I was searching for a solution to get out of my obese body. I tried injections, ate raw eggs, drank oil and milk three times a day, and went on a grapefruit diet. I tried a wine diet, where I drank one glass of wine three times a day. One last thing my doctor suggested was that I should wire my teeth and have liquid food through a straw. I am diabetic type 2. My doctor warned me I could lose my legs or I could become blind. My mother was diabetic and died at the age of 50. My father was diabetic, refused to have treatment, and died in his 60s. I joined a health club and decided to become a water aerobics fitness instructor. I also taught dance exercise at a College. I lost weight, became more interested in energy healing, and became a practitioner of Qigong massage,... Continue Reading
When I came into FA I was utterly desperate. Just a few months prior to that date, I had ended up in the hospital for three days after a major binge. My diagnosis was a swollen colon. I had eaten a food combination that was thick and pasty. I had eaten so much of it that my side started to hurt. It was late at night, so I went off to bed. When I woke up the next morning, I was fine. One week later I had another binge on that same food combination and my side started to hurt again, so just like last time, I went to bed. The next morning when I woke up I wasn’t fine. My side pain progressed for the next few days and ended up in the hospital. I was so embarrassed. The medical staff asked me all kinds of questions. I knew... Continue Reading
Turning to food was definitely my natural reaction to life. Hadn’t it always been there for me? Surely I couldn’t survive without it. I’d always turned to food when I felt happy, sad, mad, scared, rejected, worried, or abandoned. Food got me through, but now what I had once called “my friend” seemed to have betrayed me and become my greatest enemy. I couldn’t seem to get enough food in me anymore, and it wasn’t bringing the relief it once had. The food wasn’t working anymore! What else was there? When I decided to come into FA, it felt like it was my last option. I was exhausted and hopeless, and I weighed more than I ever had. I had said I’d never hit 200 pounds, but my weight was headed to the mid-200s and not stopping. Surprisingly, it really wasn’t the weight that brought me in. What drove me... Continue Reading
It was the last day on vacation with my sister and I was asleep in the car, as my sister navigated three highways to get us to her apartment. Merely ten minutes from our beds, the unthinkable happened. My sister’s old, blue Toyota had been hit by a black Honda that ran a red light and was turning into our intersection. Upon impact, my sister lost control and we were pushed off the road and headed towards a fast-food restaurant. I jolted awake. I woke up to the most disorienting feeling and a loud, hard noise, followed by a feeling of weightlessness. My head whipped forward and the passenger-side seat belt bit into my hip. I could feel the shock of not knowing if we were hurt. I started praying out loud and, as I did, the car came to a stop. I opened my door and my sister and... Continue Reading
For me, addictive eating is like shopping with a credit card. Initially it is gratifying and easy to purchase that unplanned, unnecessary yet attractive thing—that new pair of Manolo shoes, or maybe the Oprah magazine while checking out at the grocery store. At the moment it seems like a good idea to make the purchase, crafted by an impulse that tells me I will feel or be better if I have that thing. The impulse morphs into an uncontrollable urge, and I think that now I need that thing, regardless of the consequences. Food thoughts enter my head in a very similar fashion. They tell me that if I eat that unplanned, unnecessary, yet attractive thing, I will feel or be better. With all those extra credit card purchases, the anticipation of my monthly card statement can become a dreadful thing, similar to the dread of the bathroom scale after... Continue Reading
