts of kindness, such as making delectable foods for my family and friends, which made them happy. But those same behaviors kept me in the food and kept me very, very sick.

Although I can’t think of anything that came quickly or easily for me within the OA program, God has helped me replace addictive food behaviors with simple and sane activities that support my abstinence. Now, God helps me pick a few simple recipes each week that fit in my food plan and are healthy, delicious, and appealing. That is enough. The act of food planning has slowly become more matter-of-fact, more mechanical. Over time, food has lost a lot of its emotional significance. I count all this as nothing short of a miracle.

Ultimately, this practice yielded the mysterious gift of abstinence, a sane and serene way of living. It took five years of trial and error for me to get abstinent and keep abstinent. Now, I know that all the practice is worth it, whether the progress is quick or not. Practice makes progress! Practice makes abstinence!

— Kris I., Puyallup, Washington USA