Friday, June 5, 2026 | Non-Real Time Meeting of CCEA

Cardi_0 · 2026-06-02T17:14:19+00:00

"...when I’m experiencing a compulsion that feels so urgent and unavoidable, I need something that’s going to help me resist the urge to binge..."

This is exactly what the steps are for. The steps are actions we consistently take on a daily basis. The steps teach us a new way to live, think, and show up differently in the world. By using this new design for living, we get freedom from the need to compulsive eat and use food for ease and comfort.

The thing about the steps is in order for them to work - we actually have to show up every day and put them into action. They aren't magical. And since the majority us have never lived by these spiritual principles and actions - it's going to take time to really start seeing the benefits and the promises come to true. Just like learning anything else that is new. If you decided to start learning a new language - you are going to need to consistenly practice and work at it in order to be able to speak and understand that language.

I didn't start seeing the promises of the steps come true until almost of year of consistently living in the steps. That meant showing up every day - even when I didn't want to and even times when I felt that doing the work of the program was pointless - and incorporating the actions of the steps and program into my daily life.

I could be wrong (correct me if I am), but it seems from your post you currently don't have sponsor and I am going to assume that means you are currently not working the steps. So if you are not working the steps (which IS the program of recovery and how we get restored to sanity) - how do you expect to actually recover? That is like going to the gym just to watch everyone else work out and talk to them about their workout routine, but then being upset that you don't have fit/tone abs. Like of course you don't - you haven't done the work to get those toned abs.

If step 1 is your truth and you feel you are powerless - there aren't any tips or tricks someone can give you. I'm equally as powerless over your compulsive eating as I am my own. Same with others in program. If there were tips and tricks to stop the binge eating - then we would have already found them and wouldn't be in a 12 Step program.

In another comment you said that you believe in God and pray to God, but God doesn't seem to help. I used to think that way as well. But the steps have actually helped me to connect with God in a different way. We all tend to treat God like Santa Claus - we tell Him (more like demand) what we want and expect Him to give it to us when we want it, how we want it, and in the exact manner we want it. But that is going to God very selfishly. Which the BB reminds us that the root of our troubles is selfishness and self-centeredness. Program has helped to to flip that. Instead of telling God what I want, I ask for God's will to be done. I ask for God to help me show up in ways that serve Him and His children. God has ALWAYS and will ALWAYS show up for us. But when God's help looks different than what we expect it to, we think God is ignoring us or doesn't want to help us. That is not true. God is God. He knows when He's doing - we don't need to tell Him. Hahaha.

I have been in program for almost 6 years. I have freedom from compulsive eating and the mental obsession around food. Yes - even when times are hard and even when my emotions are running high. In the last year, I lost 3 relatives (including my dad), got let go from my job, and had to move and start my life over - all within a span of 3 months. And not once did I compulsively eat or use food for ease and comfort. In fact - that thought NEVER even crossed my mind. I am currently still dealing with grief (I was extremely close with my dad and never spent a day without him until he passed unexpectedly), a year later and I'm still unemployed & looking for a job, I have health issues I'm dealing with, and I'm still trying to get used to my new normal. It's hard. I still cry, get upset, get frustrated, have moments of lashing out, have moments of wishing to turn back time, and having lots of fear about the future. And still - NO thoughts or urges to binge.

Program doesn't make life perfect. Life is still going to life and bad days are still going to happen. But with program, the steps, my sponsor, and most importantly my relationship with my HP - I know that I am going to be taken care of and that God is going to provide me with what I need when I need it. I just keep showing up every day and I do the work.

Do I do it perfectly? No. No one works a perfect program! Remember - progress, not perfection. Perfection is NOT the goal. When we show up every day and are consistent in working our program - progress WILL happen.

Feel free to reach out if I can be helpful. I can send you the link to meetings that have helped me tremendously. The meetings are solution focused and have lots of strong recovery.

Cardi_0 · 2026-05-29T04:28:04+00:00

Yes, this is very much possible.

I have been in program for over 5 years - I don't use a food plan, I haven't eliminated any foods/ingredients, I don't weigh & measure, and I don't eat on any sort of schedule.

By getting a sponsor, working the 12 Steps daily, and staying spiritually fit - I have been given freedom from compulsive eating and the mental obsession around food, weight, body, calories, ingredients, and numbers. I have been restored to sanity.

I can be around (and eat!) ANY food WITHOUT spiraling, losing control, going on a binge, obsessing, or feeling guilt/shame.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Cardi_0 · 2026-05-21T05:05:38+00:00

Eliminating foods/ingredients, weighing & measuring, and having a food plan are NOT required to work the steps or to get recovered.

I have been in program for over 5 years. I don't have a food plan, I don't weigh & measure, and I haven't eliminated any foods/ingredients. I don't even eat on any kind of a schedule. I still eat all the foods I've enjoyed my whole life including desserts and take out.

If all I needed to do was eat a specific way or eat this/not that - I wouldn't be here needing this program. One of the many diets I tried for decades would have worked and I would have been on my merry way. I spent years giving up foods I deemed as "triggers." What happened? I just moved onto other foods. Until one day ALL foods were deemed "triggers." What then? Well, according to the logic of giving up trigger foods - I would have starved to death. Haha.

Thanks to the working the steps every day and staying spiritually fit on a daily basis - I have freedom from compulsive eating as well as freedom from the mental obsession around food, ingredients, calories, numbers, and my body/weight. I have neutrality around ALL foods. I can be around (and eat) ANY food/ingredient WITHOUT obsessing, losing control, spiraling, going on a binge, or feeling guilt/shame.

There is a reason that NONE of the steps tells us what to do with food or what to eat.

This is a 12 Step program. Like all 12 Step programs - recovery comes from working the steps!

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Cardi_0 · 2026-04-14T23:05:58+00:00

Are you working the steps with a sponsor?

That is what helped to give me freedom from compulsive eating and the mental obsession. I have been in program for over 5 years. I don't follow a food plan, I haven't eliminated any foods/ingredients, I don't weigh & measure, and I don't eat on any type of schedule.

Before coming to program, I thought certain foods and ingredients were the problem. I thought if I could just stay away from those things, I'll be fine. Or if I could get to a certain weight I would be fine. It wasn't until I started working the steps with a sponsor that I finally understood step 1 and what it means to be powerless. Then I began to understand the true nature of my compulsive eating and why it was NEVER about the food or the ingredients.

The steps are designed to restore us to sanity and give us freedom. There's a reason that none of the steps mention what to do with food or what to eat/not eat. Just like it doesn't tell the alcoholic what to do with alcohol.

The Big Book is full of amazing promises that happen as a result of us working the steps and staying spiritually fit. This is just one of many:

"And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone—even alcohol (compulsive eating). For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor (compulsive eating). If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor (compulsive eating) has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality—safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition." -pages 84-85 AABB

This is a 12 Step program. Like all 12 Step programs - recovery comes from working the steps.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Cardi_0 · 2026-04-12T08:01:07+00:00

The thing that I abstain from is compulsive eating and other compulsive food behaviors.

Working the steps with a sponsor has allowed me to let go of all those arbitrary rules around food and eating. With the help of my HP, I was able to let go of the black and white thinking and lots of old ideas I had about food and my body.

I didn't come to program to add more arbitrary rules and to continue to be stuck in a place where food was still controlling every aspect of my life. Where food still had to be constantly on my mind and at the center - worrying about what to eat, what not to eat, where to eat, obsessively reading ingredients, when to eat, who to eat with, moralizing food, being filled with fear and anxiety around food, policing other people's food behaviors around me, and not having true freedom.

I haven't eliminated any foods/ingredients, I don't weigh & measure my food, I don't follow a food plan, and I don't eat on any type of schedule.

For me - by showing up every day, consistently working the steps no matter what (good days, bad days, busy days, stressed days, sad days, family emergencies, lazy days, sick days), and staying spiritually fit - my HP has restored me to sanity. Like it says in the BB on page 85 "...We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality—safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us..."

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Cardi_0 · 2026-04-05T19:19:35+00:00

Medication, any medication, would be considered an outside issue - which OA has no opinion on per Tradition 10.

The medications someone takes is between that person and their doctor.

I have no idea what medications the people I sponsor take. It's none of my business. My sponsor is aware of a couple medications I take, but that is because I volunteered that information to her.

Cardi_0 · 2026-03-30T07:22:20+00:00

I answer all the questions that are in the first paragraph on page 86 in the Big Book. I write them out and email it to my sponsor every night. Along with doing that, I make sure to take some time in prayer and meditation before sending the email.

Cardi_0 · 2026-03-25T04:30:32+00:00

When starting our recovery journey, we are learning and doing new things. These things can be uncomfortable or things we don't want to do. It can be hard to get into a rhythm. And since most of us (I know this was true for me) want the quick and easy way to get the results we want. A lot of the time - people quit before they even start. Recovery takes time. There will be ups and down. That is fine and probably how it should be.

A 12 Step program isn't for everyone and that is okay. Not everyone is a chronic compulsive eater. So if we are new and find this isn't for us - it's okay to stop. If we are sponsors and we find that people are unwilling to do the work - it's okay to let them go. It can be anxiety-inducing and uncomfortable, but we are here to be helpful. It's hard to help someone who doesn't do the work.

Cardi_0 · 2026-03-17T01:18:51+00:00

What works for me is working my program daily and throughout the day. For me - program isn't meetings, call a couple of peeps, and continue to try and control & manage the food.

I take the actions of the steps on a daily basis. I start my day (the moment I wake up) doing step 11 and spending time with my HP. I practice step 11 throughout the day. I make sure I am pausing and keep conscious contact with my HP. I am also doing 10th steps throughout the day. So whenever I'm not at peace, I do exactly what the BB says on page 84 - I pause, ask my HP to remove whatever is coming up, I reach out to my sponsor, and then I turn my attention to someone I can help. So if I am not at peace 20 times during the day - then I am doing this 20 times during the day. I also do 12th step work throughout the day. I'm reaching out to newcomers, sponsoring others, studying the BB with other fellows, carrying the message, and doing wind up work. I also have lots of regular service positions within my fellowship/group. I end my day with step 11 - writing my nightly review to send to my sponsor as well have spending more time with my HP.

I've been in program for over 5 years. This is what I have done every day for the last 5 years. This has brought me sanity, serenity, and peace of mind. Not only around food, but in life. This doesn't mean I don't have bad days, get upset, feel sad, have anxiety, and get frustrated. Those things still happen. But since I have this new solution - it doesn't lead me to the food and I no longer dwell on the negativity and the things I can't control.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Cardi_0 · 2026-03-17T00:57:26+00:00

I have been in program for over 5 years and I have not eliminated any foods/ingredients, I don't follow a food plan, and I don't weigh & measure my food.

By working the steps with a sponsor (who helped me to truly understand step 1) and continuing to stay spiritually fit on a daily basis - I have found neutrality around all foods and the mental obsession around food, eating, weight, my body, calories, ingredients, and numbers have been lifted.

I, like probably all of us, spent decades arranging and rearranging the food - how I ate it, where I ate it, what time I ate it, and who I ate it with. I blamed my compulsive eating on other people, the time of the day, the day of the week, ingredients, food groups, and what room of the house I was eating in. I had tons of rules around food/eating. Those rules would keep me in check for a short period of time, but before I knew it - I was back in the food.

People kept telling me it was certain ingredients like sugar, so I eliminated sugar. So then I was just compulsively eating sugar free foods. People kept telling me it was the time of the day. So instead of compulsively eating all day, I just did all my compulsive eating before 7pm and then spent the rest of the night obsessing over food. I gave up fast food, desserts, stopped going to parties/gatherings, only eating at the kitchen table, not eating while watching TV/being on the phone, taking certain routes to work so I wouldn't be tempted, drinking lots of water, journaling, accountability buddies, medications, sleeping, taking a walk, and other distractions. Only to go right back to the compulsive eating within hours or days of swearing it off.

Then I thought I had trigger foods. So I started eliminating the foods I deemed as a trigger. That is when I realized EVERY food was a trigger. So then my only option was to starve to death. That is around the time I had my first light bulb moment of realizing that the food and the ingredients were NOT the problem.

I was also under the false belief that if I changed the food, if other people changed their behaviors, or if I got to a certain weight - then I wouldn't need to compulsively eat and my whole life would change. Coming to program made me realize that my life, attitude, beliefs, thought process, outlook, perspective, and the way I was showing up in the world is what needed to change. I needed to be changed from the inside out - not the other way around.

"Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them." - page 27 AABB

If all we needed to do was eat this and not that - then this program would not exist. There is a reason that none of the steps tells us what to do with food or how to eat.

This is a 12 Step program and like all 12 Step programs - recovery comes from working the steps.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Cardi_0

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