Admit – The first Step in Recovery
Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over food that our lives had become unmanageable.
If we refuse to admit that we have a problem, we will never find the solution.
The 12-Steps of recovery was developed many years ago by Bill Wilson for people who had an alcohol addiction. The good news is that the 12-steps can be used for any addiction one may have to achieve recovery.
Admitting that I was powerless over food was not hard for me because I dieted for 40 years. The only thing I knew for sure was that I couldn’t control my eating and I couldn’t stay on a diet. Truth be told, most of the diets that I went on was not meant to be long-term. Diets had a beginning and an end.
So, when the diet was over, what do you think I did? Yes, I went back to the way I was eating prior to the diet to celebrate my weight loss! It was an endless cycle.
You know your powerless when:
- Food is used as a drug, to help you through emotional pain or stress
- You are constantly yo-yo dieting to control your weight
- The food obsession doesn’t go away until you are eating what you crave
- You can’t stop eating, even when you know you should
- You are upset because someone else got the bigger piece of (fill in the blank)
- Leave the house late at night to buy what you are craving
- Drive many miles to get it
- Beg others to get it for you
The first step of admitting that we are powerless over our addictive relationship with food is the first step toward living in victory. However, admitting this fact may be hard for some, because it can produce feelings of shame and lack of control. To confess that the stuff we put into our mouths have that much power in our lives leaves us feeling helpless. However, knowing why, can be empowering! Knowing that flour, sugar and processed foods produces uncontrollable cravings within us can propel us to find out why and what can be done about it.
Although, some of us have admitted that we have issues with food, we are still treating the problem with diets, trying to stop the pounds from escalating. However, when confronted with the truth regarding the addictiveness of flour, sugar, and processed foods, we may still refuse to give up these substances that keep us in an addictive state, because we’ve depended on the food for so long. We’ve turned to the food as our coping mechanism.
When we give up our addictive food as a solution to our emotional pain and discomfort, we mustreplace it with a better one. And the solution is our connection with God and to a community of people who understands our obsession with food. We must also guard against trading one addiction for another. For example, we may exchange addictive eating for clothes shopping, especially when we start losing weight.
Unmanageable Life
My life became unmanageable because of my obsession with food. I was using it as a drug to comfort me in times of stress, anxiety, boredom, sleepiness, loneliness, and sadness. My life centered around what I was going to eat.
When I had cravings for something sweet, like cookies, ice cream, donuts, or cake, I couldn’t rest until I got it. I would literally obsess over it until I got my fix! If I didn’t have it in the house, I’d drive to the store and get it, even late at night. I had no control over my cravings and obsession with food. There were other times when I hid food so that when I was alone and needed a pick me up, for any reason, I’d have it. I also didn’t want to hear my husband tell me that I shouldn’t be eating those sweets or my daughter asking me if she could have some of “my” food.
My addiction took up too much space in my head, thinking and strategizing on how I was going to get the food I wanted and when. It also spilled over into other areas of my life and affected, mostly, my relationship with the people closest to me. Since I didn’t feel good about myself, it affected how I responded to my family. I didn’t feel sexy or attractive, even when my husband gave me compliments. Yes, my addiction made my life unmanageable.
Admitting is the first step toward recovery and surrendering to what follows brings hope for a victorious life.
Cynthia
