The Ideals of Our Meetings

The covenant:

We believe that the only absolute should be not leaving the program.

If we leave, the disease wins.

1) We believe that recovery from compulsive eating involves more than physical abstinence.  It involves emotional and spiritual growth, hopefully while maintaining a physical abstinence.

2) We believe that all we have is today’s abstinence.  While we may want to keep track of days for our own purposes, the counting of days of abstinence is an artificial construct and should not be equated with true recovery on any level.

3) We believe that since compulsive eating is a disease, guilt and shame about relapsing have no place in our recovery.  We are the ones most harmed.

4) We believe we came to program for ourselves, and shouldn’t feel answerable to anyone except a compassionate Higher Power.

5) We respect everyone’s opinion on recovery, but agree that anything said about program and the Steps at meetings are those peoples’ opinions and might differ from ours.  We have no gurus or leaders in program, as we are all just one bite away. 

 6) We remain open to new ideas, even those that challenge long-held beliefs about program, the Steps, and the Big Book.

 7) We believe finding a conscious contact with a Higher Power is highly personal, and should never be influenced by others’ beliefs.  We also maintain disbelief in a Higher Power is not an impediment to recovery, as there are many atheist meetings in all 12 Step programs.

 8) We define powerlessness as recognizing that food cannot be an option for dealing with difficult emotions or situations.

 9) We believe we are adults with agency.  We should never allow ourselves to be talked down to by others, even sponsors.  We came here to help ourselves, not please a sponsor or others in program.

 10) We have the right to decide for ourselves what foods we should or shouldn’t eat. However, we believe that discussing our food plan with another member helps ensure that it’s we—rather than the disease—making those choices.

 11) We believe that because compulsive eating is a spectrum disease, there are many ways to work the program.  The only barometers for success should be no longer using food as a crutch and being happy, joyous and free.

 12) We believe that our fellows in relapse are victims of their disease — not its perpetrators.  As such, we try to reach out to support them in any way we can.  We carry the message through the “here’s what I do” method, not the “here’s what you should do” method.