Low-carb (was: OA Horror Stories)

December 7, 2011

I've been on a couple of low-carb boards, too, and got harangued for eating an apple. Someone said no one following it straight would dare eat an apple. And that's when I left. Because I shouldn't dare eat a beautiful, delicious, God-given natural food like an apple. Straight off the tree, in this case. I've also been thinking about what I used to hear about avoiding sugar and white flour, and how some people considered themselves abstinent if they didn't eat them, even though they continued to overeat. That's like an alcoholic saying they're they're not drinking because they're only drinking beer, not the hard stuff.Ellie, who just took cookies out of the oven, is not afraid to say so, and stopped at 3

:-) To: IntuitiveEating_Support Sent: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 1:52 PM Subject: Re: OA Horror Stories

Hear, hear . Very healthy attitude. I had a similar experience on my low-carb boards. The discussion was about how one "conquered" cravings for "forbidden" foods. One guy stated proudly that he had in the past consumed an entire pound of bacon in order to combat his craving for .... wait for it -- an apple. The apple would have put his carb count over his daily allowed limit and he was NOT going to let that happen. I was stunned that he saw this perfectly reasonable, healthy desire as a failing on his part. And people were congratulating him and wishing for his resolve. Wow. I have done similar things and I never want to go back there.

Mimi

Subject: OA Horror StoriesTo: intuitiveeating_support Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011, 12:59 PM

Gosh, I did the OA thing (largely intermittently for nineteen years)! My turning point, the one which finally got me through the exit for good was a share at a speaker meeting by an "old timer" who had long-term "abstinence". I had seen this woman around the rooms for a couple of years and know that she sponsored many and was for many an iconic "has what I want" sort of figure. This particular morning she talked about the importance of being gentle with one's self (this was the topic) and she proceeded to describe the breakfast she had had the morning before...5 huge bowls of cereal, which she admittedly ate because she was feeling tender (man, I've definitely been there about a million times, haven't we all)! She followed this pronouncement up with a "thank God she hadn't lost her abstinence. The notion of binging on cereal as a grounds for abstinence stunned me. I had been in relapse for years and

every morning, when it came time to raise our hands to acknowledge how many "days of abstinence" we had, I felt ashamed of myself...that I couldn't seem to string together more than a couple of weeks or so...this went on for me for 7 years...and here was a woman, binging the same way I was binging...and raising her hand for "over ten years". I walked out of the rooms of OA about three months later and never looked back!The only thing I want to raise my hand to today, is to acknowledge that I am a pilgrim on the road to healing my relationship to body and food and a woman learning how to be a child again and heeding my body signals.

Namaste!

December 7, 2011

Oh my, this discussion is triggering me--I so want to eat an apple now, and

yeah! I just happened to buy some yesterday, so please excuse me while I go eat

one.

> >

> >>

> >>Subject: OA Horror Stories

> >>To: intuitiveeating_support

> >>Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011, 12:59 PM

> >>

> >>Â

> >>Gosh, I did the OA thing (largely intermittently for nineteen years)!Â My

turning point, the one which finally got me through the exit for good was a

share at a speaker meeting by an " old timer " who had long-term " abstinence " .Â I

had seen this woman around the rooms for a couple of years and know that she

sponsored many and was for many an iconic " has what I want " sort of figure.Â

This particular morning she talked about the importance of being gentle with

one's self (this was the topic) and she proceeded to describe the breakfast she

had had the morning before...5 huge bowls of cereal, which she admittedly ate

because she was feeling tender (man, I've definitely been there about a million

times, haven't we all)!Â She followed this pronouncement up with a " thank God

she hadn't lost her abstinence.Â The notion of binging on cereal as a grounds

for abstinence stunned me.Â I had been in relapse for years and every morning,

when it came time to raise

> our hands to acknowledge how many " days of abstinence " we had, I felt ashamed

of myself...that I couldn't seem to string together more than a couple of weeks

or so...this went on for me for 7 years...and here was a woman, binging the same

way I was binging...and raising her hand for " over ten years " .Â I walked out of

the rooms of OA about three months later and never looked back!

> >>

> >>The only thing I want to raise my hand to today, is to acknowledge that I am

a pilgrim on the road to healing my relationship to body and food and a woman

learning how to be a child again and heeding my body signals.

> >>

> >>Namaste!

> >>

> >

>

December 7, 2011