Tools of recovery

I am going to take the next few days to talk about the tools of recovery that keep me grounded...and free from the "need" to overeat.

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God and abstinence are the most important things in my life without exception, because without these things I have no life.

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For me, abstinence is following a weighed and measured food plan without sugar, flour, wheat, artificial sweeteners and other foods that could sing and dance in my head, which include nuts, rice cakes, coffee.
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Here's what I eat on a daily basis:
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4 oz 100% cranberry juice and 4 oz water and 1 T ground flax seeds
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l/2 lemon in hot water
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6 oz plain yogurt
l egg
l oz oatmeal
l teasp coconut oil
l T ground flax seeds
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3 oz protein
8 oz low-carb veg, cooked
8 oz salad
2 teasp oil
Braggs apple cider vinegar
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3 oz protein
8 oz low-carb veg, cooked
8 oz salad
2 teasp oil
Braggs apple cider vinegar
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6 oz plain yogurt
l oz oat bran
l fruit
l teasp coconut oil
l T ground flax seeds
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This is what I eat on a daily basis...period. Extra food is not an option.
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I eat all my meals sitting down, and I always pray before I take a bite...thanking God for my abstinence and asking if the meal is guilt-free.

When I go out to lunch or dinner, I bring my scale and measure my protein. I also bring my salad dressing. I order a good-sized salad and 2 sides of cooked vegetables (being sure that they are sugar and flour free).
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I don't overeat no matter what...no matter what I don't overeat.

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When I first got abstinent, I memorized a couple of lines that stand firm in my heart and mind still today (over nineteen years later). Whenever a food thought comes to mind, I say these lines,
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"My food is my food and everything else is not my food. It is not an option to overeat no matter what is happening in my circumstances or how I feel."
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Then I practice what I have learned in program. The tools that I lean on next are literature and phone calls. We'll talk about these tools tomorrow.

Anonymity

When I first walked into the 12-steps rooms, anonymity was a foreign word for me. Abstinence was a new word for me, too, now that I think of it. It wasn't long before I understood that abstinence meant refraining from sugar and flour and having a weighed and measured food plan, but anonymity took longer to understand. Maybe because I was still in the food and my clarity was masked by my pain.

Anonymity means that what I hear at meetings or on the phone stays with me. It is not an option to talk about, judge or criticize anyone to anyone. And in my personal recovery, I do not give myself permission to judge or criticize people even to myself.

When I am tempted to entertain my critical nature, I say, "God bless them and change me" as I let God do His handiwork in them and in me.

Anonymity also refers to people outside the 12-steps halls. We don't use our full names or let our pictures be taken for press or radio with specific anonymous 12-steps groups mentioned, and if we see someone on the street, we are careful to avoid the mention of our ties to the program. That keeps us safe and allows us the freedom to be honest at meetings.

For me, in my book and in my one television appearance, as a representative of the Christian 12-step way of life, I have mentioned "12-step support groups" but don't say which group or groups I attend.

What I share here and on the loops that I founded, I can say what I do...and where I do it. It's personal and my recovery journey. I can do that because this is not an anonymous 12-step group.