Qualification
Overweight My Whole Life
I
was a grazer, snacking on unhealthy food throughout the day, like an IV drip of comfort. I knew that I ate when I was bored, tired, angry, frustrated, or elated, but I hadn’t made the connection that I was eating because I was feeling those feelings. I don’t think I ever knew what it meant to be truly physically hungry because I would get emotionally hungry well before my body recognized that it was time for another meal. Over the years, I tried to lose weight by dieting, fasting, exercising, or eating only at certain times of the day. I joined gyms and bought exercise equipment, but I had no success in sticking to any regime for longer than a few weeks. Once I reached my 40s, I basically gave up trying to lose weight. I would occasionally still buy some gym equipment, but I felt completely powerless to stop myself from eating. I knew that if I thought about a particular kind of food, it would only be a matter of time before I ate. I did not have any ability to stop myself once the idea came into my head. I knew that I was addicted to food, but I had never thought to look for a solution until one night a little less than two years ago. I turned 50 earlier that year, and that made me reflective. I was trying to make small connection
changes in my life, but I had long since given up on trying to change my weight. I had been overweight my whole life, and I figured that was just how the rest of my life was going to be. I had no hope. The school where I worked decided to make well-being a focus and theme for the next academic year. I was supposed to lead the school in this effort. How could someone who looked like me be a role model for well-being in my community? I thought about that a lot over the summer and had no good answers until I found FA. As I was watching a TV show about AA, I was thinking, It’s not fair that alcoholics get to have meetings; there are no meetings for people who are addicted to food. I decided that if there were meetings for my addiction, I would go to them. A few minutes later, I realized that maybe there were, so I searched online for “meetings for food addiction.” FA was one of the options on the first page. There was something about the FA website that drew me in. As I started to explore, I found a list of phone numbers of people to call. As soon as I woke up the next morning, I called someone who asked if I had a sponsor. I had heard of sponsors in relation to AA, but I had no 1
