The following is an Action Plan I put together that has helped me to release over 90 pounds and to remain abstinence since 6/14/17. This is my personal Action Plan designed to meet my unique needs and the individual challenges I had to face. It does not represent OA as a whole.

I developed this Action Plan with the support and encouragement of my sponsor and the Higher Power of my own choosing – a power that I have come to identify as LOVE. At a meeting I heard a member say, “If we fail to plan, we plan to fail.” This member had released over 100 pounds and had kept it off for more than two decades. Her words really stuck with me!

My Action Plan has evolved with my program and continued spiritual growth, allowing me to develop (and practice) healthy habits and coping skills that have supported me well in my Twelve Step recovery from compulsive eating. Your own Action Plan might include some, all, or entirely different items.

Whatever your Action Plan might come to include, I strongly encourage you to develop one – and to use it daily. My plan has served me well through both good times and bad, giving me a tool for staying the course and dealing with life on life’s terms.

MY ACTION PLAN:

• Each week I go to the grocery store armed with a pre-determined list to purchase my abstinent foods for the week ahead.
• Twice weekly I prepare my meals for the next 3-4 days, weighing out the proper amounts in single meal containers, and either refrigerating or freezing those meals for easy access.
• Prior to bed, I list the food I plan to eat in my food tracking app, sending it to my food sponsor. If I need to make a change, I alert my food sponsor to the change. This helps by keeping me aware and accountable!
• Upon awakening, I say the first 3 steps in the form of a personal prayer, as follows: I admit that I am powerless over my alcoholic foods and that without a Higher Power in my life, my life is unmanageable. I have come to believe that a power greater than myself is restoring me to sanity, and I have made the decision to turn my will and my life over to the loving care of this Higher Power.
• I follow-up with my gratitude list: Thank you, HP, for the roof over my head, the loving people in my life, my sweet kitty, and the comfort of this cozy bed, and thank you for my abstinent life and the clarity that this abstinence brings me!
• After I get up, I get ready for work, speaking to myself, in the mirror, using loving words, practicing kindness, self-care, and compassion.
• I do 20-minutes of guided meditation followed by eating an abstinent breakfast, prefaced by the following pre-meal prayer: HP, grant that the food choices I make and the amount I eat be enough. Thank you!
• I follow a plan of eating 3 abstinent meals with nothing in between, allowing at least 4 hours between meals, and drink lots of water (70 ounces a day).
• Six days a week I walk. My walking goal is 14,000 steps or more.
• I make 2 OA outreach calls daily.
• I attend at least 3 OA meetings each week.
• When I need extra inspiration, I pick up one of my OA daily readers.
• Now that I have completed my step work, I continue to speak with my sponsor regularly, committing to calling her whenever I need additional support or specific guidance on challenging decisions.
• I commit to holding at least one service position within my OA program each year.
• I commit to sharing at least twice weekly at my OA meeting from my experience, strength and hope.
• I work with others, serving as an OA sponsor, making myself available to those who want to work the steps to achieve recovery.
• Every night I do a 10th step to ensure that I am making amends where needed, celebrating my “know better – do better” behaviors, and that I remain ever grateful for this precious gift of recovery.
• I commit to my Plan of Eating daily, and I keep a clear list with me of what is, and what is not, my food!
• I practice speaking kindly to myself and to others, knowing that it is progress – not perfection – that is my goal.
• I repeat what my first sponsor taught me, “Seek God, clean house, help others.” Every day that I follow this guidance is a day I know that has been well spent.

Thank you, OA, for giving me a design for living that really works!

By Francine in Willow Glen

JOURNAL PROMPT
What is your Action Plan and how has it helped you with your recovery from compulsive eating? If you don’t have one currently, what might you include on your Action Plan that would support and enhance your recovery?

Please send your Action Plan and story of recovery to blog@oasv.org. We look forward to hearing from you and to sharing your story of experience, strength and hope with others on this amazing journey of OA recovery from compulsive eating through the Twelve Steps.