Putting Together A Plan of Eating

Putting Together A Plan of Eating

Our Plans of Eating are as varied as our members. There are those of us who are strict vegetarians (such as my sponsor) that rely upon tofu, seitan, or legumes with rice for their daily protein, whereas others among us much prefer to eat animal meat or seafood (such as I do), with healthy fats and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Each plan of eating can be as unique as the individual that decides to make it their personal plan.

It is important to understand that Overeaters Anonymous is not a diet club. OA doesn’t provide a pre-defined plan of eating, although we do offer literature (check out our pamphlet, Dignity of Choice) and support for our members that prefer to have a more structured approach to their Plan to Eating. Instead of following a prescribed “diet,” we have the freedom and dignity to choose what works best for us as individuals, with help and guidance from our sponsors, our Higher Power, and medical experts in the field of health and nutrition.

What is common, is that many of us struggle with certain foods – foods over which we have no control once we start eating them. We find that if we take the first bite, we lose all control to stop.

For me, all it took was one bite of a cookie or candy. Sometimes it was something as simple as a hot, buttered roll or cheesy slice of pepperoni pizza. For you it might be a juicy hamburger with extra fries and a shake or a mound of fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Regardless of the specific food, it was of a type over which we had no control to stop. I was especially susceptible to foods best described as sugary, doughy, chocolatey, or processed foods. Put simply, once I took the first bite, there appeared to be no end to how much I might consume!

And, much to our disappointment (and in spite of the concern of loved ones or the admonishments of our attending physicians) we discover that we consume such foods well past the point of being full, and in quantities we’re often ashamed to admit. Regrettably, we often continue to devour such foods well beyond the point of making ourselves ill. For some of us, our obsession with certain foods is so great that it begins to pose a tremendous threat to our health and well-being in the forms of chronic illnesses and morbid obesity. Sadly, this was my experience before I conceded to my innermost self that I was a compulsive eater.

There are those among us that struggle with issues of serious food restriction and that fight to remain under a certain (often severely low) calorie count. Or, alternatively, that come to believe that they’re just “too fat,” no matter what the scale may read. This group refuses even the healthiest of food, and may choose to exercise well beyond healthy or reasonable limits. I spent some time in my teens attempting to starve myself by sticking to a 500 calorie diet. This was a very miserable part of my high schools years, filled with a desperate need for perfectionism that led me into severe depression, and then into alcohol – a very unfortunate detour. Yet others of us wage a continual battle with various types of food, only to succumb to a near-endless cycle of binge, purge, and repeat. After I turned to alcohol, I also came to realize I could “purge” myself of those unwanted binges. This is when things really took a turn for the worst as vomiting and laxative abuse soon became a way of life that was simply not sustainable!

Whatever our personal struggle may be with the disease of compulsive eating, it is not uncommon for us to obsess over empty-calorie foods that help us to numb out (or temporarily stuff) the feelings we want to avoid feeling. Many of us have found that our most problematic foods tend to include large quantities of sugar and flour – substances over which we have no control once we take the first compulsive bite – this was definitely my problem. While these particular substances are commonly overeaten by a good number of our membership, the exact food(s), or food behavior(s), which become the object of your particular mental obsession, could well be something entirely different. And yet, even though you may truly want to stop, the commonality is that you, like me – and so many others in the rooms of OA – have no control once you take that first compulsive bite.

For a number of us, we’ve come to recognize that sugar and flour make up the bulk of the foods we turn to for ease and comfort. For varying reasons, we’ve learned to use these foods as a means to avoid, numb out, or escape from any unwanted or painful feelings and emotions. For people like us, these foods become a “fix,” much like a drink or a drug to an alcoholic or addict. This was certainly the case for me whenever I reached for my sugary/doughy/chocolatey junk food – I could NOT stop once I started!

On page xxx (Roman numeral 30), the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous provides some excellent guidance on this very matter. By changing the words “alcoholic” to “compulsive eater” and the word “drink” to “eat” whenever reading from the Big Book, you can apply its teaching to great results. For instance, the following excerpt from this book helped many of us gain a valuable perspective on how to work a Plan of Eating:

“All these, and many others, have one symptom in common: they cannot start EATING without developing the phenomenon of craving. This phenomenon, as we have suggested, may be the manifestation of an allergy which differentiates these people, and sets them apart as a distinct entity. It has never been, by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanently eradicated. The only relief we have to suggest is entire abstinence.”

Entire abstinence – what a concept! To actually NOT eat those foods that send us over the edge of sanity and into the realm of physical suffering and emotional misery – how can this be possible when we’ve lost all control?

And yet, if we abstain from the offending substances (our particular forms of “alcohol”), we can change our lives for the better. We know from the experience of our members over the last 60 years, that with the practice of abstinence, in combination with working the Twelve Steps of OA recovery, there is a solution to our problem of compulsive eating.

Consequently, at the encouragement and instruction of our sponsors, we put these offending foods down on paper, within our Plan of eating. We identify them as “red light” foods – foods we STOP eating. We assign other foods (such as broccoli and chicken – the foods we typically don’t compulsively overeat) as our “green light” foods – the foods we need not abstain from eating. Many of us refer to this list of green light and red light foods as “my food” and “not my food,” providing us with a clear understanding of what we are free to purchase and consume on a daily basis versus what we know to abstain from eating.

Anything listed as a “red light” food, is a food we abstain from eating. Instead of eating these “alcoholic foods,” we focus on working the Twelve Steps of OA recovery with our sponsors, happily discovering (as a result), we have begun to change for the better.

By heeding the suggestions and encouragement of our sponsors and our fellows, we end our dependence on human power, seeking, instead, a Higher Power. Moving from self-reliance to reliance on a power greater than myself, I came to discover that the physical cravings and the mental obsession began to subside. In its place, I found a new mental clarity and a freedom from the bondage of self. This is the gift provided by living an abstinent life – freedom from the foods and food behaviors that used to send me into pain, misery, and self-loathing!

My Plan of Eating is simple and works well for me: no sugar, no starches, no chocolate and no processed foods – and no eating between my 3 weighed and measured meals. Today, my food is fuel, not a fix! This is my plan and I’m grateful for how well it has served me. Thanks to the Twelve Steps, I now know what it means to experience “food neutrality,” regardless of what others may be eating.

Whatever plan of eating you may choose – whether it’s a plan of three meals a day and nothing in-between; a list of “green-light” foods that you agree to eat in weighed and measured portions; or something else entirely – share this plan with your sponsor, and use it, one day at a time, as an invaluable tool in the Twelve Step recovery from compulsive eating.

JOURNAL PROMPT
What is your Plan of Eating and how has it helped you practice ‘entire abstinence’ for freedom from the obsession to compulsively eat?

Please send your Plan of Eating 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.