WSBC Sponsorship Committee ‐ September 2009 Issue

BACK TO BASICS
How to give sponsees the information they need to succeed in the CEA‐HOW program.
Any abstaining member of Compulsive Eaters Anonymous (CEA)‐HOW who has notexperienced the joy and satisfaction of helping another compulsive eater recover has not yet
fully realized the benefits of this program. Becoming a CEA‐HOW sponsor is perhaps the mostimportant way we can not only help someone else recover from compulsive eating but also
ensure our own recovery since we must “give it away in order to keep it.”This month we’re going to give you a general overview of how a CEA‐HOW sponsor‐sponsee
relationship forms and the information that you as a sponsor need to impart to your sponsees.
Use this information as a “checklist” to make sure you’re giving your sponsees a thorough andaccurate understanding of what working the CEA‐HOW program entails.
It’s important that you sponsor others, and it’s equally important that you have a sponsor. As
it says on page one of the Sponsor Guidelines, “Share your commitment to sponsorship. Be surethat the newcomer understands that just as the newcomer needs a sponsor, so do you. As asponsor, you need to be continuously working your own CEA‐HOW sponsor.”
There is a lot of information to impart to sponsees and you don’t have to do it all at once.
Rather, as you let your sponsees know what they need to do to recover from compulsive
eating, you get to share what you’ve done to recover. Since “the more we give the more wereceive,” both you and your sponsee will benefit from this ongoing dialogue as you both work
the CEA‐HOW program together, one day at a time.
1. IntroductionsIntroductions typically happen at beginning or end of CEA‐HOW meetings and go something
like this:Sponsor: “Hi, do you need a sponsor?”
Newcomer: “Yes, I do.”Sponsor: “How did you find out about CEA‐HOW? Do you know anything about ourprogram?”
Depending on what the newcomer says, you may need to explain the fundamentals of theprogram. You may need to explain that CEA‐HOW is a 12‐step program that requires
members to follow a food plan, weigh and measure food, make four phone calls a day, andcomplete daily reading and writing assignments.

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You’ll need to make sure that the newcomer understands that CEA‐HOW is not a diet club;rather, it is a program of recovery that addresses food addiction that welcomes anyone whowants to stop eating compulsively—whether obese, anorexic and anything in between. The
name Compulsive Eaters Anonymous‐HOW was specifically chosen to be inclusive; ourliterature does not use the term “overeater” for that reason.
Once you’ve provided an overview of the program, you can ask the newcomer more specificquestions similar to what Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob asked anewcomer on page 186 in The Big Book:“Do you want to stop eating compulsively?”“Do you think you can stop on your own?”“Do you believe in some sort of Higher Power?”“Would you be willing to ask that Higher Power help you with your eatingproblem?”

The purpose of these questions is—as Bill and Dr. Bob put it—to find out if the newcomer isready, willing, and able to follow the CEA‐HOW program. This will help to not waste thenewcomer’s time and free you up to work with somebody who is willing to stop eating
compulsively.
Another question you can ask is this: “Why do you want me to sponsor you?” This gives you
the opportunity to share with the newcomer what you do to stay abstinent and lets them knowthat they will need to do what you do if you are going to sponsor them (“If you want what I
have then you need to do what I do”). Asking this question also gives you the opportunity to
see what the newcomer is willing to do for his or her recovery.
If the newcomer is ready to stop eating compulsively and wants to work with you—congratulations! You now have a new sponsee.
2. The Food Plan
Let your sponsee know that since CEA‐HOW members weigh and measure their food, he or
she will need to get a food scale, measuring cups, and spoons.
Escort your new sponsee to the literature table. Your sponsee needs to purchase the Forever
Abstinent gray booklet, which outlines the CEA‐HOW food plan and guidelines. Since
newcomers must have a sponsor to purchase the booklet, you will need to let the literature
person know you are the newcomer’s sponsor. Instruct your sponsee to read the booklet fromcover to cover and jot down questions to ask you later.
Point out a few important highlights in the food plan, such as there are no grains other thanoat bran in the first 30 days and no sugar or flour in any of its forms unless they’re listed fifthor lower in the ingredients list on food labels.
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3. CEA‐HOW Literature
Along with Forever Abstinent, your sponsee needs to purchase two books from Alcoholics
Anonymous: The Big Book and The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Explain that he or she
will need these books to complete the daily writing assignments (that you will neither judge
nor “red pencil.”)
Make sure to give your sponsee a newsletter/meeting directory, a newcomer packet—if yourmeeting provides them—and a phone list. Ask him or her to get a new notebook and pen.
4. Three Weekly CEA‐HOW Meetings
Explain that attendance at three CEA‐HOW meetings a week is required. The meetings can beface‐to‐face, phone bridge, or a combination of the two. Refer him or her to this website(www.ceahow.org) for face‐to‐face and phone bridge meeting information.
Explain that even though yes, we’re all busy, attending three weekly meetings is non‐negotiable, and your sponsee will need to alter his or her schedule to accommodate thisrequirement. (You may need to remind him or her that just as we went to any lengths to eat
compulsively, we must also be willing to go to any lengths to recover from food addiction.)
If a sponsee has accessibility to face‐to‐face meetings but chooses to attend phone bridge
meetings, you may want to explore the issue of isolationism, which is frequently a large part ofour disease.
5. Outreach Calls and the Phone ListExplain to your sponsee that the program requires members to make three phone calls a day toother CEA‐HOW members. Talking to other CEA‐HOW members can be like a mini‐meetingand also help end isolation. On your sponsee’s phone list, check off the names of people youknow who have a good program to share and welcome outreach calls.
6. Establishing a Call Time
Set up a time for your new sponsee to call you every day. Explain that you’re holding this timeslot for him or her. Let him or her know that the phone call will generally last for about 15
minutes. Let sponsees know if they don’t call for three consecutive days without previous
arrangements, you may give this time slot to someone else.
Explain that daily phone calls are structured and that your sponsee is expected to do this:Commit a written‐down menu based on the CEA‐HOW first‐30‐days food plan.
Read the previous day’s writing assignment.
Receive a new reading/writing assignment from you.

(Note: During the call, you may also want to ask how your sponsee is doing with outreachcalls and meeting attendance.)
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7. Slips
Explain to your sponsee what a slip is. According to page three in the Sponsor Guidelines book,a slip is “anything that is not on the food plan, anything more than the food plan allows,
eating between meals or skipping a meal.”
It is important that you stick to this definition of a slip and not add your own interpretationssuch as “eating in the car” or “not making three phone calls.” Explain that the program isstructured this way as we are treating a food addiction and must be rigorously honest witheverything that goes in our mouths.
8. CEA‐HOW Meeting EtiquetteYou’ll need to go over CEA‐HOW meeting etiquette. Teach your sponsee what “crosstalk” andoutside issues are, to be considerate by being quiet and paying attention when members aresharing, and to always thank the speaker if the meeting has one.
9. Service.
Explain to your sponsee that service is the foundation of our program and that he or she willneed to get a service commitment at a meeting(s). Explain that service commitments help us to
get to meetings (especially when we’re tired or don’t feel like it), get out of ourselves, and giveback to the fellowship.
Although some service positions, such as secretary or treasurer, have abstinence requirements,
others do not. Let your sponsee know that he or she can be of service immediately by getting
to meetings early to help set up, staying late to clean up, or volunteering to be a greeter ortimer.
In Closing…
There’s a lot to learn about sponsoring in the CEA‐HOW program. This is one of the reasons
we call our own sponsors every day—we need to learn from somebody who is farther along
the path than we are.
Sponsoring is a skill like any other that gets easier with time. Like anything else, we catch on
bit by bit, step by step, and one day at a time. So remember our slogan that works for both
newcomers and sponsors alike: Easy Does It.
Articles are written by CEA-HOW members and the opinions expressed in them do not necessarily reflectCEA-HOW as a whole.

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