Written Text Qualifications

My name is [Anonymous] and I am a compulsive overeater.  This is a sentence that, one day at a time, is changing my life.  

I wanted to write this to spread the word that there is hope for those of us who have tried every diet and have always failed.  I will start off with the facts.  I am 5 ft tall and have lost a total of 122 pounds to date.  My husband, [Anonymous] has also walked this path with me and has lost a total of 175 pounds following the same program.  We both work a 12 step program called GreySheeters Anonymous.  The program is about change.  It starts with putting down the food with the help of the fellowship and a food plan that eliminates those foods that produce cravings.  Next we work the "12 steps" of AA changing only the word "alcohol" to "food".  The first step is "We admitted we were powerless over food and our lives had become unmanageable." I had to take a look at my life to prove to myself that as many times as I have tried, I have never been able to control my eating.  Once I ingest certain foods, the phenomenon of craving begins and I simply can not stop eating.  My situation is not unique.  I started off as a normal size kid.  Around the time of puberty I started putting weight on.  I found myself eating my normal meals but then snacking constantly.  My parents started to notice the weight gain and began to "get on my case" so I began to steal food from the cupboard and hide it in my bedroom to be consumed in secret.  I started eating while I was preparing meals for dinner and then eating a full dinner as well.  I began dieting around the 8th grade.  Since then, I have tried numerous diets, always losing some weight just so I could eat again.  I would always put back on what I had lost and more as soon as the 'diet' ended.  Once I entered college and was living on my own, I easily put on another 40 to 50 pounds with the unlimited amount of food in the dining halls.  I was also a sneak eater.  I would buy food and hide it in my dorm room or later in my bedroom when I had a roommate.  I could consume an enormous amount of food and never feel really full.  I tried many diets which would always work for a little while and then I would figure out loop holes and push the boundaries and all of a sudden, the weight would be back and more.  Before finding GSA, I had pretty much given up hope that diets would work for me.  Between my husband and myself we had tried [Weight Loss Company] (numerous times), [Weight Loss Company], [Weight Loss Company], hypnosis, acupuncture, [Weight Loss Company] diet, [xyz-food] diet, [Weight Loss Company], [xyz-food] diet, diet pills, [Weight Loss Company], and [Weight Loss Company].  These programs work for normal people but not for true food addicts.  I thought that I was just going to remain obese my whole life.  I was miserable with that thought but didn't know how to stop overeating.  I always felt deep down inside that there was something wrong with me when it came to food, but never knew what it was.  I now have a name for it.  The Big Book of AA has helped me to identify that I have a disease called compulsive overeating.  It is not a moral issue.  I am not a bad person.  I am not weak or lacking will power.  I am just like an alcoholic or drug addict but my drug of choice is food.  I am so grateful that I have found a solution in a 12 step program called GreySheeters Anonymous.  I had to find a way to change, and it is only through the 12 steps that it is possible.  Admitting complete defeat around food is only the beginning.  Steps 2 and 3 say that we need to find a power greater than ourselves that we can rely upon.  That power can be anything that you choose.  In the beginning, mine was the power of the group.  It has evolved from there.  Then I have to look at my past behavior and become willing to make amends.  All of this happens by working closely with another fellow compulsive eater as a guide.  We are also told that we must help others in order to continue to remain abstinent from our drug of choice.  It is in helping others that we most help ourselves.  

My husband and I have been able to work this program together and one day at a time get healthier and healthier.  It is impossible to describe in a couple of sentences how GreySheeters Anonymous works.  I have been given a food plan and a way of life that has completely eliminated my cravings.  I used to sit in my family room before program and swear that the food was actually speaking to me, calling me, begging me to come and eat it.  I was driven to eat sweets and starches.  I don't have those cravings anymore.  I have been given a fellowship of hundreds of people who follow this program who have attained the type of weight loss I have described and kept it off for 5, 10, 15, even 25 years.  That is a miracle.  If my story has touched you, go to a meeting, get a sponsor, and start working the program.  It will change your life forever.  It has mine.