It’s
been a week since I last put my thoughts down on paper, and it’s been a really
tough week.
I
got weighed on Saturday, and I’d put 3½ lbs on.
It was no surprise, my eating had been out of control and I seemed to
care less and less about what I ate or how much I ate. Maybe saying I didn’t care isn’t quite right
though, it was more like I just had no control.
Everything that went in my mouth made me feel more and more helpless.
On
Wednesday, we had a little Christmas buffet on our team at work. We ordered a couple of big pizzas to share
between the 9 of us, and there were loads of biscuits, little cheesecakes,
profiteroles, chocolates and the like. I
had my share, then carried on eating after the meeting too. The urge had been triggered and I kept going
until the inevitable happened. Mid-afternoon,
I started to feel rather unwell.
As
usual, my first response was to get my Blood Glucose testing kit out and see
what level my sugars were at……19.5!!!
Not good at all. I went for a
walk for half an hour to get them down to a less unhealthy level, but this plan
was soon scuppered, because I got back to work and started on the leftovers. My
Overeaters Anonymous (OA) meeting was at 6pm, and it couldn’t have come at a
better time.
As
soon as I started to think about that, my mind-set subconsciously started to
change. I was aware of something very
strange going on in my head, but I couldn’t work out what it was. I worked until just before 6 then trotted
over to the meeting venue.
The
meeting discussion worked its way towards trigger foods, working out the foods
that send us into that downward spiral and into a binge. Whilst someone else was talking, I sat and
thought “I have no idea what foods trigger me”, then I heard it…..a voice that
felt like it was coming from the very top of my head. It said……
“Yeah you do!
Biscuits! Talk about DENIAL!!! When was the last time you had one biscuit
without going on to eat loads more?”
And
there it was, my HALLELUJAH! moment. I’d
identified, no…..more like acknowledged my first “red list” food item. So was it plain sailing after that? Of course not. I needed to share with the group……
“Hello, my name is Graham and I’m a Compulsive Overeater”
“Hello Graham”
Remember,
OA is a spiritual not a religious program.
People of faith tend to recognise their higher power as being God. Non-religious people still have a higher
power, just one that isn’t God.
I
told the group that I had experienced the first contact from my “higher power” and
it turns out that he’s as sarcastic as me.
I told them about the conversation he’d started by scoffing at me
thinking I didn’t know any of my trigger foods.
I then went on to list my favourite biscuits, stem ginger cookies,
crunch creams, digestive caramels….and I went on and on. The more varieties I listed, the more I came
to realise just how much of a massive trigger these things are.
I
then went on to say that the argument in my head carried on, with me saying….
“Maybe one last packet of stem ginger cookies”
(not
one cookie, you notice, but the whole packet).
“Now what good is
that? It’ll only be the latest in a long
line of the last this or the final that.
If we’re going to beat this, we need to start now and not prevaricating.”
And
he was right, the part of me that was saying “one last packet” is the part of
me I’m trying to get rid of. That part
is the compulsion, and that compulsion will always be there if you carry on
satisfying and feeding it.
I
have this Cherokee proverb stuck to my computer at work, and it’s something I
need to try and remember every single day.
This epiphany I’ve had reminds me so much of this.
Last
night was my 5th OA meeting. However,
this was the first one that I haven’t followed up with stopping at the shop on
the way home to buy loads of crappy stuff to binge on. I drove home with a big smile on my face, and
couldn’t wait to share what I felt was a huge achievement with her.
Instead
of filling my face with rubbish, I ended up having a tuna & pasta bake with
onions and mushrooms and chorizo. It was
delicious, and tasted even better because I knew what an “on-plan” meal
represented. It meant my willpower had
beaten my compulsion. It meant I’d
chosen the good wolf.
Another
eating habit of mine has been to wait until everyone is in bed, then going
scouting for food. It’s usually a packet
of crisps (or two), a bowl of cereal with loads of sugar on, sausage rolls or
chicken & mushroom slices. Sometimes
it’d be chocolate or ice cream that I’ve hidden from everyone. Last night, thanks to the sarcastic higher
power that I’ve named “The Voice” (partly because calling it that makes me
think of the brilliant song by Ultravox, a happy thought), and thanks to things
that other OA members shared that resonated with me, I made it to bed time
without any drama or, more importantly, food.
So
that’s it, I’ve taken a couple of steps forward and I feel a whole lot better
as a result. I need to bottle this
feeling and remember it. The good wolf
has had its first bit of attention for quite some time.