Food Addiction"ism"

=

Alcohol"ism"

or

Different Manifestations of the same disease

Dr. Morton Jellenek -

based on factors like dependence, tolerance, and loss of control.

*AA's Big Book is THE PROGRAM. Its solutions are THE SOLUTIONS. We are in a food Fellowship, applying the Big Book Solutions to our ADDICTION of food. One Program...Many fellowships. The farther your distance from the Big Book and its solutions, the farther you are from recovery. We have the "ISM" of alcoholism, the same defects, maladies and hangups and although the consequences of picking up are different, they are just as deadly. Instead of car wrecks we die in hospitals of strokes, heart disease and diabetes. We pick up food instead of alcohol because it works for us. Therefore when we see the words alcoholism or alcohol we just substitute it with our poison of choice...food which kills us just as dead as alcohol kills the alcoholic.

Tools of Reformation vs the Actions of Transformation

The concept of the Tools of Recovery in Overeaters Anonymous developed over time rather than appearing with OA’s founding.

Here’s the timeline:

* 1960 – Overeaters Anonymous was founded. Recovery was based primarily on the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous.

* 1961 – Abstinence was first mentioned as a “Tool” in OA literature.

* 1973 – The World Service Business Conference (WSBC) officially approved The Tools of Recovery pamphlet. This was the first formal introduction of the Tools as a defined part of the OA program. At that time, abstinence was listed as one of the Tools.

* 1981 – The first edition of the Tools of Recovery pamphlet was published.

* 1995 – OA made a significant change: abstinence was removed as a Tool and replaced with a Plan of Eating. The reasoning was that abstinence had become understood as the purpose or outcome of the program, while a plan of eating was one of the methods used to achieve it.

Today, OA recognizes nine Tools:

1. A Plan of Eating

2. Sponsorship

3. Meetings

4. Telephone

5. Writing

6. Literature

7. Action Plan

8. Anonymity

9. Service

Later they were adopted by FA World Service

The first 164 pages of the AA Big Book (1939) make no mention of “Tools of Recovery” as a separate recovery system. Students of the original AA Big Book (including many early-AA historians and some modern Big Book-focused groups) argue that THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM EMPHASIZED RELIANCE ON THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE OF WORKING THE STEPS, rather than on a growing list of recovery practices. From that perspective, introducing a formal set of Tools is adeparture from the original AA model. The emphasis is consistently on the Twelve Steps, surrender, inventory, amends, prayer, meditation, and carrying the message. The OA Tools were developed more than three decades later, beginning officially in 1973, as practical aids to support members working the Steps rather than as part of the original AA recovery model. That historical distinction is often central in discussions about how closely various fellowships adhere to the original AA program.

In the first 164 pages of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, the problem is presented as something far deeper than behavior management. The alcoholism is not described merely as a person who lacks discipline, structure, information, or practical tools. They are described as a person suffering from a hopeless condition of mind and body, a person who has lost the power of choice once the obsession returns. This is why the Big Book says about Bills Story, “Surely this was the answer—self-knowledge. It was not.” The addict may know the facts. They may know the consequences. They may know their pattern. They may know what happens when they takes the first _________. Yet that knowledge does not produce freedom. The Big Book’s solution is not education, tracking, accountability to a sponsor, meeting attendance, phone calls, food plans, or written commitments as the primary source of recovery. Its solution is a SPIRITUAL AWAKENING brought about by taking all Twelve Steps.

This is where the “tools of recovery” depart from the teaching structure of the Big Book. The tools may be helpful as supports to build on good habits for the newcomer, but they can easily become the center of a counterfeit program. When tools such as phone calls, food plans, meetings, writing, service, sponsorship, quiet time, and accountability are treated as THE MECHANISM of recovery, the emphasis shifts from SPIRITUAL AWAKENING to PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT. The Big Book does not teach that we recover by EXECUTING A LIST of recovery behaviors. It teaches that we recover by finding a Power greater than ourselves, CLEARING AWAY WHAT BLOCKS US from THAT Power, and then living in daily surrender, inventory, amends, prayer, meditation, and service.

The Big Book is very clear that the REAL ALCOHOLIC'S real dilemma is a lack of power. The addict’s problem is not that he does not have enough information. It is NOT that he has not tried hard enough. It is not that he lacks a better system of reminders. His problem is that when left to his own resources, he CANNOT CONSISTENTLY BRING SUFFICIENT POWER to bear against the obsession. This is why self-knowledge fails. It can diagnose the problem, but it cannot REMOVE THE OBSESSION NOR COMPULSION. The obsession and compulsion must be removed by an EXTERNAL force greater than we are. In the same way, tools can identify patterns, interrupt behavior, and provide temporary structure, but they CANNOT BRING THE SPIRITUAL AWAKENING described in the Big Book. They may help a person stay EXTERNALLY COMPLIANT for a time, but they cannot by themselves bring about the INNER TRANSFORMATION that removes the need to constantly manage the problem from the outside.

The first 164 pages place the STEPS at the center of the solution. The alcoholic admits powerlessness, comes to believe in a Power greater than himself, makes a decision to turn his will and life over to God, takes inventory, admits the truth, becomes ready to have defects removed, asks God for removal, makes amends, continues daily inventory, improves conscious contact with God, and carries the message to others. These are not merely suggestions to improve abstinence. They are the PATHWAY TO A NEW LIFE. The Big Book does not present recovery as a collection of tools but as a SPIRITUAL PROCESS that produces an awakening. The “actions of recovery” are not simply habits that keep us from acting out; they are ACTS OF SURRENDER that bring us into contact with the Power that solves the problem.

The tools ironically reinforce the very thing the Big Book says must be overcome: SELF RELIANCE. A person may begin to believe, “If I make enough calls, write enough, report and weigh my food correctly, attend enough meetings, and stay accountable enough, I will be safe... I will not be in danger of a break.” While these actions may APPEAR SPIRITUAL on the surface, they just become another form of control. Outreach calls become a means to vent or relieve pressure by procuring sympathy from another fellow. Venting is the Ego's way of avoiding SELF REFLECTION- what Step 4 is designed to do. The person is still trying to hold himself together through human effort and human discipline with human oversight. The Big Book’s message is more radical: we had to quit PLAYING God. We had to stop RELYING ON OURSELVES as the source of power. Recovery came not because we managed ourselves better, but because we surrendered and found access to a Power greater than ourselves.

This distinction is important because abstinence without freeing the soul is an empty victory. A person can be totally abstinent and still be restless, irritable, discontented, resentful, fearful, self-pitying, and spiritually blocked because abstinence only relieves us of the physical allergy. It does NOT relieve us of the rest of our condition- obsession and compulsion. The Big Book describes the alcoholic’s inner condition with words like loneliness, despair, and the bitter morass of self-pity. That inner condition is not healed merely by following external tools. A food plan may control the food, but it does not remove resentments, fears, irritabilities, depression... A phone call may interrupt isolation or lonliness, but it does not produce surrender. Writing may clarify thoughts, but it does not bring confession, humility, or removal of defects. Meetings may inspire, but inspiration fades unless followed by the specific spiritual actions laid out in the Steps.

The Big Book is not against practical action. In fact, it is full of action. But the action it emphasizes is spiritual action, not recovery maintenance. The addict must take inventory, admit the exact nature of wrongs, become willing, make amends, practice daily surrender, seek God’s direction, and help others. These actions are designed to remove what blocks the alcoholic mind from God. They do not merely help him cope with the obsession; they lead to the REMOVAL of the obsession. That is a very different message from depending on tools to keep the addiction managed. The Big Book does not offer a better way to fight the old life. It offers a way to be restored to sanity and placed UNDER NEW DIRECTION.

The tools also blur the difference between fellowship support and the actual program of recovery. Fellowship is valuable. Encouragement is valuable. Structure can be useful. But in the Big Book, the program is the Twelve Steps. The fellowship exists to carry the message and support the person in taking those Steps. When tools become the main emphasis, the fellowship drifts into teachings that recovery depends on CONTINUED COMPLIANCE with fellowship practices rather than on the SPIRITUAL AWAKING produced by the Steps. This can leave members believing they are “working a program” when they actually are MAINTAINING A SYSTEM.

This is especially dangerous for the food addict because food behaviors can be externally controlled while the inner malady REMAINS UNTOUCHED. A person can weigh and measure food, call a sponsor, attend meetings, and still be full of fear, resentment, pride, shame, and self-pity. The Big Book would say the problem has not been solved if the person remains spiritually sick. The outward symptom may be RESTRAINED, but the INWARD CONDITION REMAINS UNTREATED. The person may be abstinent but not free. The Big Book’s promise is much greater than behavior control. It offers freedom from the bondage of self.

The “tools of recovery” become most problematic when they are presented as EQUIVALENT to the 12 STEPS itself. The Big Book’s program is not a checklist of tools. It is a SPIRITUAL COURSE OF ACTION. Tools may help the newcomer develope habits, but they can not replace the steps. A phone call can be useful if it leads a person toward honesty, surrender, and action. Writing can be useful if it leads to inventory, confession, and change. Meetings can be useful if they carry the message of the Steps and the necessity of spiritual awakening. Sponsorship can be useful if the sponsor takes the person through the Steps rather than merely monitoring food and behavior around food. But when these tools become substitutes for Step work, the Big Book and its PROMISES DISAPPEAR. One can not eat the prepared dish without following the specifics of the recipe.

The Big Book’s message is that the addict MUST find an EXTERNAL POWER by which he can live. The central question is not, “Am I using my tools?” The central question is, “Have I taken the actions that bring me into conscious contact with God and remove what blocks me from MY HIGHER POWER?” The difference is profound. RULES AND TOOLS manage addiction of the EXTERNAL. The STEPS SEEK transformation from the inside. The tools heavily on human structure. The Steps lead to dependence on God. Tools may produce abstinence. The Steps produce freedom.

Therefore, since the tools of recovery do not originate from the teachings of the first 164 pages of the Big Book one can only question why they are treated as the primary solution. "Abstinence gives us freedom from compulsion and obsession with food so that we can be available to others..." But abstinence can only relieve us of the physical allergy, not the obsession and compulsion. The Big Book does not teach that recovery comes from tools, self-knowledge, or human management. It teaches that recovery comes from spiritual awakening as the result of the Twelve Steps. Tools may help support the beginning of that process, but they cannot replace it. The danger is that food addicts may become excellent at presenting an image of recovery while never experiencing the Power that actually restores them. The Big Book calls us beyond performance, beyond self-knowledge, beyond abstinence, and into the actions of recovery that lead to a new life.

The Law of Human Gravity

The Law of Human Gravity A law of human behavior that appears as absolute as the law of gravity might well be called the “law of human gravity”:

A person will gravitate from a condition that appears to be one of GREATER DISTRESS to a condition that appears to be one of LESSER DISTRESS and never in the reverse direction.

According to this law, it is impossible for a person to choose greater distress. Any attempt to reverse the direction of the choice will be as FUTILE as trying to make water flow uphill. Alcohol and other mind-altering drugs provide some measure of relief from discomfort, whether this is relief from anxiety, depression, loneliness, self-consciousness, or even a compulsive urge.

Abstinence, at least initially, CAUSES DISTRESS, sometimes psychological discomfort, and often severe physical discomfort. If we try to get addicted people to stop their substance use, we are essentially asking them to CHOOSE A GREATER DISTRESS. But it is beyond HUMAN capacity to choose a greater distress. From this analysis it might appear that we should stop all efforts at treatment! Treatment can’t work! But we know for a fact that treatment does work and that people do achieve sobriety.

How does this happen? Achieving Sobriety through Changes in Perception While the law of human gravity theorizes that a person will always seek out the lesser distress, it is possible for people to CHANGE THEIR PERCEPTION and learn to see substance use as the greater distress and abstinence as the lesser, thus changing the direction of the law of human gravity. How does this change of perception come about?

All mind-altering drugs ( including GLP1s) ( including GLP1s) sooner or later cause some kind of discomfort: the loss of respect from family and friends the threat of losing a job poor school performance severe gastrointestinal symptoms hangovers hallucinations falls and bruises convulsive seizures the distress of poor memory the threat of imprisonment the terror of delusions

When any of these, alone or in combination, reach the critical point—where the misery equals or exceeds whatever relief the substance provides—then the person’s perception of what is a greater or lesser distress changes. This, then, is what happens when rock bottom occurs. Rock bottom is nothing more than a CHANGE OF PERCEPTIONCHANGEOFPERCEPTION, where abstinence is seen as a lesser distress than substance use. If at any time after abstinence is achieved, even many years later, ABSTINENCEABSTINENCE becomes the greater distress, relapse will occur.

The natural course of addiction is such that rock bottom will come IF NO ONE INTERFERES. But people in the addict’s environment, with every good intention, may remove some of the distresses that the substance produces. For example, a coworker may cover for a colleague who is hung over. This prevents a change in perception of greater and lesser distress and permits the active addiction to continue.

This is why people who remove the distressful consequences of substance use are referred to as enablers. Remember, allowing the natural unpleasant consequences to occur is not the same as punishing the user. Punishing is inflicting pain from the outside. If, for example, an addict sees marriage as the source of distress, he or she will separate rather than abstain from substance use. Only when the addict discovers that his or her substance use is causing the misery will sobriety become a solution.

Addicts’ PERCEPTIONS PERCEPTIONSalso change when they see the REWARDSREWARDS of abstinence. When the rewards of abstinence begin to exceed the rewards of mind-altering drugs, addicts can change their perceptions of which is the greater or lesser distress. Meeting people who have sobriety and seeing that they are happy and productive demonstrates the rewards of abstinence. Getting a positive response to sobriety from family, friends, and colleagues is a reward. Regaining self-esteem is a reward. Retaining one’s job is a reward. The active addict may recognize all these as rewards yet feel they are beyond reach.... .... The combination of rock-bottom experiences plus realistic anticipation of the benefits of abstinence can make sobriety possible. —Addictive Thinking - Understanding Self Deception / Abraham Twerski MD

Clean But Empty is a Dangerous Place

Clean but Empty is always a dangerous place. When AA was first started, before the Big Book was penned, early AAs went to the Oxford group meetings to learn about how to “clean up the wreckage” of their lives. The Catholic Church got wind that its members were going to an outside religious gathering and forbade its members to attend. Rather than lose its Catholic members AA was formed. They continued to study the New Testament of the Bible in their meetings until the Big Book was penned. Much of AAs teachings came from the New Testament books of Matthew, Romans, Corinthians and James. In fact, one of the names kicked around before AA was “The James Club”. It is indisputable that AA teachings originate from the Bible. Considering its origins, It is interesting to read the scriptures these “principles we practice in all our affairs” originated from. Here is such a passage: Matthew 12:41-43

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it wanders around looking for a new place to live, but it can’t find one. So it says, “I’ll go back to the person I left before.”

When it comes back, it finds the person’s life clean and in order, but empty. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits that are even worse than it is. They all move in and take over.

In the end, that person is worse off than they were before. They would have been better off if they had not just cleaned up their life, but had also filled the empty space with something good.”

When I was reading this I was reminded of the ominous warning on page 44 of the Big Book of getting abstinent and cleaning house but failing to fill in the empty space with a new relationship with the creator and concentrating on the new spiritual life.

From the chapter “Into Action”

“And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone—
even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have re-
turned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If
tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We
react sanely and normally, and we will find that this
has happened automatically. We will see that our new
attitude toward liquor has been given us without any
thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is
the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are
we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had
been placed in a position of neutrality-sate and
protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the
problem has been removed. It does not exist for us.
We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our
experience. That is how we react so long as we keep
in fit spiritual condition.
It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action
and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if
we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of
alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve
contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condi-
tion. “

I have watched many many folks come in, get abstinent and remain so for 3 to 5 years. But they fail to grow and the attraction of a thin body fades in the press of ongoing pressures of life. Abstinence is the last thing to go and addiction comes back with a vengence. A person with a previous weight of two to 300 lbs in now four to five hundred pounds.

Let us not neglect the source of our power for willpower will always be overcome in the future.

Powerlessness - Bill Wilson

Powerlessness- Excerpts fromBill Wilson at the 20th AA convention.

The conversation in 1934 between Doctor Silkworth and Lois Wilson; "But Doctor, he is a man of tremendous willpower who wants to stop drinking. Why cant he stop? " Bills habit has now turned into an obsession which his will can not break. There is nothing that I can do to educate him out of this. I am at the end of my resources.

Lois said, well doctor Silkworth is there anything else I can do

I am afraid you will have to go and lock him up, otherwise he will die of this condition.

Bill W: So I left Town Hospital and fear kept me sober. I had 2 to 3 mothis of sobriety. I began to get self confident. I began to feel good. I went to the golf course and soon was drunk again. Ebby visited and told me about God over the kicthen table. I went back to back to Towns Hospital, and 3 days later Ebby showed up again.

Ebby, what is that neat formula that worked for you? He said, You get honest with yourself. You get honest with another person. You clear out the debris of the past. You help others with no expectation of prestige or money. Pray to God for direction and that He would expel your obsession and compulsion to drink.

Suddenly my ego collapsed and I dropped into a terriffic depression. In the agony of that depression, I cried out to God, I am willing to do anything. Anything. Anything to get what Ebby has. If there is such a God, let Him show himself to me. And I had a white light experience. I was siezed in an exstacy that it is beyond my words to express it. As if I was on a great mountain and the wind was blowing. I saw that it was not air but spirit. Then the great ecstacy disappeared. I found myself back in this world and realized that everything was ok. I was surrounded with peace. So this is the God of the scriptures. Such was the gift that I received that day.

Others had had varying spiritual experiences...The People who have such experiences are the ones who thoroughly give up. Then the transformation sets in sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. Dr Jung, Dr Silkworth had proclaimed to me that neither medicine, education or science nor any other human discipline could account for such a transformation. Only God could relieve me of my alcoholism. and He has.

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If the addict fails to work the steps quickly it spells disaster

Before there was a Big Book, the early AAs studied the Sermon on the Mount and the New Testament books of James and Romans, along with other teachings inside the Oxford Group, Those teachings were the guide they lived by and those teachings formed the foundation for the Big Book that came later. But the Roman Catholic Church warned Catholic members that they could be excommunicated for being part of the Oxford Group since it was tied to religion so a new non-religious group called Alcoholics Anonymous was started so Catholic members could remain.
One of the verses they studied was Matthew 6:14–15: “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.”
The Big Book says that the obsession and compulsions of addiction can only be removed by a Power greater than ourselves. “Step One: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol -that our lives had become unmanageable. Two: Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.Three: Made a decision o turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” The verses quoted above teach that anger, resentment, and refusing to forgive others can block us from that Power. This is why making amends quickly is so important.
Here is where the 3rd Edition Little Red Book and the Big Book go different directions. The 3rd Edition Little Red Book and step study groups based on it teach that God can be part of recovery if a person wants Him to be, but that Gods power is not necessary to stay abstinent. This teaching is in direct conflict with steps one through three. The Little Red Book Edition 3 and step studies based on it teach that if you train yourself with the right disciplines, rules, and tools, you can stay abstinent indefinitely. This is not the definition of “Powerlessness.”
According to the Doctors Opinion in Big Book, abstinence only removes the physical craving for the substance. Continuous abstinence does not remove the obsessions and compulsions in the mind. The Big Book contains story after story of alcoholics who returned to alcohol after years of sobriety. It says that only a Power greater than ourselves can do that.
If only a Higher Power can remove obsession and compulsion, then why suggest a step study that takes 18 months to finish? Why keep the addict waiting a long time to get free of resentments blocking them from their Higher Power?
The Big Book teaches us to take a suffering addict through the Steps right away, one-on-one. Bill W took Dr Bob through after 3 days. If your program is based on the Big Book, delaying taking a suffering addict through the steps spells disaster.

The Tools and what the
Big Book Says about them

FA identifies itself as a 12-step recovery program for food addiction based on the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. The text of the “Tools of Recovery” was entered directly into AI along with the first 164 pages of the Big Book for reference. It is therefore fair to do an in-depth analysis of the “How FA Works” Tools of Recovery portion of the FA program and compare it to the teachings found within the first 164 pages of Alcoholics Anonymous. FA clearly states that its program is based on and adapted directly from AA’s Twelve Step model for recovery, a definition which claims to follow the Big Book’s teachings.

It is reasonable to examine whether its derivative—especially in key areas like The Steps and traditions—matches the structure, purpose, and spiritual direction laid out in the Big Book, or whether it quietly shifts the meanings in other directions in important ways.

The following is a 1 page summary of each of the Tools of Recovery:

LINK

The Actions of Recovery

Transformation, not Reformation

Freedom is not found merely in putting down our addiction in abstinence. Nor is it found in living a REFORMED life Reformation comes from within...self will, discipline and character. Freedom is found in living a TRANSFORMED life...a life transformed by an entity outside of ourselves. As we consistently practice these actions in all our affairs, the obsessions and compulsions lose their grip, and inner emptiness is replaced with purpose and peace. We discover that recovery is not simply freedom from addiction—it is freedom to live the fulfilled life our Creator designed for us to live.

Real recovery for the addict goes far beyond abstinence or weight loss. Weight loss is simply a secondary benefit of abstinence—it is not the goal. Abstinence and weight loss without freedom from obsession and compulsion are a short-term and empty victory because the inner restlessness, discontentment, and longing remain unhealed.

We may eat abstinently every day, but if our inner life is still ruled by obsession, fear, resentment, or the constant nagging feeling that something is missing, we are simply miserably thin. We may be abstinent, but we are not yet free.

The 12 Steps do not promise hollow recovery. True recovery is freedom from the obsession, freedom from the compulsion, and freedom to live a life directed by a Higher Power rather than driven by addiction.

Powerful words heard in meetings may inspire us for a season, but inspiration alone cannot transform a life. Only God can transform. Like smoke in the wind, emotional moments and profound insights eventually fade if they are not followed by action. Recovery is not sustained by what we know, what we feel, or even what we believe. Recovery is sustained by our Higher Power when we take action and surrender to His care.

The rules and tools of recovery we hear in meetings may help a newcomer reform old habits, but they can not transform the addict spiritually. It is the ACTIONS OF RECOVERY taught by the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous that produce lasting transformation.

THE ACTIONS OF RECOVERY

I am powerless so I surrender completely. I do not control. I work the Steps. I do not merely study or try while keeping a plan B.

I take inventory. I do not blame. I make amends. I do not make excuses. I seek God’s direction. I do not insist on my own. I practice these principles in all my affairs. I do not do it my way.

These actions gradually remove the barriers that block us spiritually. They reshape our thinking, change our responses, and create an entirely new way of living. This is where transformation takes place. This is where freedom is found.

The Little Red Book: what it was originally to what it is today

The Little Red Book written by Ed Webster in 1946 reads like a simple explanation of what early AA members were doing. It stays short, plain, and mostly descriptive. It explains ideas without over-explaining them. But by the time the Hazelden Foundation released the 3rd edition in 1966, the tone had clearly changed. The book was no longer just explaining—it was directing. You start seeing stronger, more controlling language like “we must,” “it is necessary,” and “for best results.” That shift matters because the book stops sounding like a witness to recovery and starts sounding like a system you are supposed to follow.
One of the clearest differences is the addition of treatment-style identity language in the 3rd edition. The later version includes statements such as, “For the best results, consider yourself a patient in AA for the arrest of an incurable disease” (LRB 3rd ed., commonly cited around p. 48). That framing is either missing or barely present in the 1st edition. In the original 1946 text, the reader is not pushed into a fixed identity like “patient.” The rewrite locks that identity in place and builds the rest of the program around it. That is not a small wording change—it changes how a person is supposed to see themselves every day.
Another major difference is how much more the 3rd edition leans into discipline and self-control. The later version says things like, “One must use strong discipline on one’s self” (LRB 3rd ed., often cited around p. 27). That level of direct instruction is not found in the 1st edition in the same forceful way. The earlier book talks about actions people took, but it does not hammer the reader with commands about self-discipline. The rewrite increases the pressure on the individual to manage themselves, turning the tone from observational to corrective.
The 3rd edition also adds structured thinking tools that are either not present or not emphasized in the 1st edition. For example, it introduces ideas like using the Serenity Prayer as something “designed to make us think” (LRB Step Two section). That kind of explanation is part of a broader pattern—turning spiritual tools into mental exercises. The 1st edition does not build out that kind of framework. It leaves more space and says less. The 3rd edition fills in the gaps with interpretation, and in doing so, it tells the reader how to use the tools instead of just presenting them.
Another clear addition in the later edition is the use of consequence-based motivation, like keeping a “mental picture” of what happens when someone drinks. This idea is developed in the 3rd edition as a practical method for staying sober. In the 1st edition, that kind of technique is not laid out as a structured practice. The rewrite adds this as something you are expected to do, again shifting the book toward method and away from description.
The 3rd edition also introduces warning language about protecting the program itself. Statements like, “Abstain from weakening the AA program with Twelve Step substitutions” appear in the later text. That kind of cautionary, almost defensive tone is not a major feature of the 1st edition. The earlier book does not spend time telling the reader what not to do in order to preserve a system. The rewrite brings in a sense that the program must be guarded and followed correctly, which changes the tone from open explanation to controlled structure.
Another big structural change is the introduction of list-style thinking. The 3rd edition includes sections like, “Our heritage is restored when we:” followed by a series of points. These kinds of structured lists are far more prominent in the later version. The 1st edition is more narrative and fluid. It explains ideas in a more natural flow instead of breaking them into measurable pieces. The rewrite turns recovery into something that can be itemized and tracked.
The later edition also expands heavily into education and knowledge about alcoholism. It includes statements like, “A survey, in which several hundred AA members were interviewed…” (LRB 3rd ed., p. 69), using research-style language to support its points. This type of content is not a feature of the 1st edition. The original book does not rely on surveys or outside validation. The rewrite adds an academic tone, suggesting that understanding and knowledge are part of the process.
Finally, the 3rd edition introduces broader terms like “full rehabilitation” (LRB 3rd ed., p. 48). That language reflects a shift toward a more formal, system-based approach to recovery. The 1st edition does not build around that concept. It stays simpler and less institutional. The rewrite expands the scope of what the program is trying to accomplish and frames it in more formal, almost clinical terms.
When you line these passages up, the difference is not just length—it is direction. The 1st edition is shorter, simpler, and less controlling. The 3rd edition adds layers of instruction, identity, discipline, structure, and explanation. It takes what was originally a straightforward presentation and turns it into a more defined system with expectations, methods, and built-in guidance. That is not a minor revision. It is a full shift in how the material is presented and how it is meant to be used.

Working the Steps to become Recovered

We place absolute confidence in the 12 Steps. We do not tolerate them at arm’s length or shrink back from their demands; we fully embrace them and pursue the process with all that we are. As we work the Steps, we willingly enter a refining process that squeezes us until the poisons buried deep within our souls are forced to the surface for us to acknowledge. We await God’s power, asking Him to remove our defects and delusions. We choose to endure and refuse to flee. The resulting pain we experience as we face life on life’s terms forges endurance. Endurance proves our authenticity. Proven authenticity produces a tested self, anchored in hope and unshaken by the ferocities life throws at us. We have been recovered by God's power.

Metformin Vs MOTS-C

Metformin versus MOTS- C and Longevity of diabetics.

**MOTS-C is not yet approved use by the FDA in the USA but since our readers are worldwide, we publish this finding:

Transcription:

First metformin- this disaster that people are using for longevity- It's mechanism is a chemical bludgeon. It walks into your cells, finds the mitochondrial ETC electron transport chain, which is your personal energy grid and kicks over the first and most important component of the entire thing - complex one. It then it induces the state of artificial hypoxia, suffocating your power plants. It winds up triggering a panic activation of ampk. So, the short-term benefit is glucose uptake. But the long-Term cost is that you're chronically starving your mitochondria and training them to be weak, inefficient, and sparse. You have less of the 2022 meta-analysis and the Lancet Health longevity confirmed it. Metformin users show significant reduction in mitochondrial DNA and the side effects aren't side effects. You're chemically inducing functional vitamin B12 deficiency. Do you know what that causes hyperhomocysteinemia? This is a proven neurotoxin that accelerates cognitive decline and vascular decay.

Look at MOTS- C. It upgrades the operating system. Watch It translucates to the nucleus and acts as a transcriptional regulator. It's primary Target is the folate methionine cycle, the absolute core of one carbon metabolism. This is the system that's responsible for methylating DNA synthesizing neurotransmitters, producing glutathione, which is your master antioxidant right and generating nucleopeptides for repair, and it also activates AM PK 2015 Cell metabolism. Now Mots-C They fed mice, a high fat, obesogenic diet designed to induce metabolic syndrome. The control group got fat, not sick; Diabetes. The treatment group received MOTS-C. The result? No weight gain, no insulin resistance. Their physiology was completely untouched, protected.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2038825810294237

History of FA in light of the 12 Traditions

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This Program is a Program of Action

Our capacity to choose changes constantly with our practice of life. The longer we continue to make the wrong decisions, the more our heart hardens; the more often we make the right decision, the more our heart softens—or better perhaps, comes alive. … Each step in life which increases my self-confidence, my integrity, my courage, my conviction also increases my capacity to choose the desirable alternative, until eventually it becomes more difficult for me to choose the undesirable rather than the desirable action. On the other hand, each act of surrender to the will and cowardice weakens me, opens the path for more acts of surrender, and eventually freedom is lost. Between the extreme when I can no longer do a wrong act and the exteme when I have lost my freedom to right action, there are innumerable degrees of freedom of choice. In the practice of life the degree of freedom to choose is different at any given moment. If the degree of freedom to choose the good is great, it needs less effort to choose the good. If it is small, it takes a great effort, help from others, and favourable circumstances. … Most people fail in the art of living not because they are inherently bad or so without will that they cannot lead a better life; they fail because they do not wake up and see when they stand at a fork in the road and have to decide. They are not aware when life asks them a question, and when they still have alternative answers. Then with each step along the wrong road it becomes increasingly difficult for them to admit that they are on the wrong road, often only because they have to admit that they must go back to the first wrong turn, and must accept the fact that they have wasted energy and time.27

M Scott Peck - People of the lie

Compliance Vs Surrender

Compliance says:

“Tell me what to do so I won’t get hurt.”

“If I follow the rules and tools, I’ll be safe.”

“If I do it perfectly, I’ll be accepted.”

“I cannot afford to upset anyone.”
_________________________________________

Compliance is self-powered.
Compliance is fear-controlled.

Surrender says:

“My way has failed.”

“My survival system is broken.”

“God, take over.”

“I stop managing everything.”
__________________________________________

Surrender is God-powered.
Surrender is fear-dissolving.

Why We Fail - Robert Kyosaki

Wow! How truth is so universal! Think how this applies to the Addict who refuses to facing their fears.

It is easy to see why so many “A” students fail in the world of money. A person may be highly educated mentally, but if they are not educated emotionally, their fear will often stop their body from doing what it must do.

That is why so many “A” students get stuck in “analysis paralysis,” studying every little detail, but failing to do anything.

This “analysis paralysis” is caused by our educational system punishing students for making mistakes. If you think about it, “A” students are “A” students simply because they made the fewest mistakes. The problem with that emotional psychosis is that, in the real world, people who take action are the ones who make the most mistakes and learn from them to win in the game of life.

-Robert Kyosaki
_

Sacred Hospitality

Subject: FA Closing Remarks (2023 Convention)

Closing Remarks, WSB Chair Lisa S. 07.03.23

Sacred Hospitality is a concept rooted in spiritual, religious, and moral traditions that emphasizes welcoming others—especially strangers—with profound respect, compassion, and care, as if one were welcoming the divine. At its heart, sacred hospitality sees hospitality as a sacred duty, not just a social custom. The guest is treated not as an inconvenience or obligation but as an honored presence, often associated with God, angels, or sacredness.

"As I continued to reflect on all the ways that we exhibit Sacred Hospitality in FA, I also began to see all the ways that some actions are
sending a different message, not one of hospitality but one that can lead fellows to feel confused, judged and doubting FA. It is not sacred hospitality to tell a fellow or newcomer:

• That they don’t need to follow their doctor’s advice regarding medication

• That seeking outside mental health support is not recovery behavior

• That they can only speak with certain group of people

• That they can only attend certain approved meetings

• That they should become part of a certain group of people because they are doing recovery the right way, and what others are doing is wrong.

• That breaks in abstinence involve things other than eating flour, sugar, quantities or individual binge foods...."

The Counterfeit Program

When we join the fellowship, our ego quickly seeks to regroup. It ignores the spiritual path of twelve Step recovery and woos us into a counterfeit path which resembles recovery. While similar, the ego’s version is something very different.

The addict can easily swap the rituals of eating addictively for the rituals of eating perfectly. It’s a small jump to go from controlling A to controlling B without addressing the root cause of our problems — our character defects. As long as we get to remain in control, we can muster temporary motivation for willingness to comply.

⸻

The Desperate Beginning

When a person enters a food program, they are often embarrassed and desperate. They have usually lost control of their weight and health. They live a life of chaos and self-destruction that shows up on their bodies — making it impossible to hide their problems and weight from others.

The comfort and structure they find in the newly discovered rules, tools, and practices of our fellowship feel like safety — a blueprint to thinness that they believe they can master if they just work hard enough.

⸻

OA Rules, Tools, Practices and Early Physical Success

Rules and tools were originally penned by the OA fellowship and later adopted by other fellowships to help newcomers develop new habits to fight physical food addiction. They were engineered to be “training wheels” to get the newcomer abstinent. They were never intended to be a program of recovery as Abstinence takes care of the physical but is insufficient to treat the mental and spiritual needs of the addict or sustain ongoing abstinence.

They can not treat the "peculiar mental twist"(pg 18 of the Big Book) -- the reasoning that drives us back to the substance. The steps must be worked to understand why we do what we do so that we may discard delusional thought patterns.

They were never meant to replace working the steps of the Big Book to receive the spiritual experience -power necessary for sustained recovery. "Here are the steps we took which are suggested as a PROGRAM of recovery." (Big Book pg 31)

We belong to a food fellowship. The program is the 12 steps of the Big Book.

The disease of addiction is a three-part disease. Abstinence takes care of only the physical. Working the steps is required to treat the mental and the physical components of addiction.

The newcomer begins to cling to these newly learned external behaviors — weighing food, writing it down, calling a sponsor, attending meetings, avoiding certain foods, making three phone calls a day, journaling, and others.

When they hold tightly to these practices, almost immediately, their external transformation begins to show. The compliments come often, and their actions are reinforced as excess weight disappears. Yet in their success, they fail to hear the message of their need for an internal, vital spiritual transformation. Too often the emphasis of some fellowships is focus on the external with little teaching on the internal.

⸻

The Missed Message

Not hearing the message, (that only a Higher power can deliver them), they continue to focus their efforts on practices transforming external change while missing the vital spiritual experience. They have unknowingly transitioned from eating addictively to eating perfectly, rewarded by external results.

Enter the ego’s latest obsession:

The Grand Performance

— the effort to convince and impress others.

⸻

The Trap of Compliance

The transition from eating addictively to eating perfectly is simply holding on to the same character defects under a new disguise — compliance.

A perfect performance is far from an honest surrender. Abstinence, regularly attending meetings and rigid compliance with guidelines of the fellowship is insufficient to sustain a long term transformation in a true addict. It is easy to become the chameleon with a perfect conformity of the exterior while masking the interior. Compliance is not an internal transformation. Sadly it is a counterfeit and an ineffective solution.

Performing perfectly is the ego’s last desperate attempt to control how we appear externally without dealing with the root problem of every addict: irritability, restlessness, and discontentment.

⸻

Recovery

True recovery is an inside job unreachable by the best of human efforts. (Step 1)

It is attained only by an unconditional surrender of the ego to a Power greater than ourselves. (Step 2)

Unconditional surrender transforms us from the inside out since we are powerless to manage this ourselves. Only a Power greater than ourselves can remove our character defects. This internal transformation born of unconditional surrender (Step 3) is real recovery. “Lack of power, that was our dilemma” Big Book pg 24

⸻

The Terrible Cost of Neglecting the Inner Work

In most cases, external success will eventually be overpowered by unresolved inner issues. The grand transformed exterior will no longer be sufficient motivation to suppress inner turmoil. Overwhelmed by the pressures of life, the addict will pick up again without the aid of a higher power and relapse into addiction.

Sadly, most people in our ranks can only mask their inner problems for five to eight years before dropping out of the fellowship. Tom B called the phenomenon the “5- year 'Menopause'” Historically, 97 percent of newcomers follow this tragic path in many of our fellowships.

_____

For the food addicted person, thin bodies do not equate to healthy bodies

It is very possible to have a healthy looking body that is very unwell. Many fellows with years of abstinence in our fellowship, although thin, die of stroke, heart failure, diabetes type 2 and Alzheimer's (diabetes type 3) among others, starving themselves for years of the necessary nutrients fat and protein. We have members at healthy weights with horrible blood panels, elevated blood sugar levels, clogged arteries and more. Proper, individualized nutrition is essential for healthy recovery. There are blood tests, glucose tests, AI and many free resources on the internet to help craft an abstinent, individual food plan for successful health and recovery. Each individual’s body is different. Each of us has different ages, ethnical backgrounds, activity levels, diseases, medical conditions -- One food plan does not fit everyone in the group. It is our individual responsibility as adults to pursue an abstinent food plan that sufficiently meets each of our unique nutritional needs.

Step 12

It is up to the body of this fellowship to carry the whole message of the Big Book — full inner and outer transformation — the kind that sustains lasting abstinence. This full transformation comes only from diligently working the Steps and surrendering our will and our lives to a Power greater than ourselves.

A Spiritual Malady

🌿 What Is the Spiritual Malady?

We came here thinking food was our problem, or people, or circumstances.
But the Big Book tells us there is a deeper illness—a spiritual malady—that leaves us restless, irritable, and discontented even when the plate is clean.

This malady begins when self becomes our higher power.
We try to manage life through control, fear, and striving.
We judge, compare, resent, and protect ourselves.
In that state we feel alone, cut off from the sunlight of the Spirit.
The food, the drink, the behavior—whatever our “medicine” was—only masked that ache for a little while.

When the big book says, “When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically,” it means that when we return to conscious contact with God, our minds quiet and our bodies follow.
The cure is not more discipline—it is surrender.

Step Four helps us see how the malady has shown up in our resentments, fears, and intimate relationships.
We look not to condemn ourselves, but to uncover what has been blocking me from experiencing God’s love.
As we tell the truth on paper, the Light begins to reach the dark corners, and the heart starts to rest.

Today we pray:

> God, show me the places where self still rules my life.
Replace fear with faith, resentment with forgiveness, and isolation with Your presence.
Heal the sickness of my soul so I may live in harmony with You and others6:30 AMKurtz opens by explaining that the essence of AA’s spirituality lies in humility — the admission “I am not God.”
For alcoholics (and by extension, anyone obsessed with control), the delusion of self-sufficiency — the belief that I can manage life, feelings, and outcomes by my own power — is the root of sickness.
The cure begins with surrender: admitting defeat and opening to a Power greater than oneself.Summary of Addictive Thinking: Understanding Self-Deception by Abraham J. Twerski, M.D.

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📘 Overview

Dr. Abraham Twerski’s Addictive Thinking explores the distorted patterns of thought common in people suffering from addiction. The book explains how addiction warps perception, judgment, and reasoning, leading individuals to justify destructive behaviors while maintaining the illusion of control and normalcy. Twerski draws on clinical experience to show that addiction is not only a disease of the body but also of the mind—and recovery requires confronting these self-deceptive thought patterns.

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🧠 Key Concepts

1. The Nature of Addictive Thinking

Addictive thinking is illogical yet convincing to the addict.

It allows people to rationalize behavior that is obviously harmful.

It creates denial, minimization, and projection, which protect the addiction from being challenged.

Addicts often believe they are “different” or “exceptions,” keeping them trapped.

2. Self-Deception and Denial

Denial is not simple lying—it’s a distortion of reality that the addict actually believes.

Self-deception helps the addict avoid painful truths about loss of control.

Twerski likens it to a “mental fog” where the mind twists facts to fit the addiction’s agenda.

3. Loss of Control

The addict’s belief that they can stop any time is a central delusion.

Addictive substances and behaviors hijack the brain’s reward system, reinforcing compulsion.

True recovery begins when one recognizes powerlessness over the addictive cycle.

4. Emotional Immaturity

Addictive thinking often stems from immature emotional development—difficulty handling pain, frustration, or disappointment.

Substances or behaviors become tools to escape reality rather than face it.

5. The Role of Shame and Guilt

Shame fuels self-deception—“If I admit my problem, I’m worthless.”

Recovery requires separating self-worth from behavior, learning to accept oneself while rejecting the addiction.

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🌱 Recovery and Healing

Rational thinking cannot defeat addiction alone because the distorted mind cannot “think its way out.”

Recovery demands spiritual, emotional, and cognitive change—often through Twelve Step programs.

Honest self-examination, humility, and connection to others restore sanity.

The mind must be retrained through consistent spiritual and psychological practice.

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💬 Core Message

> “Addictive thinking is not merely wrong—it is insane thinking that convinces the addict it is sane.”

Dr. Twerski’s central idea is that recovery is not just abstinence; it’s a transformation of thought and perception. Healing begins when the addict surrenders self-deception and begins to live in truth—one day at a time.

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Would you like me to make a chapter-by-chapter summary or a summary focused on spiritual vs psychological aspects next?6:35 AM

Playing it in our Heads Over and Over again

“Few people have been more victimized by resentments than have we alcoholics” (Anon, 2002, p. 92). The word resentment is derived from the Latin word “senitire” to feel and “resentire” means to re-feel past hurts. Resentment is defined as the re-send-ing or revisiting of old wounds, so people in recovery are advised not to open up old conflicts. It is likened to a person continually scratching a scab to ensure it remains unhealed. More graphically, deliberately rekindling a resentment about a person is compared to drinking a poison and hoping the resented person will die!

“It will become more and more evident as we go forward that it is pointless to become angry or to get hurt by people who, like us, are suffering from the pains of growing up” (Anon, 2002, pp. 94–95).

Observation: This is why the steps is so effective and the AWOL experience typically is very flat.

With Freudian psychology (AWOLS), past hurts are studied, studied and analyzed over and over again and wound does not heal.

With Jungian psychology, (method utilized by the Big Book ) the healthy approach is to see it once, acknowledge it as coming from a hurt person and have a power greater than ourselves remove it. To re-feel it over and over again is the source of resentment.

This very process of re-feeling is what drives us back to our substance to numb us out.

What is a 10th Step?

After we have completed working the 12 steps, we use the 10th step to maintain our serenity.

Here is how Bill W instructed us to stay healthy:

Daily Preparation and Step Ten Practice

Begin by asking God to help us be free from selfish motives and self-seeking. Then, look ahead to the next 24 hours. Whether you have a job or not, you likely know your daily routine and what interactions you may have with others. Prepare yourself:

How do you believe God would want you to show up today?
Would He want you to direct the show, handing out scripts and trying to control people?
Or would He want you to simply show up as He would have you be?

Offer the day to God: "God, I offer this day to You. Love and tolerance will be my code. I will do my best to show up as You would have me be."

When Resentment or Fear Appears

The Big Book tells us these feelings will arise—not if, but when. Step Ten gives us a process to deal with them so they don’t pile up like trash.
Four Actions for Step Ten:

Call Someone for Help – Reach out to your sponsor or another program friend. Say, “I need to do a Tenth Step.” Share what happened. They can offer perspective because they are outside “the pit,” in their rational mind, while you may be stuck in emotion.
Pray for Removal – Together, ask God to remove the resentment or fear. This may not happen instantly; be patient and trust His timing.
Check for Amends – Ask the person helping you whether amends are needed. We can’t always judge this for ourselves, especially if we are people-pleasers who feel guilty for simply setting healthy boundaries. Sometimes the reverse is true—you may think no amends are needed, but your sponsor may see it differently.
Say the Sick Man’s Prayer –

"God, this is a sick man. Help me to show the same tolerance, grace, mercy, and love I would cheerfully grant a sick friend. Your will, not mine, be done."

Final Step: Turn Your Attention Outward

Call someone just to check in: “I’ve been thinking about you. How’s your program going?” Then listen. Don’t give advice unless asked—just be present. This shift of focus helps stop rumination. When something happens that stirs anger, fear, or hurt, pray for the feeling to be removed, forgive immediately, accept it, and turn your attention to helping someone else. This prevents it from festering into a lifelong resentment.

Summary:

Step Ten is about taking out the trash daily. Become aware, don’t panic, use the process, and keep your spiritual house clean.

If you’d like, I can also tighten this even further into a short handout-style guide so it’s easy to reference during the day. That would make it quick to use in real time when emotions spike.

How do I Work a 10th Step?

Here is a form one of our users put together. We have found this powerful!

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Why count on us to deliver results? Because our company is more than just a business. Each person brings something different to the team, but there are a core set of values we all share.

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The Difference Between the Real Alcoholic and a Problem Drinker

The only difference between the Alcoholic and the Food addict is what we are addicted to and to whom we carry the message. As you read this excerpt from Clancy I, one of our AA heroes, look for the similarities to the food addict:

My sponsor used to pick me up and take me with him to meetings. We went to Brentwood, the biggest meeting at that time…kind of fancy people. A kid talked before the meeting started. He said, I came here about 11 months ago, and I was having a lot of troubles. You people pointed out that I drank too much. I never even thought of that, He says. I've not had a drink since and my life is getting better. I can get along with my family, my life, my home and everything's great. I haven't been to your meetings because I've no need to drink. I don't think I'll ever drink again. Thank you. Just want to say thank you.
And after the meeting, I saw my sponsor pounce on him. This meeting doesn't revolve around you. You're wasting our time. Don't bother coming back here!

I thought it was just terrible. On the way home, I asked. Why'd you talk to that kid the way you did? He replied, “He's got an alcohol problem.” I waited then finally spoke: I don't mean to offend you, but isn't AA designed to help people with alcohol problems, I mean really. What do they need? Don't they need to quit drinking and clean up their act and when they are offered drinks, say no thank-you? That doesn't work! I've been trying to not drink for 10 years and I am saying that doesn't work!

He replied. I guess that you don't have an alcohol problem then do you? Maybe you got all of what the rest of us have got and it's not an alcohol problem. Oh, really! I huffed. Then what is it? He replied: Something that sounds like an alcohol problem but it fools a lot of people. It is something called alcoholism. I thought Gee, don't play word games with me! I look bad, but I'm a lot smarter than you'd ever believe! “So I just quit drinking and I'm cured. I'm cured, I blurted out.”

Then he gave me about a three hour harang most of which I tried to blot it out before I went insane. But in that moment he saved my life and I never knew it- not for a long time.

He said. Kid. Let me tell you the difference between an alcohol problem and alcoholism. They all start the same way. They look exactly the same. They both start by having a couple drinks. And sometimes you get in trouble. Both of them.

The difference is that the person that has an alcohol problem, they realize they're having troubles. They quit. They clean up their act. When offered a drink, they say, no, thank you and they stop drinking for good. Their life becomes manageable and the problem is solved.

In this strange thing called alcoholism, which looks the same for us. This mind-consuming, perception- distorting, reality- eroding, and eventually fatal thing called alcoholism. You'll discover sooner or later if you haven't learned it yet. Stopping drinking and cleaning up your act Has no significant long-term effect on your life. It gradually makes your life more painful until you can't stand it until you eventually drink again.

Well, Gee, I never heard you say that before. I've been going to meetings for 10 years. They say Stop and drinking and come to meetings. But sobriety for me is worse than drinking. It is more painful... More lethal, he interrupted. You’ve got to do something about it. It's what recovery is all about. I've been going all these meetings all these years, and they talk about how much they all drank and how it was doing terrible things to them. He said no. Kid. They're not drinking because alcohol is doing terrible things to them.

He had a coke in his hand. He said, kid. We're now going to call this a drink. If this were a Johnny Walker and I took a big drink: He took a big swallow and savored it slowly before swallowing: The net result would be that almost instantly it would alter my perception of reality. Everything gets a little softer, a little more friendly. And I have a couple more drinks. I start to get empowered in my conversational abilities. The granny sitting at the bar is now in danger. But then I drink too much, and now I am drunk. It happens nearly every single time.

Consuming alcohol does something unique and special for the alcoholic.There's only one in ten people or so who are real alcoholics, who get that reaction from drinking alcohol. They don't know they're getting a reaction to alcohol that the other drinkers don't get. At the same time, the other drinkers don't have any idea that they are not getting a reaction the same to that of an alcoholic. So the average drinker can't understand what is wrong with the alcoholic. We are doomed to go through life, trying to quit with new and better attempts to stop drinking.

It's not easy growing up. When you are young, nobody cares what you have to say about anything. Nobody likes your opinions. They treat you like your second class citizen. You are supposed to know things you don't know. Yet, every time you fall in love, you're gonna have your heart broken. It's just going to be dreadful, and you don't even know that the whole goal is to reach emotional maturity.

If you do reach emotional maturity, you could have a pretty good life. You instinctively seem to be able to hold a job as long as you want. You seem to instinctively get along with your co-employees. You instinctively seem to marry and keep peace at home, not fighting all of them. If you're a parent you should have some maturity to give to your children, Get along with your neighbors and go on vacations. It's a good life, But this almost never happens to alcoholics. Maturity consists of learning through experiencing painful problems and learning painful solutions to problems, But we find a way to avoid this as we go along. We discover we don't have to experience this pain. We don't have to go through painful problems. We can drink them away. Here's to you household Finance. Here is to you Marriage partner. I'd ever like you anyway. Here is to you Boss. Shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

Every time Alcohol works for us, it puts an invisible wall in our psyche we didnt have to overcome. We have a lot of those walls. We don't even know that they are there. When it gets too noisy, we drink and it becomes distant again. The only time it begins to get unbearable is when we quit drinking. So just not drinking is not a solution for the real alcoholic. Its only a matter of time when we are activated again. We drink to preserve our sanity. Isn't it ironic… drinking to preserve our sanity by drinking something that will cost us our sanity? We're drinking soon. Then we are drunk soon. And then we're gone!

According to the American Psychiatric Association,

What is Food Addiction?

• Eating food in larger amounts or for a longer period than intended

• Repeated unsuccessful efforts to cut down or stop compulsive eating

• Spending a significant amount of time obtaining food, eating, or recovering from its effects (such as physical discomfort or shame)

• Experiencing intense cravings or a strong desire to eat, even when not physically hungry

• Failing to meet major obligations at work, school, or home due to compulsive eating behaviors

• Continuing to eat compulsively despite negative social and relational consequences

• Prioritizing food over important social, occupational, or recreational activities

• Continuing to eat compulsively despite warnings or knowledge of the negative effects on physical health (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, obesity)

• Continuing to eat despite it causing or worsening emotional distress or psychological issues (e.g., anxiety, depression, shame)

• Needing to eat increasingly larger amounts of food, or more extreme types of food, to achieve the same level of satisfaction or emotional numbing (tolerance)

• Experiencing withdrawal symptoms—such as irritability, anxiety, headaches, or fatigue—when attempting to reduce or stop certain foods, and eating to relieve or avoid those symptoms

(Adapted from: American Psychiatric Association on Alcoholism , DSM-5, 2013, pp. 490–491)

CAGE Questions:

• Cut Down: Have you ever tried to cut down on your eating, especially of certain foods like sugar, flour, or trigger foods — but found it difficult or impossible to maintain?

• Annoyed: Have you ever felt annoyed or defensive when others commented on your eating habits, food choices, or weight?

• Guilty: Have you ever felt guilty about what, how much, or when you ate?

• Eye-Opener: Do you ever eat first thing in the morning (even when not hungry) to feel better emotionally, to ease anxiety, or to recover from a binge the day before?

In alcohol addiction, this is called a “geographical change”. This is usually a vain attempt by the alcoholic to explain their alcoholism by blaming it on people, places, and things, and attempting to start afresh with new people in a new environment. It is a futile exercise. There is an A.A. adage, “Wherever you go, there you are”.

We don't work the 12 Steps to get Goodies from God

"Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity." Big Book pg 36

The Big Book tells us we ask for God to change us so We can live in peace while facing truth and reality.

This means asking God to transform OUR thinking OUR our attitude, not our circumstances. We had to shift our perspective about God: You are the authority. You are in charge. Everything in my life today is exactly as it is meant to be.

As page 147 says, it is my responsibility is to fit myself to reality, to adjust my attitude, to be grateful even when things don’t go my way, and to surrender those moments to God. My response becomes: Thank you, God. I love You, God.

God is mentioned 142 times in the Big Book—reminding us how central our Higher Power is to this program. My attitude toward Him has changed completely. Now my prayer is:

God, thank You. I need Your help to change my attitude. I need Your power to help me do the right thing. Please change ME.

Step 11: Our Day in Review

Step Eleven: Shifting Our Attitude Toward God

Step Eleven is where we begin changing our attitude about God. Instead of asking Him for things, we seek communion, communication and a relationship with Him: “God, I want to grow closer to You. I want to know You. I want to hear Your voice.”

The goal isn’t to have an easier or softer life, but to learn how to tap into God’s presence no matter what trials come. We want Him to be our unshakable source of peace in every circumstance.

The Evening Review

In the Big Book, the Step Eleven evening review invites us to examine where “self” showed up during the day. Self can manifest in many ways:

Selfishness
Self-seeking
Dishonesty
Fear
Inconsideration
Pride
Greed
Lust (not just sexual, but an obsession with something we think we must have to be happy)
Anger
Envy
Sloth
Gluttony
Impatience
Intolerance
Resentment
Hatred
Harmful acts
Self-pity
Self-justification
Self-importance
Self-condemnation
Suspicion
Doubt
Judgment and condemnation

Against each of these, we see God’s will—the qualities we want to practice instead.

From the Big Book (pp. 176–178):
“When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we selfish, dishonest, or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Do we need to make amends? Have we kept something to ourselves that should be shared with another person? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time, or thinking of how we could help others and contribute to the stream of life?”

The goal is to move from being a taker to becoming a giver.

Taking Action Instead of Complaining

"I used to get frustrated about my meetings: Why are all the meetings newcomer meetings? Why aren’t there Big Book study meetings? Why doesn’t someone start one? Then I realized—if I see a need, maybe I should fill it. I didn’t think of myself as a leader, but so much had been given to me through AA, on the internet, and the many speakers I’ve heard. Instead of judging and condemning an organization for not being what I think it should be, I could do something about it. Passing on what I’ve received is the natural next step." Lori C

Feeling Triggered?

Let’s unpack the word triggered—right here, right now.

In recovery circles, Joe and Charlie—known for their Big Book studies—would bring any discussion of triggers back to the core message of the Big Book:

Self-centered fear
Unmanageable emotions
A lack of spiritual defense

As it says on page 62, "Self-centeredness—we think is the root of our troubles."

So if I say, “I was triggered,” Joe and Charlie wouldn’t shame me. Instead, they’d ask:

What fear just got activated?
What are you trying to control without involving God?

They would gently redirect you to Step Three—turning our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him.

Being triggered is not a moral failure. It’s an invitation to surrender.

They might ask, Did you reach for a spiritual tool found in the Big Book, or did you try to manage it yourself?

So what are those spiritual tools?

There are 12 of them... The Steps are the spiritual tools—in this case the answer is found in Step Ten.

1. You call someone and tell them what’s going on—not for sympathy, but to speak truth out loud for your own healing.

A trigger doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’ve bumped into something unhealed or unprotected. You’re relying on self…. again!

From the Big Book, page 84:
“We have ceased fighting anything or anyone—even alcohol.”
We are fighting something or someone.
Joe and Charlie would remind us:
The problem isn’t the trigger—it’s what we do with it next.

From page 67:
“There were situations that had not been entirely our fault. We tried to disregard the other person entirely. Where were we to blame?” They’re not saying everything is your fault. They’re asking, Where was I in self?

Was I trying to protect my ego?
Was I trying to control an outcome?
Was I seeking something from someone instead of from God?

Let’s gently walk through these questions using Joe and Charlie’s fear inventory framework:

What was I trying to get from this person?
Approval? Safety? Respect? Validation? Control? This is a very human reaction and these are not bad desires, but when we demand them from people, we end up on the express train to Crazy Town. And when we don’t get them?

How did I react?

Withdrew
Judged
Obsessed
Rehearsed conversations
Manipulated
Got angry

Where was I relying on them instead of God?
Did I play a role by pretending, hiding, chasing, or resenting?

What hidden fear is actually running the show underneath all this?

You can write it down or just reflect quietly. And here’s the clincher—you’re not being asked to fix it. You’re just being asked to see it.

Once you see your part, you are free. Not because it’s your fault, but because now you can let go of what was never yours to carry in the first place. The person, the food, the feeling—none of them are the real problem. The real danger is when we try to manage them alone—or use food to avoid God. That’s why we pick up again: because we’re trying to use food to dodge surrender.

So what’s next?

2. You pray.

You ask God to remove the feeling. "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

3. You wait patiently—until He does.

" God could and would if He were sought."

This is the core of the Twelve Steps work. The STEPS are the tools of the original AA Program.

Delayed Gratification

Delayed gratification .... So, what it seems like is that everyone has a disorder that makes delayed gratification hard, which might just mean delayed gratification is hard for everyone that no one's super thrilled about putting off what they want to do. It's important to stop pathologizing everything in your life. Like, it's disordered. You're just a person who want to do what you want to do all the time and discipline, and getting over laziness is just simply not as much fun. Hey, I have my problems, and I still do the stuff. So, whether it's hard or whether it isn't is irrelevant, if you want more out of your life later, you're gonna have to do more about it now. - Nick Pollard

Instincts Gone Awry

This concept is most clearly articulated in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12&12), particularly in Step Four, which discusses the moral inventory. "Gone awry" means that something has gone wrong or not happened as planned. It implies a deviation from the intended course or a failure to achieve a desired outcome. Essentially, it signifies that something has taken a turn for the worse or has been disrupted. AA teaches that our instincts, in their proper measure, are God-given and necessary for survival and fulfillment. But when these instincts dominate our behavior or operate outside appropriate bounds, they become liabilities instead of assets.

🔍 What Are These Instincts?

AA generally speaks of three primary categories of instincts:

1. Social Instincts – the desire for companionship, approval, recognition, and status.

2. Security Instincts – the drive for physical, emotional, and financial safety.

3. Sex Instincts – the natural urge for sexual intimacy, love, and procreation.

⚠️ What Does “Gone Awry” Mean?

These instincts become “gone awry” when they:

• Overreach their natural purpose (e.g., needing constant validation or dominating others for approval),

• Collide with the instincts of others (leading to resentment, fear, or jealousy),

• Or are used to rationalize selfishness or escape responsibility.

In other words, the instinct itself is not wrong—but when it becomes distorted by self-centeredness or fear, it leads to emotional instability and, for the alcoholic, a return to the bottle.

🧠 Alcoholic Thinking and the Distorted Instinct

When instincts go awry, they create emotional conflict:

• Fear of not having enough money = controlling or hoarding behavior

• Desire to be loved = manipulation or people-pleasing

• Need to feel important = arrogance or false humility

These exaggerated emotional reactions feed what AA calls “the spiritual malady”—a state of restless, irritable, and discontented living. In that state, alcohol (or other compulsive behaviors) becomes the shortcut to relief.

🧾 How Does the 4th Step Help?

The Fourth Step (“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves”) is where AA members examine how their instincts have been warped:

• Where did I act out of fear instead of faith?

• Where did I demand more than was rightfully mine?

• Where did I try to play God rather than accept life on life’s terms?

This moral inventory isn’t about shaming—it’s about clearing away the wreckage of how instincts got twisted so that sanity and balance can return.

🌱 What’s the Solution?

AA offers a spiritual solution: by surrendering the self-will that distorts our instincts and relying on a Higher Power, we begin to live in right relation to our instincts. The Big Book puts it this way:

“Selfishness—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. … Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us!” (Big Book, p. 62)

Recovery is not about eliminating instincts—it’s about right-sizing them. When they are guided by spiritual principles like honesty, humility, patience, and service, they become assets instead of liabilities.

🪞 Summary

“Instincts gone awry” is AA’s way of saying that alcoholism isn’t just about drinking—it’s about misused drives, unmet needs, and self-centered fear. Sobriety begins with abstinence, but recovery begins with understanding how our human instincts need to be spiritually redirected and brought back into balance.

A Distorted Sense of Reality

When you say “the addiction has nothing to do with the substance,” you're pointing to one of the deepest truths in recovery: that the (addiction) is just a symptom of something far deeper — a way of thinking, feeling, and reacting to life.

To be addicted is to have a distorted relationship with reality, with others, and especially with oneself. Food is the chosen solution — not the core problem. The real issue lies in the way the alcoholic mind thinks, copes, and perceives the world.

An "addicted" mind is often:

Restless, irritable, and discontent even when sober.

Driven by fear, self-centeredness, resentment, and shame.
Obsessed with control but powerless over emotion.
Constantly seeking relief from discomfort, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual.
Haunted by guilt over the past, anxious about the future, and never fully present.

Even without (food), the (food addict) still struggles with:

Black-and-white thinking (all good or all bad)
Victim mentality (everything happens to me)
Self-sabotage (wrecking good things out of fear or unworthiness)
Compulsion (trying to fill the void with food, people, chaos, work, etc.)

In that sense, (food) was never the core problem — it was the best available escape. When (food) is removed, what remains is the untreated mind: the (addict) thinking.

So when someone says, “I’m a (food addict),” it doesn’t just mean they can’t safely (eat) — it means they live with a mind that needs spiritual healing, emotional honesty, and a total psychic change. That’s why recovery isn’t just about abstinence — it’s about a radical transformation of how we live, think, and relate to others.

Self-Centeredness and Grandiosity

AA’s program is not a “mere reversion to natural health” but a “religion of deliverance” that offers a “second birth.” Those who can acknowledge their “sickness” and accept their limits live by what we have called the “spirituality of imperfection.” In doing so, they embody the idea—captured and amplified by AA—that to be human is to be essentially mixed, finite, and limited, that is, not God. Their acknowledgment of finitude becomes an antidote to the self-centeredness and grandiosity that drive addiction and makes way for the humility that is among the chief signs of the spiritual life. While the purportedly divine self refuses to acknowledge its essential weakness and insists on becoming its own Higher Power, the spirituality of imperfection at the heart of Twelve-Step recovery denies the self’s ability to direct its own play, as the Big Book puts it.29 Based on this analysis, it is clear that recovery forsakes Twelve-Step spirituality when it denies that human beings are in need of a power who comes to save them from outside, who challenges their efforts at control, and who relieves them of their grandiose notions of identity with the divine.

Haynes, Stephen R.. Why Can't Church Be More Like an AA Meeting?

Proverbs 23 for the Food Addict

When my joints hurt;

when I cant get on an amusement ride with my kids;

when my back aches in the morning for the garbage I put in my mouth last night;

when my clothes no longer fit;

when the doctor classifies me as obese; when the seatbelt no longer fits around my body;

when my colesterol is through the roof; when I am enduring another jab of insulin; when my heart keeps freaking out;

when I demean myself and make jokes about my weight to others;

when I have to take anxiety meds to just handle stress in my life;

when my doctor tells me his concerns about my impending stroke;

when I can't fit between the seat and the steering wheel;

when I have to buy two seats to travel;

when I need the handicap cart at the store; when I have to quit my job and go on disability because I can no longer work; when I plan my way home in accordance to the fast foods on the way;

when my legs swell up wth ademia;

when my knees, back and hips are in constant pain;

when I no longer care about the list of ingredients in the foods I eat…

I judge my food by the taste and what it does for me. Im forever seeking that 20 seconds of euphoria from what I put in my mouth. I fail to see what food is doing TO me until it is too late. I'm an addict. Soon I will be a dead addict. But I don't believe it.