There’s an addiction I haven’t talked much about in my writing, mostly because I haven’t really had a problem with it like I did with so many other things in life, and that’s compulsive overeating. Thankfully, there’s a recovery program out to help those who do suffer from this addiction, and it’s called Overeaters Anonymous (OA).
Taken directly from OA’s website, “Overeaters Anonymous offers a program of recovery from compulsive eating using the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OA. Worldwide meetings and other tools provide a fellowship of experience, strength and hope where members respect one another’s anonymity. OA charges no dues or fees; it is self-supporting through member contributions. OA is not just about weight loss, weight gain or maintenance, or obesity or diets. It addresses physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. It is not a religious organization and does not promote any particular diet. OA members differ in many ways, but we are united by our common disease and the solution we have found in the OA program. We practice unity with diversity, and we welcome everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively.”
While I may not have chronically suffered from this addiction so far in this life, I do know of many people who have. The hardest thing each have had to face in their recovery from it is that they can’t completely eliminate food from their life. This is the major difference from someone like myself who suffered from alcohol and drug addiction, as those substances aren’t necessary to sustain life. The closest comparison of what I could come up with in my own life to a compulsive overeater is the sex and love dependency I battled not too long ago.
I firmly believe that sex and love are innate to a human being just like eating is, so the idea of eliminating them completely from my life never felt right. So I was very grateful when I found Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) and Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA), as there in both programs I learned how to create a list for myself (called a bottom line) of the things I once did addictively such as watching porn, of which I could never do again at all. The same principle holds true for overeaters.
There are plenty of foods that many overeaters are unable to consume again without falling into their compulsive eating habits. So to prevent this from happening, they too create their own bottom line of these things that cannot ever consume again at all. Like all 12 Step programs, OA does work and can help a person find recovery from their addiction, as long as they want to stop eating compulsively. It’s really all about willingness. The truth is, until I found the willingness to stop drinking, drugging, smoking, or doing any of the others addictions I ever suffered from, I didn’t find recovery from them either.
With that being said, I’m ending this entry today with a prayer that came from an OA meeting, as I know it can help a person find that willingness if they’re currently seeking recovery from this addiction. There definitely is help out there for compulsive overeaters and hopefully this prayer can be but a beginning for their road to recovery…
“God, today is a new day for me, and with you I can handle anything. I ask for Your protection in case sometime during the day, my desire to eat compulsively becomes stronger than my desire to abstain. I also ask for Your protection today from anyone or anything that would interfere with my abstinence. I know I am powerless over food and that my life can become unmanageable again, but I do believe that You can relieve this compulsion and restore my sanity. Help me to know what Your will is for me today and give me the willingness to carry that out. And help me to turn my entire will and life over to You God so that you may guide me through another day of abstinence. Amen.”
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson