Looking for friends and support

03emily03

I have always had an unhealthy relationship with food and I just feel like I am at my breaking point. I can remember the first time my weight came up was in 1st grade when my parents encouraged my siblings and I to be more active. Every year since then I have repeatedly claimed that I was going to lose the weight whether it was summer vacation from school, starting a new month or calendar year I always have some bench mark that I say "starting that day I am going to get serious" and follow up for a short period of time or not at all. This has been going on for literally 15 years, which makes me really sad considering that I am only 23. Over eating has been a big contributor to my weight problem. I need all the support I can get and I'm happy to return support. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. At this point I have tried so many diets or plans that haven't worked I feel so discouraged just thinking "this isn't going to work because it didn't before." Please feel free to add me and give me any advice. Thanks

barbiecat

Hi Emily,
Overeaters Anonymous is a spiritual program that if practiced on a daily basis can free you from compulsive overeating. It's a lot more than just support from caring friends. I hope you'll take the Steps and reach the spiritual awakening that will bring you the recovery you seek.

OA is for people who have run out of ideas of how they can solve their compulsive eating by themselves.

Barbie

Healthy0060

Hi Emily
I can identify with your struggle. But I am also proud that you were able to recognize your food obsession and brave enough to reach out for help. It took me years to recognize that I could not do it alone. I have set so many dates to lose this much weight; and as quickly as I set those goals, I would start sabotaging my goals. By the time I came to OA, I was completely exhausted. Read Step One of the program; not only read it, journal about it
then read it again-and meditate and journal and read it again until there is acceptance of this concept. That how it was with me, I had to accept that maybe this was a concept I should consider. Then I had to consider accepting this concept as my truth.

Take this from a woman who has had 45 years of dieting and losing and gaining it back for a cycle I lived in for years. That why I am proud that you recognized the cycle early in life. Please take this program seriously and break free from your obsession with food. It will be the hardest work you have ever done, but also the most rewarding work you have ever done. I wish you total abstinence, total acceptance, and total transformation.
Annice
ps I am still in the struggle. I am making progress 1 step forward and sometimes1 step backward. I am not perfect, but I am making progress.

sanddollar

My best advice to you, Emily, is to get a sponsor to help you go through the 12 steps! I went to a few face to face mtgs but found there are many more available sponsors on certain OA phone mtgs. If you need more information about OA as a whole, you can call this recording of an OA phone mtg. Call 209-255-1099, access code 740111#. Plz let me know if I can help in any way.
Good luck, Lisa G- recovered compulsive eater and available sponsor

Sumner100Christ_follower

I am looking for friends also. I am Al. I am ashamed to admit this, but I have heard the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I am overweight. I am a binge-eater, and I need help to quit binge eating forever. The day before I began my fitness pal I consumed approximately 8,830 calories in one day, and it wasn't even a special occasion. I calculated it. Though, I am sure there were many days in which I consumed more than this. In fact, I don't know if that day would even make my top 100 binge-eating days, but I never calculated how many calories I consumed those other days. One day I ate two medium full-size delivery pizzas loaded with toppings. Another day, my mother gave me a huge extremely sweet, rich, and chocolatey ice cream cake for my birthday, and I ate the entire cake within two days except for two small slices. In December, I went to the movie theater, and just while watching one film I consumed 3 jumbo popcorn containers with extra butter by myself. I think I could talk about my binge-eating failures for hours. However, when I am not binge-eating I eat mostly low-calorie healthy food. When I am not binge-eating I am a strong proponent for saving the environment and eating healthy, and when I am binge eating I feel like a hypocrite. Though, I love good tasting food so much that I feel like I could eat it forever. I really appreciate food that makes my taste senses explode with joy. I also binge-eat during almost all celebrations or when I am depressed. Additionally, when I am not binge-eating I think very few people eat healthier than me. I have been doing okay recently, but I do not know when I will not be able to resist the urge to binge eat again. To complicate things I am a Christian, and in Christianity over eating is considered the sin of gluttony. I am trying to get in shape because 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV reads: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." Thus, I really want to get in as good of shape as possible spiritually and physically. Though, I may need some support.

Healthy0060

Sumner100c I have had the same problem. Keep a food journal each day whether you are binging or not. It helped me understand my eating pattern. I wish I could say it is easy, but it is not. I practice Christianity too. We are imperfect human beings. I learned that I was using food to self-medicate. Instead of saying God, I am lonely. I don't feel good enough etc I would grab food and push those thoughts away. An old Sunday School teacher once told me that we have to work like no prayer would help and pray like no work would help.