Close cousins

I'm overweight by about seventy pounds. This might lead you to guess that one of the ways my addictive behaviors play out is compulsive overeating. And you would be right. But, as you might be learning, I have to dig under the obvious behavior to ask myself what the addict has nurtured in order to allow the behavior to flourish. In the process of recovering life I've discovered a close cousin to accountability is equally weak when addiction is in full bloom. Discipline.

Most genuine experts in the weight loss world will tell you there is a very simple formula for losing weight. It goes something like this: Diet + Exercise = Weight Loss. When you dig a little deeper what they say is that diet doesn't mean a harsh denial of food, that's not healthy, or intense hours in the gym. With diet it means counting calories and actually knowing what you're putting in your body. With exercise it could mean adding as little as a thirty minute walk to your daily routine (ah, there's a word the addict hates). There are ways to do this that include keeping a food journal and keeping an exercise journal. As you may have guessed, keeping a journal is a form of accounting and you can check out my previous post on that.

One of the most helpful tools in my recovery has been establishing some routines and sticking to them with disciplined consistency. Discipline is hard for most people and especially hard for addicts. We love the commercials touting a pill that will "melt away the fat" or a diet that allows you to eat whatever you want. It's the siren song telling us that we don't really have to change our undisciplined behavior and we can still avoid the consequences of our recklessness. We don't even have to buy any of those products. Just knowing there is a quick fix (which doesn't really exist) is enough to keep the addict happy. Addicts like quick fixes, in part because they don't require discipline. I'll do a full post on my discoveries about immediate gratification and the addictive lifestyle sometime soon.

This blog is part of the discipline of my recovery. It's another discipline I've added to my routine. Here are some of the ways I'm addressing the lack of discipline piece of my recovery. I rise at 5 a.m. and spend an hour posting to my two blogs. Then it's time to stretch and go for a half-hour run/walk followed by some more stretching. After a shower I make my bed, fix a simple breakfast, spend some time reading the Bible and writing in my prayer journal and then I head to work. Another important piece of the puzzle is meetings. I attend meetings related to my addictive struggles at least three times a week. This is a combination of discipline and accountability.

Accountability is engaging other people in my recovery. Discipline is engaging myself in my recovery. These two pieces independently have some great benefit but together they are life-changing. Discipline is being true to my real self and accountability is being true to others. This all leads to recovering life.

If one of your issues is compulsive eating leading to weight problems I highly recommend the work of Tom Venuto. He's honest and won't sell you any quick fixes or shortcuts. You might also look for a local Overeaters Anonymous meeting. In the end, these are just tools for you to use as you pursue your own disciplines.