I am a recovering Alcoholic. I have had a problem with it for a long time and eventually, I found myself in AA. It just recently came to me that the 12 Step Program applied to alcoholics and addicts would be absolutely perfect for those of us who wish to stop eating. Because the program is for addcits, if one were to treat eating as an addiction and applied the program to this addiction, I am almost positive that it would work. I am only just starting it myself so we will see how it works. I thought it would be a good idea to provide you with the 12 steps on this site and with How it Works.
How it Works:
(This is directly from the Big Book of AA, however, I have changed it to fit the EA (Extremists Anonymous) addiction.)
Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not reover are people who cannot or will nto completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and woman who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. they are not at fault; they seem to ahve been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest.
Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened and what we were like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it--then you are ready to take certain steps.
(Here are the steps)
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (food)-- that our lives had become unmanagable.
2. Came to believe that a Power (Ana) greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God (Ana) as we understood him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promplty admited it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
At somes of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.
Remember that we deal with alcohol-- cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all the power-- that One is God. May you find him now.
Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.
No one amoung us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection...
Now, keep in mind that of course some changes to this guide will be made in order to accomidate EA, however, the basic structure will remain the same. Our addiction is food. We are told we need it, that we must have it, it is a need and it is cunning, baffling, and powerful. We are helpless to this need and without the support of others and Ana, we will not be able to defeat it. Our Higher Power here is one of the same, Ana. Whatever you may see her as-- control, beauty, perfection, whatever it is, she is our Higher Power, the god in EA. For Step 3, we admit to others like ourselves that we hate food and are desperate to be rid of it. Our inventory of ourselves is our weaknesses. Where is it that we struggle and why is it we cannot do it alone? Is our problem that we binge after a fast? Is it that we can't even fast without help? Or is it that we get caught by others too often? Whatever it is, that is our inventory ourselves. We admit to another what our problem is and we must be honest, we admit our weaknesses in order for them to help us. Step six and seven, we let our old selves die and allow our Higher Power to take away these weaknesses. Step eight, is almost not really needed, along with nine. Continued to make sure our weaknesses were in check and when we mess up, we admit it. We sought through thinsperation to connect us with Ana. And twelve, we support other pro-ana members and help them through these steps.
I suggest getting a Big Book to be able to read through it and apply it to youself. In AA and CA and NA and all those addiction groups, they all encourage you to get a Sponsor. A sponsor is someone who you can talk to you, someone to help you through the steps, someone that when you're struggling you can call up and get help. We all need a sponsor for this. We need someone who can keep us in check when we're craving, someone to set up a plan with you (we need to eat in order to survive, just not eat like everyone else in this piggish society). Therefore, find a Sponsor.
This is the program and I hope others will find it helpful, I know I will. Email me at: hisdyingbride@hotmail.com for more information.