Category: overeaters anonymous

Daniel Fast: Starting tomorrow

September 18th, 2022

I’ve decided to do a Daniel Fast, starting tomorrow.

What is a Daniel Fast? It’s refraining from all meat, dairy, sugars, alcohol and processed foods. Traditional lengths are 10 days and 21 days.

I’m going to aim at 10 days, and then possibly extend to 21 days depending on how I feel.

As I’m one of those people who enjoys routine in my diet, I’m going to base my eating on the following food plan:

Breakfast: oats made with boiling water, banana

Lunch: oats made with boiling water, apple, nuts

Dinner: salad with sesame dressing, miso soup, fruit for dessert.

I’m doing this to get more settled in my eating, and to get closer to God. I’m hoping it will help me understand my trigger foods and what makes me eat.

Once I’ve done the fast (with 10 or 21 days, depending on how I go) I’ll add back in meat, fish and eggs, and possibly a little alcohol (sake maybe).

I hope to straighten out my food and eating, getting back to basics again.

So: here’s to tomorrow, day one!
Minimalism, OA and me

September 4th, 2022

I’m a minimalist, which I love.

Minimalism looks different for different people. Some focus on a particular style of minimalism (e.g. Marie Kondo) while others do their own thing.

I’ve been doing a capsule wardrobe for about ten years now, and haven’t looked back.

I also minimalised my makeup and skin care routine, as well as the items I own.

I find owning less – and buying less – helps me manage my budget and my free time. I have less to clean and maintain, and when I do but things, they’re good quality and will last.

Minimalism ties in quite well with OA, because both are about restraint. They’re about learning to use (or eat) what we need and nothing more. They’re about finding a sensible life, where we don’t depend on buying or eating to be happy and fulfilled.

I think restraint is vastly undervalued and underutilized in our society. We’re all about more, bigger, flashier than we are about moderation. Minimalism and OA are both teaching me about finding balance in my life. I’m thankful for that.
Still working the steps at OA…

September 4th, 2022

I’m still attending meetings twice a week, still following the steps.

My miracle has started too. I was addicted to pepsi max, drinking up to 4 litres a day of the stuff.

Now I don’t drink it at all. But that’s not the miracle. The miracle is I don’t even want to drink it.

Not one bit.

That’s one miracle. Another is my addiction to chocolate. I was eating several family sized blocks of chocolate every week. I’d eat it so fast I barely tasted it, or remembered eating it afterwards.

I don’t do that any more. I still feel like chocolate would be a problem if I bought it and brought it into the house, but now I don’t want to buy it. And I’m able to walk past it in the supermarket and not buy it.

Then there’s the junk food drive throughs. I made a rule for myself that I could have junk food any time I wanted it but I had to dine in.

Now I’m no longer a regular at the drive throughs.

I know these all seem like tiny, baby steps. But I’m feeling happier and healthier because of them.

I’ve just worked on these addictions a step at a time and now they’re gone.

The next thing I’m working on is no snacking. I want to get to the point where I have 3 sensible meals a day…and nothing in between.

I’m not there yet. But I know I will achieve this goal. I have faith. It’s only a matter of time.

OA is working for me! 😃
Life isn’t perfect

August 17th, 2022

Life isn’t perfect, and neither is my eating.

That’s okay.

Overeaters Anonymous is about “progress, not perfection” and while I’m nowhere near perfect, I definitely am progressing.

Overeating is becoming less common, and binging is very unusual these days. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, but it is happening less and less.

I’m doing okay. I’m continuing working the steps (I’m on Step 4) and I’m attending two meetings every week. They help a lot.

When I look at how I am these days versus how I used to act around food, I can see things are getting so much better.

🙂
The mind games of weight loss

May 7th, 2022

“It’s all in your head, it was never about the weight” – quote from successful OA member.

That’s so true. When I first joined OA, I was desperate to lose weight. I thought OA might provide an easy answer.

But the longer I’ve been in OA, the more I’ve learned there are no easy answers. You can’t just sign up to something and magically, suddenly lose heaps of weight.

Life doesn’t work like that.

What I have learned is success follows action. You won’t lose weight until you perform the actions that result in weight loss.

Those actions are different for everyone, but for me that’s 2-3 meals and no snacks. Sometimes I have breakfast, sometimes I don’t. I also incorporate regular fasting and exercise into my plan. But the big thing is no snacking.

When I think back to how things were when I was a kid in the 1970s and pretty much everyone was lean, I remember how snacking was frowned upon.

We’ve got fatter as a society because 3 regular meals have become 6, or 8, or just one long meal that lasts all day.

The other difference is people eating out a lot more. These days it’s a regular hobby for many.

I was nine years old before I went to my first restaurant for dinner. I remember it clearly. And my experience was typical of our generation.

These days there are many people who don’t ever eat at home! I know some of them, and being overweight is the norm.

I don’t eat out very often, so that hasn’t been a huge problem for me. My problem is snacking. But for many people, the eating out incessantly is a huge part of their weight problem.

But yes, I’ve learned that my biggest mind game has been recognising that snacking causes weight gain. And some of the so-called ” healthy” snacks – often found in the “health food” section of the supermarket – are the worst offenders. The advertising is so slick they convince you a 500 calorie snack is “healthy”. It’s not, not for me.

When I stick to a regular plan of 3 meals a day, nothing in between, a daily walk and occasional fasting, I lose weight. When I don’t, I gain.

The mind game of this simple realisation is accepting the truth that restraint in my life – a balance with commonsense – is getting me closer to my goal.
Day zero – Abstaining

April 13th, 2022

While I fast, I will abstain from all solid foods.

I will drink only the following: water, soda water, unsweetened teas.

I will abstain from: all news, all social media (excluding this blog). This should be easy, as I’ve been off social media now for the best part of the year. I’ve been off Facebook and Twitter even longer – I think it’s been three years for both, and I don’t miss them.

I will abstain from all unnecessary shopping.

I’ll try to walk at least an hour daily.

I’m scared of fasting for this long, but I’m also looking forward to it.

Now I’ve decided to fast, I want to just get on with it! and start.

I’ll wait. I start tomorrow.
Still losing weight…still doing OA

March 18th, 2022

Here I am again, about 15 pounds lighter than when I started late last year.

OA works. However, what also works is OA with a combination of meal prepping and portion control.

Portion control is that butt-ugly phrase that nobody likes to use. All the diets keep on claiming eat as much as you want and lose weight!

It’s not true. What is true is that modern-day portions are mindbogglingly huge in comparison to what people ate in the past, and that’s a big part of why we’re all getting fatter.

I’ve had a big wake up call recently because I bought a meal prep book that provides easy keto recipes in controlled portions. The book is Easy Keto Meal Prep by Aaron Day. It not only makes meal prep easy, but it takes the guesswork out of the big question: how much should I be eating?

(I’m not getting a kickback for mentioning the book…it’s just an awesome resource that deserves to be shared.)

At first I was stunned when I saw the size of the portions. I thought, “That’ll NEVER keep me full!” And I was right. At first it didn’t. But now I’m adjusting to smaller portions and it’s enough. Adjustment took a couple of weeks, but I’m doing fine now. And my weight is dropping fast.

So that’s where I’m at. OA is providing the emotional and spiritual support I needed, while meal prepping is giving me a common sense path to eating well.

Life is good ☺️
Still doing OA – And it’s working!

March 9th, 2022

I’ve been in Overeaters Anonymous for about 8 months…and it’s really starting to work.

I’ve lost a fair amount of weight, and am feeling a lot better and a lot happier.

I’m starting to nail down the Elephant In The Room – portion control.

I’ve started really weighing, measuring and tracking what I eat, and I realized my portions were WAY outsized – much bigger than I thought.

So I’ve dialed them right down.

I’ve also been doing a lot of meal prep – bringing my lunches and preparing my dinners in advance. Occasionally I’ve been eating pre-prepared boxed meals too, when I wasn’t organized enough. Having them in the freezer has meant I’m less likely to go for junk if I don’t have dinner sorted.

So it’s all starting to work for me.

I’ve been going to my meetings religiously, and getting my exercise in with lots of walking nearly every day.

I can’t even begin to explain how much better I feel.

So that’s where I’m at 🙂
What’s wrong with me?

February 13th, 2022

Over the last few weeks, I’ve completely lost the cravings for sweet stuff and junk food.

This is very different for me.

Overeaters Anonymous said that if I kept working at it, the “miracle” would happen, but I never really believed it.

I figured the miracle would happen for everyone except me.

But, somehow, I’ve lost the desire to eat rubbish. I’ve been wary about posting about this, as I thought the moment I write anything, it’ll disappear and I’ll be back to urgency cramming my face with garbage.

However, I can’t deny that OA is working for me.

I’m slowly losing weight, I’m starting to feel better, and I’m not obsessed with food.

I started OA last July, so this has not been quick. But I have hope and faith it will be permanent.
Fitness, food and fasting

January 4th, 2022
My weight is coming down nicely, and I’m starting to feel way better since fine-tuning my food plan.

This is what I do:
- Low carb / no carb diet. I eat foods such as steak, salmon, eggs, roast chicken (from the supermarket), rabbit (we grow our own) with lots of salad and green leafy vegetables. I try to keep everything as simple as possible, and cook my meat in butter.
- Intermittent fasting. I alternate days of fasting through to lunch and fasting through to dinner. So my week looks like Monday fast to dinner, Tuesday fast until lunch, Wednesday fast until dinner and so on. This means I eat 3 meals every 2 days.
- Blood glucose monitoring. I’m currently wearing a Freestyle libre blood glucose monitor. I find the instant feedback enlightening and encouraging.
- Fitness. My regime is just walking – I try to get in an hour a day.
- Podcasts / videos. I listen to OA podcasts and watch videos by Dr Sten Ekberg as often as I can. The reinforcement of my food plan and the success of others motivates me.
I’m feeling better too, since I started eating really well. The low carb diet really helps keep my appetite under control, and the food tastes better anyway.
My jeans are getting bigger..

November 25th, 2021
Either my jeans are getting bigger, or… 😁

When I started OA I could barely get into my jeans. Today I pulled them off without even undoing the buttons.

What I’m doing is working. I’m nowhere near perfect with my food plan, but I’m definitely improving, and the weight is coming off as a result.

Now I’m starting to imagine how much weight I could lose – and how fast – if I actually did everything I’m supposed to.

Imagine if:
- I ate what I say I will eat, and nothing else
- I listened to a podcast or attended a meeting every day
- I did 1 hour exercise every day.
The results would be incredible, instead of just good.

I’m doing okay. I am attending a meeting or listening to a podcast pretty much every day now, and I read OA literature pretty much every day too. My food is improving and I’m not bingeing nearly so much. I generally manage to avoid my trigger foods.

But I’m still eating things I shouldn’t eat. I’m still eating a bit of chocolate, and still having some dairy.

When I compare myself now to how I was before OA, pretty much everything was different.

And the proof is in the pudding… Or in the jeans 👖😁

I hope and I think the next time I buy jeans I’ll be a size down. Certainly some of my tops are starting to look a bit too big on me. I’ll keep wearing them until they look positively sack-like. Then I’ll buy new.

I’m feeling positive and happy today. Maybe I can do this!
Losing weight

November 24th, 2021

I’m losing weight. Excellent!

It’s been a long slow crawl so far to get my eating improved, but I’m getting there. I can feel, sitting here, that my jeans are much looser – I’m going to need a belt soon!

I’m sticking to all aspects of my plan these days (mostly!) with the exception of exercise. I need to get that sorted. Finding time is hard. Theoretically I could go for a walk at lunchtime, but I never seem to have the inclination. Instead, I usually sit in the green space of my office, and just relax or listen to podcasts.

So my next job – get exercise sorted!