ronh

I think I was a compulsive over-eater as kid. Thin kid with a belly. I got in trouble for bumming food.

I picked up drugs and that worked for me. I ended up putting down the spoon and picked up the fork.

I ended up using and eating up to over 300 Lbs. 

I found out about OA, got a food plan and literature and did it on my own. But not very well.

Finally realized I needed a sponsor. got a real food plan and accountability. He helped me realized how many of my thoughts were insane. Helped me discover the phone was not my enemy.

Riding a stationary bike, I lost 100 lbs, gained 80, lost it again all while riding the bike hours a day. Discovered the quantity of appropriate food I was eating made a difference.

By the time I finished the steps I was eating extra bites with the obvious results. 

For the past 20 years I call my sponsor, am accountable for my food, sponsor other men and hold the programs as sacred.

Compulsive overeating trumps, everything, booze, drugs, excersizer AND wil power untill OA was the ace.

When Ron replaced his other addictions with food, he had NO IDEA that eating compulsively was a disease.  He thought nothing of the fact that he was overeating.  Doesn’t everyone do that? 

He discovered OA through a friend from another 12 step program.  When he found that the program did, indeed, work and that he was still losing weight without exercising, he was surprised.  He then began to exercise, not to lose weight, but for his health.  The combination of doing what his sponsor told him to do, i.e. calling his food in daily (even though his food choices never changed), working the steps, making amends, and being of service, he has been able to remain abstinent for eleven years.  He still  prays and meditates daily and is now able to handle difficult situations by putting time between his actions and his reactions.

Ron said he has had a spiritual awakening, not a spiritual experience.  He wakes up in the morning with no fear, is a positive thinker, and is working the steps for the 3^rd or 4^th time.  Learning to surrender is one of the best things he has gotten from this program. He said  “As long as I surrender and follow direction with my sponsor, life’s going to stay good.”

Sit back, relax and listen to how Ron H. has achieved 10 years of abstinence and maintained over 100 pounds of weight loss. He tells details of his journey of compulsive behavior, starting with compulsive drug addiction at age 14 by using marijuana and then speed, continuing with compulsive eating when he quit speed and gained 85 pounds, followed by compulsively exercising hours per day while fruitlessly trying to lose weight. He tells how diet plans only led to wild swings in his weight. He shares how his journey of hope from compulsive eating began when he joined OA and got serious about following the 12 steps. With good humor, Ron shares insights he learned as he went through the 12 steps, including the catchy phrase his sponsor used to get him back on track, how he dealt with being a sponsor after only a month of abstinence, what his successful food plan is, what he means by “that’s a God shot”, how he changed from having a bad temper to “spreading cheer everywhere”, and much more.