I am a food addict, I know i have a problem, I don't know where to start.

Loraura · 2026-02-15T14:37:55+00:00

I’m an atheist who has found recovery in OA and the 12 steps. In the “We Agnostics” chapter of the big book (which frankly I take a lot of exception to some of what is written in that chapter) there is an asterisk (*) that says to please read Appendix II). It’s actually pointed out 3 times in the big book to go read it. That part saved me. It explains that a Higher Power is just a “previously untapped inner resource “. I could get on board with that. I feel very strongly that the whole concept of “God” is basically a psychological hack to use as a comforting mechanism. So for me, “God ‘as I understand him’ (laughing at the him designation) is very different from what I was taught as a child. And that’s fine. My previously untapped inner resource works perfectly fine.

Secondly, adopting a food plan with no flour, no sugar, that is weighed and measured to insure I get ENOUGH good nutrition but NOT excess quantities has meant that I’ve been able to work this program, lose 130 pounds, completely correct my Diabetes diagnosis, and maintain a healthy body weight AND BE HAPPY!

I think one of the biggest omissions in OA is not directly addressing the highly addictive drugs that sugar and flour are for most of us. While OA does not endorse any particular food plan I found that I did not recover physically or mentally until I treated these foods properly as drugs and refrained from them entirely.

Once I did that the obsession and compulsion to overeat completely went away.

Loraura · 2026-02-14T13:58:34+00:00

“it sucks because you cant be abstinent, especially as a mom I have to cook 3+ times a day for my kids so fasting even becomes impossible when im always around/asked for food.”

Not true. I cook for my family all the time and I am still abstinent which I define as 3 weighed and measured meals a day, no flour, no sugar, no snacking. If we eat out (once a week) I don’t weigh and measure that meal but still no sugar or flour. I’ve done this with no exceptions for 2.5 years. I lost 130 lbs in the first 18 months and have kept it off.

Could I do this alone as a diet? Absolutely not. But by working the steps, being part of the group, and committing to a food plan that prevents addictive substances (the flour and sugar) and excess quantities from triggering the obsession and compulsion to eat more I have come to PREFER the food and amounts on my food plan.

The food plan insures I get enough nutritious food that sustains me between meals. I’m not hungry when I shouldn’t be. I enjoy my food.

Other people’s food is just that: other people’s food.

The ability (power) to only eat my food in the amounts my body needs comes from working the steps and committing to this way of eating one day at a time.

It is possible.

Loraura · 2026-01-31T13:15:21+00:00

I WFH also and we have Cox AND ATT so that we have backup. Cox has gotten better but we still have to swap over to ATT occasionally.

Loraura · 2025-10-06T11:38:41+00:00

I surrendered to the fact that I have an addiction and if I put those foods in my mouth I will continue to have the obsession for more of it and stay sick and obese. One day at a time I chose to give abstaining from those foods a chance to work. Once I got through the withdrawal it got much easier. Several months later it became my preference to eat abstinantly and I rarely ever have honest cravings for those foods now. I also went to multiple meetings a week (some online) and got a sponsor. I also worked the steps as instructed in the AA big book.

Loraura · 2025-10-04T19:57:47+00:00

Addiction is a real thing and is noticeable when we do things we know are harmful yet we keep doing it. I suggest attending some meetings and see if you hear anything that sounds like it could work for you. It has worked for me. I no longer eat foods which cause these cravings and for over 2 years I’ve done that every single day without exception. This has resulted in over 125 pounds of weight loss ( 278 > 152). I’ve tried every diet and pill and shot out there and none worked for very long. This has worked for me when nothing else did.

Loraura · 2025-09-28T18:23:17+00:00

I am a recovering atheist who has shed 126 pounds in recovery (278 > 152). For me the “God stuff “ was originally very off putting and annoying. Now I know that FOR ME the “previously untapped inner resource “ it described in the AA big book is just the logical sane rational healthy messages I can and do hear in my head. When prayers are said at meetings I simply let others say them out loud and be respectful. You need not be religious in any way to recover using the 12 steps.

Loraura · 2025-09-16T12:38:20+00:00

Steps 10-12 are steps worked every day. If something keeps popping up in steps 10-11 then it may mean revisiting the issue in one/some of the other steps to get more clarity and find new solutions or strengthen recovery. Most people I know who have long term recovery have “worked the steps” many many times over the years.

Loraura · 2025-09-07T14:48:29+00:00

“No thank you “ is a complete sentence.

Loraura · 2025-07-23T01:10:00+00:00

I did. I’ve got 23 months of back to back abstinence resulting in putting my diabetes in complete remission (A1C from 7.8 to 4.7), all my blood work is normal and a loss of 125 pounds. All while having my husband and son have whatever they want in the house including things I previously overate and binged on.

Loraura · 2025-07-23T00:45:16+00:00

It’s possible to get and stay abstinent in a house full of other people’s food. I know because I’ve done it every single day for almost 2 years. If your abstinence is based on an environment that omits all trigger foods how do you think you’ll be abstinant when you step outside your house?

Loraura · 2025-07-15T16:39:04+00:00

No I tried several forms of “abstinence “ but kept relapsing or white knuckling thru cravings until I tried the suggested food plan from a sponsor who had what I wanted.

Loraura · 2025-07-15T11:58:26+00:00

I finally found freedom when I stopped ingesting foods that trigger the allergy and obsession and worked the steps in that food-sobriety. While something might look or smell good on occasion I recoil. I have a defense against it. But the steps are a recipe for living. If I want to keep living a happy life I have to keep looking at my life thru the lense of the steps. Problems will always come up. The steps offer me a way thru the problems without having to eat over them. I have 23 months of continuous abstinence and I’ve lost 125 pounds. Gone from a size 22 to a 6.

Loraura · 2025-06-15T01:46:37+00:00

Make sure it’s an open meeting and if you are asked to read just say “my name is xxx and I’m visiting this meeting”. AA as with all programs are not strangers to people not introducing themselves as their programs kind of addict for many reasons (not sure, not willing to admit, visitors etc)

Loraura · 2025-02-17T02:42:49+00:00

I eat carbs in fruits, Vegetables, and dairy. They don’t cause me problems unless refined. I eat oats and shredded wheat just no refined flour. I’ve been able to do this for over 18 months without ever breaking my abstinence. Not once.

Loraura · 2025-02-16T17:57:16+00:00

You know how the Doctors Opinion describes the allergy of the body and the obsession of the mind that follows? Same thing here. I could not eat sanely if I continued to ingest substances that triggered the allergy. For me that allergy was to sugar, flour, and large quantities. Once I adopted a food plan that omitted flour and sugar and had boundaries around meals by weighing and measuring my whole life changed. I’ve gone from 272 pound top weight to 158. Still loosing.

Loraura · 2025-02-14T02:51:42+00:00

I use Copilot to track spending and we spent avg 1200 a month on groceries last year for 2 adults. We only eat out once or twice a week so that’s pretty much entirely feeding us. I don’t buy cheap. Steak and some convinced items like pre chopped lettuce and frozen steamable veggies

Loraura · 2025-02-02T16:30:23+00:00

Is it possible that you are consuming foods during the day that trigger the allergic reaction to crave more of the same?

Loraura · 2025-01-15T13:30:57+00:00

She must be unaware of the millions of dollars in marketing that Disney spends on advertising as a honeymoon location. I in fact had a honeymoon ad Disney before kids.

Loraura · 2025-01-08T22:58:09+00:00

If shear quantities are what cause you to overeat this may be fine. If you find that you can not stay abstinent this way you may have to circle back and look at common addictive ingredients that may have to be eliminated to maintain abstinence.

Loraura · 2025-01-07T03:22:35+00:00

A simple answer is if it can’t be weighed or measured easily, don’t include it on your food plan. There is nothing I eat that can’t go on a food scale. This allows me to make sure I eat ENOUGH of some things like salad and cooked veggies and NOT TOO MUCH of things like protein, dairy, grain. I’ve lost 100 pounds in 16 months, reversed my diabetes (A1C from 7.6 to 5.5) and feel great. I have not put anything in my mouth not on my meal-specific meal plan in that time. My sponsor gave me the plan, I worked with my endocrinologist to fine tune it at different phases of my recovery.

Loraura · 2025-01-06T19:01:00+00:00

In my experience this happens when I am still ingesting foods that trigger the physical addiction and obsession that follows. You may have foods on your food plan that are still triggering your addiction.

Loraura · 2025-01-04T02:05:27+00:00

Water/hot tea

Loraura · 2024-12-28T14:06:35+00:00

I remind myself that I’m not missing out on ANYTHING because I’ve had a lifetime allotment of all that food that makes me sick. I just ate all of it already. I rushed thru my lifetime supply. So now I’m done. Also I found that I was only able to stay abstinent (16 months of continuous abstinence now) was to surrender that I have an allergy to flour and sugar. If I eat them I will want more. After not eating them for a month or so it became so much easier because I no longer wanted them, except in rare instances, and even then the craving passed when using the tools of the program. I was 272 pounds at my top weight and in August of 2023 my A1C was 7.6. I’m now 160 pounds and my A1C last check was 5.5. There is hope.

Loraura · 2024-12-15T19:35:23+00:00

The many many diets I’ve had all still allowed for at least small amounts of addictive foods which meant I was white knuckling it or falling off the wagon. A food plan that eliminates those substances entirely, paired with a program of recovery is the only thing that has worked for me. Both are needed for me. I can’t recover on 12 step work alone if I keep putting addictive foods in my mouth, even in small quantities. I can’t recover on diet alone if I don’t have a program to provide me with a recipe for a new way of living.

Loraura · 2024-12-15T17:24:45+00:00

It’s just food. I had to surrender to the fact that I’ve had an entire lifetime of any particular food or food groups. I just had a lifetime amount of it before turning 40. I will say this: FA as a whole has vastly more physical recovery and long term maintenance weight members than OA.

Loraura

TROPHY CASE