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Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous General Information

  • Feb 25
  • 3 min read

Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous is an anonymous Fellowship of individuals whose primary purpose is to find and maintain “sobriety” in our eating practices and to help others find recovery. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop unhealthy eating practices. There are no dues or fees for ABA membership; we are self supporting through our own contributions. ABA is not allied or affiliated with any other 12-Step Fellowship or outside organization.


Eating Disorders are Addictions


We admitted that our eating practices (restricting food, bingeing on food, purging through vomiting or laxatives, and compulsive exercise) were true addictions over which we were powerless, just as surely as an alcoholic is powerless over drinking. In our addiction, we experienced a powerful inner compulsion to restrict our food, overeat, purge, or exercise in ways that would allow us to control the size or shape of our bodies. We also experienced an intense physical craving to continue these sick behaviors once we had begun.


No amount of willpower, good intentions, self-knowledge, information, or external or internal control measures could free us from our compulsion, nor relieve the obsessive thoughts about our bodies and about food that underlay these compulsions.


Do You Have an Eating Disorder?


If you answer “Yes” to one or more of the following questions, you may have an eating disorder and are welcome at ABA.


1. Do you feel a strong drive to control your body size or shape?

2. Are you chronically dissatisfied with specific areas of your body (e.g. thighs, abdomen, and buttocks)?

3. Are you afraid of eating foods that you regard as fattening?

4. Do you think about food a lot?

5. Do you lose control and eat more than you intended or wanted to eat?

6. Do you feel guilt about your eating practices or try to hide them from others?

7. Have you ever purged through self-induced vomiting or laxatives?

8. Do you ever fast to get rid of food you have ingested?

9. Do you have a powerful need to exercise to keep your body “in shape”?

10. Do you feel happy and successful when you lose weight or drop a size in clothing?

11. Do you think you are fat, while other people say you’re normal or underweight?

12. Do you become annoyed when people question your eating or exercise practices?

13. Do you use diuretics, laxatives, or appetite suppressants to control your body?

14. Are you becoming less sociable in order to avoid “food” situations?

15. Do you have trouble concentrating on daily tasks because you are preoccupied with thoughts about food or your

body?

16. Do you ever wish you had more self-control or willpower around food?

17. Have you tried to stop dieting, bingeing, purging, or overeating, but find you can’t?

18. Have you eliminated certain foods from your diet in order to prevent overeating (e.g. sugar, flour)?

19. Do you lie about what you have eaten or about your weight?

20. Do you feel good when you feel in control of your food or your body?


There is Hope!


In ABA we discover we are not alone. Through meetings and sharing we support one another to find a solution for our problem. We use a 12-Step program adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous to address the mental, emotional, and spiritual components of our eating disorders. By using these 12 Steps we have come to a deep level of freedom from our deadly obsessions with body weight and shape and with food. Through this freedom we have found joy in living!


Copyright © 2004 by Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous

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