I just had a very interesting birthday. My husband and I had plans for a “double dip” celebration for my birthday and our second wedding anniversary. We made reservations two months in advance at our wedding hotel. The anticipation of a wonderful, intimate weekend sustained us through the end-of-semester stresses both of us faced with our jobs. I was going to see my family on Friday night to get the weekend rolling. We had planned an anniversary dinner with special friends on Saturday, then a romantic private lunch for my birthday on Sunday. The weekend would be topped off with a visit to my dear favorite aunt, who is 90-years old. In the past, I would have just eaten over the stress. I would have been busy planning all the favorite binge foods I was going to reward myself with on my special day. Birthdays were always an excuse to... Continue Reading
I am of Italian descent and was born in America. I turned 50 years old in September. I have had the pleasure and the opportunity to visit my family in Italy quite often. The first time I traveled there, I was 4-years old and I celebrated my fifth birthday in the home in which my father grew up. I also celebrated my 25th birthday there. As a young adult, I visited often, even spending a year studying there and a summer having fun with my favorite cousin. After I married and had a child, we went there and took our 11-month-old daughter. I had not been back since. How I longed to see them and wander the streets of my beloved Firenze (Florence) again. So I began to pray. I said, “God, if it is your will for me to return to la terra maternal (the motherland), then show me... Continue Reading
I prayed for many years for a way out of the prison and cycle of misery I was in. For someone who has battled food and diet obsession all of her life, it is unimaginable that I would find myself in a right-sized body, maintaining a 111 pound weight loss for almost two years. Thank God for a misery and desperation level that brought me into FA, willing and ready to go to any lengths to not only achieve abstinence, but recovery. I am so thankful to have finally found the solution to a major problem. How did I get there? The first thing I did was to find a sponsor who had what I wanted. It was so helpful to find a sponsor who kept the focus on me. I was a huge caretaker, always taking care of everyone else, but myself. I was blessed to find a sponsor... Continue Reading
I have experienced a 160-pound weight loss in FA. I have come to believe that “practicing these principles in all my affairs” is an effective way to address the many other addictions in my life. As a recovering chronic spender and credit card abuser, I now live each month on a balanced and reasonable budget. Knowing exactly how much money I can spend for food has brought tremendous peace to my life. This past week I had $44.00 left in my budget for food and over a week to go before another paycheck. As I shopped the aisles, I looked at each item from the “do I need this or do I want this?” perspective. I didn’t do any mental math manipulation. I simply asked God to help me discern what I really needed. I stood at the checkout and watched the total rise. As the clerk neared the end... Continue Reading
Looking back to when I entered into that threshold that is the first 90 days of FA, three-and-half years and one-hundred-thirty pounds ago, I can say that I never want to go down that painful road again. Coming off of flour and sugar was so hard for me that if I knew then what I know now, I would have taken time off from work and stayed at home for a several weeks! I was an emotional basket case, to say the very least. My feelings were a roller coaster of never-ending ups and downs. My mood was completely unstable. I was extremely rude to those closest to me. Mostly, I regret my behavior towards my coworker and friend during that time. Putting it simply, I acted “holier than thou” toward her because I had found recovery from food addiction and she had not. In my early days in Program,... Continue Reading
