We had a great workshop yesterday, dealing with “Getting Through the Holidays with Abstinence and Gratitude.” A lot of great coping skills were shared by the program’s organizers and by the participants. Unfortunately, when I’m in the middle of a situation that challenges my abstinence, I sometimes forget about those coping skills, so I took some notes…
Here are just some of the suggestions I heard yesterday – Remember, take what you need and leave the rest:
- “Phone a friend” – Call or text a fellow for support, for accountability, or even just to vent.
- “No” is a complete sentence, or “No, thank you” if you want to be more polite. 😉
(You don’t have to explain why you don’t want something) - It doesn’t matter if no one else understands our issues with food. All that matters is that WE get it!
- Bring your own food or meal.
- Take advantage of supporters (friends or family) at events with you. Allow them to help you or “run interference” for you if necessary.
- Find out what food will be available in advance, if possible and plan accordingly.
- Check out all of what will be served BEFORE you start filling your plate. Make a plan, and commit it to a sponsor or fellow
- Take a picture of your plate and send it to your sponsor or a fellow, for accountability.
- Don’t go – do what you need to do to take care of yourself. Not putting yourself in a harmful environment is a viable option
If you were at the workshop and you heard something I missed, please share in the comments! Also, do YOU have any strategies for maintaining your abstinence through the holidays? Please share them in the comments. You never know what little tidbit you share can mean the world to someone else.
Happy Holidays Y’all!
Overeaters Anonymous Baton Rouge Intergroup 
One of my character defects with this holiday is to make a plan (in my head) of all that’s to be done to make this a PERFECT family time…however I would rarely communicate these plans with my husband or other family members. The result was my stress and anger levels growing really high because no one was helping me with the event! Why didn’t everyone have ESP! Why didn’t my hubby just already KNOW what needed to be done? I have implemented part of My Plan of Action for this Thanksgiving by already talking with my husband about starting with the house cleaning today, and plans for food that can be done ahead of time. Oh yes…and repeating to myself the “PERFECT” holiday is when love, compassion, patience, and understanding take center stage!
I tend to leave when dessert is being served. Thanks for an alternative!
Desert time is difficult for me, so I bring fruit as my desert. Turns out a lot of the younger ones like fruit too, so I bring enough to share!
Desert time is difficult for me, so I bring fruit as my desert. Turns out a lot of the younger ones like fruit too, so I bring enough to share!