OA and the Sticker System

So I went to the Overeater's Anonymous meeting on Thursday night, and I am just sorry I hadn't gone sooner. I am not sure what I expected, but I think this will be good for me. It was comforting enough to hear about the other women who were there and what their struggles with food are - they really aren't that different from mine. It was funny because these women were just so "normal" looking and if I ran into them on the street I wouldn't guess they have issues with food. I guess what is funny is, is how common a problem like this actually is, but it isn't anything people are really comfortable talking about - unless you find yourself in a group of peers or anonymously blogging to strangers on the Internet... Anyway, I am looking forward to going back next week and learning more about how to fight this and relinquishing control to a "higher power", as is the basis of the group.

I'm not going to lie though, the whole time I was there, I was thinking about having pizza once I left - to which I drove around to 4 different pizza shops until I found one which had donair pizza (WTF?!? That was the first time in my life I ever ate donair pizza, but suddenly in that meeting I had been craving it... oh my). So I came home and polished the slice off, to which I finished the jar of peanut butter (sigh - not looking forward to explaining that to my mom when she notices, because it was the "hidden" peanut butter) and ate more peanut butter chipits, all before my boyfriend came over. And I felt bad about lying to him when I said I only had a frozen dinner for supper, but didn't know how I could justify eating pizza after going to that meeting. As for the other junk, that "go big or go home" mentality gets me every time (I had already binged twice earlier in the day, what was one more time, right?). I really feel like Thursday was the worst day of my life in terms of eating. I felt sick going to bed and "hungover" on Friday when I woke up. But it was a new day - a long day - and I made it without binging (albeit was DAMN hard). But here I am two days later and my stomach is still swollen from all the food...

My brother ended up coming home last night and we had some pretty good heart to hearts, and he told me about what a friend of his does when trying to break a habit... She has this calendar which she keeps by her bed and every day she goes without doing her "bad habit", she gets a sticker on the day she was "good". I guess it gives her something to look forward to and encourages her by seeing all the stickers on her calendar. They serve as a reminder of her strength, and she looks forward to getting a new sticker each day she doesn't do the bad habit. I know it doesn't sound like much and is even a little silly, but I am going to give it a try. I went out this morning and bought a package of shiny stars and got to put one on April 10, which as silly as it may sound, I felt proud of, haha. So I am currently on my way to a 2nd shiny star on my calendar as I am halfway through day 2. And it does sound funny, but when I found myself thinking about the PB chipits, I reminded myself that I want another sticker for today, and won't get one through binging on chipits. So laugh if you like, but so far, it seems to have worked :)

As for my game of losing gym privileges (something I enjoy) when I binge (bad behaviour) I don't think that is going to work for me. I feel as though had I went to the gym on Thursday instead of staying home, I might have been able to break out of my funk. I'm not sure that is the way for me to go, but I guess for now I will see how this sticker system works. Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can stop binging?

I am nervous about tomorrow, being Easter and all - supposed to be heading to a family party for dinner; but have requested that no one give me chocolate this year, so hopefully this will be respected, nonetheless, wish me luck tomorrow, and same to you - this is a hard time of year.

Love *N