Holy Hunger: A Journey from Food Addiction to Spiritual Fulfillment

What a deep story this book portrays. I have read it more than once and my copy has many highlights. It was from this wonderful book that I learned about Overeaters Anonymous.

Here is a section on abstinence that is enlightening:

"Just as my life had once revolved around food, so too did the early stages of recovery revolve around abstinence. Eating in moderation-­what OA calls abstinence-­had to become the central focus of each day, for it was the task that made any other task possible. Every morning I had to ask myself: What do I need to do today in order to maintain my abstinence? What must I do to keep food in its rightful place?

I remember being taken aback, in my early days in the program, by an insistent and solemn retrain that played through our meetings like a recurring motif: "Abstinence is the most important thing in my life without exception."

Jeepers," I sputtered to myself. "What about your spouse, your family, your friends? What about world peace? Or social justice? What about God?"

Only after some experience with the program did I come to see that for a compulsive overeater, maintaining abstinence is like focusing a camera: If the image in the center is clear, the whole picture comes into focus. Only if my food is clear am I free to love self, family, and friends. Only if I'm abstinent am I free to give myself to larger goals, or to God."
~From Holy Hunger by Margaret Bullitt-Jonas

Read more about it on Amazon: Holy Hunger