ONE BITE FELLOWSHIP | Setting & Keeping Boundaries With Food

Setting & Keeping Sane Boundaries
With Food: We Have A Choice!

We do not "have to" overeat just because other people expect us to. Indeed by working (as opposed to just "thinking about") our 12 Step program of recovery can give us the choice to not overeat even when our "addict within" wants to!

This isn't a matter of "dieting." If you are a food addict, your recovery is a matter of LIFE AND DEATH. Food addiction has NO less deadly effect on us if we do it at a holiday celebration than if we were to do it any other day of the year -- it all counts!

We have a choice. We addicts are definitely powerless over food, but we are NOT powerless over our elbows! We have a right to say, "No." when offered excess or inappropriate food, even when it's offered to us because eating it is supposed the "socially acceptable" thing to do.

Here are some great lines to use when you are offered food (or amounts of food) that aren't part of your food plan:

"No."
"No thank you."
"'No' is a complete sentence."
"Yes I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be 'sure'?"
"If you love me, you wont demand that I overeat ."
"I've had enough already today." ("none" can = "enough")
"I really can't eat THAT - I'm allergic to it."
"IT makes me 'break out.'"
"IT makes break out windows, break down chairs -- it just is not a nice site to behold!"
"Have you heard of Co-Dependents Anonymous? It's a wonderful fellowship for control freaks. You might want to give it a try!"
"I'm 'hostile'? You are the one who wont accept "No." for an answer. Please show me respect"

One of the hardest times of the year for most of us to set and keep boundaries (related to food, spending money, etc.) are the "HoliDAZE" -- those food-centered "special days" (especially the winter holidays). HoliDAZE are a fact of life.

Earth people (those who either don't share our compulsion to overeat or are in deep denial about their problem) remind us time and again that, "Nobody diets during the holidays! Go ahead, EAT SOME MORE!!!" Such "friends" we food addicts could do without!

Working the 12 Steps and seeking the support of God and others can free us from playing the victim role and allow us to make a choice to eat sanely, one day and one bite at a time.