Recovery Miracles

A STORY OF RECOVERY FROM FOOD ADDICTION

Recovery Miracles

Recovery

lost over 100 pounds

I came into FA when I was 34 years old, 5’3″ tall, and weighed 304 pounds. I was sad and […]

I came into FA when I was 34 years old, 5’3″ tall, and weighed 304 pounds. I was sad and desperate for help. I saw women at the meeting getting up to share and saw people who had lost a lot of weight. I got a sponsor the first night and have been with the same sponsor since. She has seen me through a 169-pound weight loss so far. I now weigh 135 pounds, which is a serious miracle for this food addict. I have never seen such a low number. The closest I ever came was in ninth grade, when I weighed 175. Even after having lap-band surgery in 2007, I only lost 40 pounds and gained most of it back.

I have experienced many other miracles since being in FA. When my now seven-year-old daughter was in preschool, the teacher noticed a learning delay and wanted her to stay back. At age 5, she could barely count, couldn’t identify most letters, and couldn’t write or draw figures. I took her to every specialist. I decided I was going to fix her. I even took her to a nutritionist, who had her on about 15 supplements a day. Time went on, and my daughter was not showing any significant progress.

After I came into FA, I saw how admitting my powerless over food and surrendering my food every day to God was helping me to stop eating addictively. I decided to surrender my daughter to God. I stopped giving her supplements, stopped drilling her with academics for long periods of time, and just did whatever her teachers suggested. Within a few months, my daughter started to write, read, draw, count, and more. She continues to make rapid academic progress and has not been held back even once.

Another miracle is that I have been promoted to director at my job. I am saving more money than I have ever saved. My credit score has improved. I paid off my car, then gave it to my mother, and bought a new car for myself. I pay my bills on time. I surrender my finances to God each day. I have even received several unexplained checks in the mail! I am able to help my family out financially instead of being a financial burden.

I have not eaten sugar or flour, which is a miracle, because sugar, flour, and eating quantities of food were the highlights of my life. Now I have peace and joy in my life instead of depression and suicidal thinking. I am present for my loved ones more than ever. Because of FA, I have a real solution to life’s issues.

While I can go on about the miracles I have experienced in FA, the most important miracle is my amazing relationship with God. I find that every surrender brings me closer to God. And every time I surrender something to God, I witness a miracle.

More Stories

Isolating But Never Alone

Despite my initial trepidation about staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic, sheltering with my husband and my adult children has been a relatively stress-free experience. My prescient first reaction—“I can’t stay home I need to get out or I will go crazy”—turned out to be wrong. I get up in the morning, take my sponsee calls, do quiet time, read, eat breakfast, and exercise. My husband (also a member of Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous) and I work from home on our respective computers set up in different rooms of the house. I’m amazed by what I can accomplish during the day. My husband and I sometimes meet for lunch and always have dinner together, our version of date night. With their unusual schedule—in bed at 5 a.m. and up by 3 p.m., near the end of the work day—our children stay out of our way. After dinner we all go for walks, play

Sane and Abstinent Parenting

I came into FA when I was 36 years old. I was 50 pounds (22.7 kilos) overweight, hating myself, and unable to keep myself from eating. I ate no matter what commitment, promise, or oath I made with myself, or anyone else, to not eat. All I needed was a thought about food and I had to have it. I thought about food all the time. I would be eating one food and thinking about the next food I wanted to eat. If I was doing something that didn’t allow me to eat, I was planning the next thing I

Out of the Denial Aisle

Probably the first thing I learned from FA was the need to be painfully honest. I couldn’t afford to fool around anymore. I was 57 years old, 297 pounds, 5’2” tall, and on 11 different medications. I had just lost my little sister in January from multiple self-induced co-morbid (deadly) health conditions. She ate herself to 400 pounds. I had let myself get up to 364 pounds at my highest point. I lost 129 pounds through gastric bypass and put 65 pounds back on. I walked into FA absolutely desperate. I’d proved over and over again that my way didn’t