BBA Food Recovery Workshop: Whole In Our Soul

Week 6: Step 1 | There Is A Solution- Second Half (Chapter 2)

In this audio workshop session we study the mental obsession - and see what happens *before* we start to eat excess food, restrict, purge, obsess, or over exercise. 

 

Week 5 and 6 : Step 1 | There Is A Solution

As we complete our last assignment on the phenomenon of the Physical Craving in weeks 5 and 6, we take a deeply clarifying look at the 3 kinds of Compulsive eaters: the moderate eater, the hard eater and the real compulsive eater. To self-qualify as a compulsive eater, I must have both the physical craving and the mental obsession. I ask myself...

Which One Am I?
Am I a REAL Compulsive Eater?
Do I expereince a craving for more once I take the first compulsive bite?

Do i find myself eating, purging or restricting compulsively again despite my best laid plans?

We also get a beam of hope as we begin to uncover that There is Solution. In this chapter, in addition to our transcriptions this week, we are asked to review the 12 steps of recovery in How It Works (P.59) and consider these 2 questions:

Is this what I want to do?

Am I willing to go to any length to do this?

Week 4: Step 1 | Bill's Story (Second Half)

Here we consider the Second Half of Bills Story (where he begins to recover) by asking you to take a look at your own willingness to recover today. How? 

Participants underline everything in the Big Book they are not willing to do, that Bill tells us he did, in order to recover.  In the Second Half of Bill's story we consider "What does my own willingness to recover look like today when I read about what Bill did to recover? How willing am I to do what he did, to get what he got"? Be honest and thorough from the very start... More will be revealed...

I mistakenly refer to Bill as the son of a minister when discussing the sentence “ the music had their spheres”. That is not correct, forgive me, I missspoke. I was referring to Bill as a grandson, reflecting on young memories about his exposure to religion and his grandfathers prejudice. I corrected this during the discussion portion of the call, but that piece is not recorded here.

Bill W. was not the son of a minister. He is speaking about how his early exposure to religion snapped his mind shut to what Ebby was saying, and later, through spirituality, how Bill opens it.  Spirituality and religion are quite different, and here we get our first inkling of that. 

Bonus Recording Week 3: Lelani from San Diego BBA Speaks on Bills Story (First Half) in 2015-2016 Workshop

If you are having trouble relating to Bills Story in The Big Book as a food addict or compulsive eater, I invite you to listen to this fabulous recording of how BBA Member Leilani demysifies the dated language of The Big Bookto guide you exactly in how to relate, sentence by sentence, page by page as a compulsive eater so you can find your truth, and have a personalized experience of recovery with the book. See more workshops on all addictions at www.bbaworks.com

Week 3: Step 1 | Susie H. Talks on Bill's Story (First Half)

In this chapter we are asked to lay our expereince alongside the expereince of Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, to see how we thought, felt and acted with food and eating in the same way Bill did with alcohol and drinking. Guest Speaker Susie H. from San Diego/Virginia  speaks on her expereince with the first half of Bills Story. Our apologies, due to technical difficulties, Susie's speaking begins on page 3 of the Big Book of AA. 

Week 3: Step 1 | Intro to Bills Story

Here we clarify the Doctor's Opinion, that some form of moral psychology or a psychic change (also known as a spiritual awakening) is necessary for real Compulsive Eaters of the hopeless variety to recover for good and for all... in mind, body and spirit as decribed by the leading physican of his era, William D Silkworth.

Using the Big Book, we replace food words for alcohol words and eating words for drinking words so we can personalize our expereince to see just how much alike the two addictions truly are - and how the Solution offered in the book also applies to me. 

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For more information or a list of materials used to work this 26-week step study program, please visit wwww.wholeinoursoul.com.

Week 2: Step 1 | The Doctors Opinion

Real Compulsive Eaters don't lack willpower or a sufficient moral philosophy to eat normally; they literally have a physical craving which results in an uncontrollable allergic reaction for more.

Once they put excess food in their body (or purge, obsess, meal-skip) it actually kicks off a craving for more, and the compuslive eater never knows when it will begin or when it will end. Sometimes they can pick up or act out without a problem, other times they cannot. They may not know when the obsession will take them, but it always will, eventually.

They cannot stop abruptly or they cannot stay stopped for good and for all. Sometimes they can stop for days, weeks, months or years....but eventually their compulsive eating returns. This gets worse, never better over time.

Here, Doctor Silkworth's letter to the Greater Medical Society explains how Compulsive Eaters (sometimes called Food Addicts), just like alcoholics, have a physical allergy to compulsive eating that can only be stopped by entire abstince from acting out in the first place. 

But how could they accomplish this?

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For more information or a list of materials used to work this 26-week step study program, please visit wwww.wholeinoursoul.com.

 

Week 1: Step 1 | The Significance of the Circle and The Triangle

The difference between being abstinent from food addiction and being recovered from compulsive eating is significant. Do you know the difference?

Learn the three distinct aspects of real recovery in Big Book Awakening here in this audio workshop. Our first promise of hope is here. View a sample of what our BBA writing transcriptions here. 

For more information or a list of materials used to work this 26-week step study program, please visit wwww.wholeinoursoul.com. 

Welcome Call: Getting Started, Materials List + What To Expect

This is a dedicated step-study audio workshop using the 12 steps as outlined in the Big Book Awakening step-study method. We use the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous to recover from compulsive eating in the same way that the co-founder of AA, Bill Wilson, used the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous to recover from alcoholism. Learn more at www.wholeinoursoul.com and see our required materials checklist here.