Abstinence is accepting powerlessness over food, relaxing and giving up the fight. Abstinence is accepting myself just as I am today, realizing that my worth does not hinge on the size of my body. Dieting is life-threatening. Abstinence is life-giving. Diets are something you start on Monday and go off Thursday.
Abstinence is an ongoing daily reprieve from the disease of compulsive overeating.
Dieting is placing all the emphasis on food, which must be controlled in order to solve the problem which is believed to be fat. Abstinence is knowing that fat is not the problem but only a symptom of an illness called compulsive overeating, and that the solution lies not in trying to control the food, but in practicing the twelve steps. Dieting is rigidly adhering to 700 calories a day because my boyfriend said he would marry me at 115 pounds. Abstinence is knowing that he should be so lucky to marry me at 315 pounds, and telling him so. Dieting is being obsessed with calories, carbohydrates and charts, always jumping on the scale to monitor my weight.