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Luckily I did not keep these worrisome feelings to myself. I mentioned it to my sponsor during my daily call to her.  She immediately suggested that for the next 30 days I read the pamphlet "Before you take that first compulsive bite, remember...."

 

Reluctantly, I agreed. The following day I glanced over the pamphlet. It seemed like all the words ran together, and I might as well have been reading a foreign language. Suffice to say I only scanned it, and I told myself that I knew what it was touting. That night my sponsor asked me if I read it, and-like a dutiful pupil-I answered with an enthusiastic "yes."

 

"Do you recall one of the 15 points in the pamphlet?" she said in a chipper tone. Apparently, the pamphlet gave 15 suggestions that I ignored.

 

"Uh, no," I sheepishly responded. "I'll read it more carefully tomorrow." The truth was that I didn't really want to, but I was willing to heed my sponsor's prompting and "go to any lengths" to maintain my precious abstinence.

 

For the next 30 days I read (and re-read) that pamphlet, paying strict attention to the guidance it offered including avoid self-pity, be grateful you found OA, think about the joyful aspects of abstinence, remember the people you've met in program, and seek out ways to help other compulsive eaters.

 

From that point on, I did not have to white knuckle my abstinent or fret over my food plan. It was a game-changer in my recovery.  Now when my sponsees are struggling with their disease, I remind them that before they take that next compulsive bite, they need to pick up that pamphlet!