You are reading from the book Food for Thought </OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=33>.
Resting
We compulsive overeaters often used food as a stimulant when we felt the need to be busy about something. Of course, food did not keep us stimulated for long, since we usually ate too much and ended up in a stupor.With this program, we can be more in touch with how our bodies really feel. There are times when the craving for food may mask our fatigue, times when what we need is rest, not food. When we are tired and feel that we cannot continue with what we are doing, it is very possible that we need to rest rather than eat. A short nap can refresh us much more than unnecessary food.True rest for our spirit as well as our body comes from our Higher Power. A period of meditation can lift us out of mental and emotional depression. Only a brief moment is required to take our attention away from the daily routine and let our consciousness be drawn to God. These frequent pauses during the day tap a vast storehouse of energy and power.I rest in Your greatness, Lord.
XXXXXXXXXX i know i used it as mood alternating substance , over triggers.....what ever feeling i was feeling, i "medicated" it with food, i switched addictions....abstaining from alcohol, so it went to food, and always fantasy as a "back up"...used to be garage sales/ and thrift shops.....they say "u switch addictions till u can get healed enough to lean on HP, and program more out of habit"............i notice too, that when i am eating cleansing foods/ excercising and resting along with prayer / meditation, i am not as apt to urge to binge.........my cravings are less when my body is being filled with healing foods....i do my muscle gripping excercises, deep breathing, prayer / meditation.......the more i cling to HP, the less i need to cling to substance abuse.........
When my mother died, I gained 30 lbs, in 3 weeks, but I knew I was eating for emotional fulfillment. i took the same weight off, a few months later. But it was a good learning lesson.
Sometimes if I am eating a lot, good food, but a lot, I ask myself, "am I eating for emotionalreasons". Just by asking the question, I stop the amount of food I have been taking in.
In Recovery, I believe we still had addictive personalities, can get compulsive, or obsessive on many different things, worry is a good one. For me, I try to first look at my behavior, then figure out how to get this annoying behavior into balance. Worry, for example, we need to have a good sense of concern for our selves, (alternative would be recklessness), but I try to find a balancing point, sometimes it does not work, so I need to work harder, using Prayer, that is the only thing that can help me get into balance. If I try to do this on my own, I will fail, but I still try to do it on my own more than I care to admit. Progress, not prefection. His Will, Not Mine, be Done. We hear it a thousand times, Let go and Let God. We are humans trying to follow a suggested Spiritual Path, the Path that will lead to Happy Joyous and Free. It is Daily work, and do the best I can do with these suggestions, going to Meetings, actively working the Steps, never really know how I am doing, but My Higher Power does know how I am doing. On those occasions when the above suggestions ARE working, I feel lighter, not bogged down with my stuff. Extending myself to others in the Program that are struggling with issues, attempting to give some support, never really know how I am doing with that either, but if I am feeling on the lighter side, then somehow feel that Spiritual Connection, that I am out of myself. Practice, Practice, and then more Practice. A life long journey, that I feel so blessed to be a part of.
I can find the answer in one of the Steps, like Step 6 and Step 7, they are the Steps, that can help change behaviors that are not feeling so good.
Anyway, It is so wonderful to see you doing all this HARD work, and just wanted to say hello today, and give you a big hug. And that PTSD that we both have, does get so much better as time goes by. The work is So friggen hard, but the rewards are waiting. Today, I have memory of having that Disorder, but do not feel a connection to it any longer, it is in the Past, thank God, and it will someday be just part of your Past also. Made the process more difficult at first, but when you get on the other side of if, the rewards are very profound, a freedom that is waiting for you. Trust God, Clean House, and help another. Its in the Promises!!!!!!
your Sister in Recovery.