Roger's Recovery Story

I have so much to be grateful for! As of this writing, I have 1,205 days of abstinence from sugar and white flour. I have released 150 pounds and my life no longer revolves around food. Prior to going to COR, I was literally a chocolate mess! I grew up in an alcoholic family, and my dad died of cirrhosis of the liver at 52 years of age. Addiction came very easily. It was really all I knew. I started drinking and partying with my brother and his friends at age 12. My mother was a great cook and she baked sweets every day, so my addiction to food started at an early age too. Life at home was filled with chaos. Our family was involved at church, but no one knew how dysfunctional our family was. My life was a party from 15-40 years of age. I always thought of myself as a functioning alcoholic, but I was just getting by at times. At age 42, I quit drinking alcohol, but quickly substituted sugar. From that time, my weight was out of control…gaining 100 pounds, losing 100 pounds, and gaining again. I tried every diet there was…some would work for a while, but sugar always won out. I also tried weight loss medications and had gastric bypass surgery in 2014. None of these things really worked, because I have an addiction to sugar. I am a compulsive overeater.

In 2006, I met my future wife, Donna. She introduced me to Overeaters Anonymous. I tried to play along, but I wasn't willing to do the work and I didn't want to do step work. Life went along, and the disease was getting the best of me. Donna was watching me kill myself with food. I was experiencing body pain and inflammation to the point of having difficulty with walking, I was having mood swings and fits of anger, and all I thought about was food. I frequented drive thru's, indulged in frappuccino's, and couldn't get enough pastries. This went on for years.

In 2019, Donna suggested COR Retreat and I said "YES." I attended COR 91 in January of 2019. I knew I had come to the right place and I found hope. The retreat went well and I left feeling the willingness to keep going, but it fizzled early on. My attempts at finding a sponsor were unsuccessful and I didn't keep trying. Soon I relapsed. In my heart, I knew COR was my only hope. I returned to COR 110 in October of 2020. I detoxed again, and got back into the program. This was a reset. I was told I needed a sponsor before leaving the retreat, and I made the call as they suggested. I still have the same sponsor, and I am still working the program one day at a time. I work with a nutritionist, and she helps fine tune my food plan as needed. Daily I write out my food plan and send it to my sponsor, and read my daily meditation. I attend a weekly OA meeting and do service there. I also participate in the Sunday night COR meeting each week. I know that the COR program works as long as I don't mess with my food plan. I appreciate that I no longer struggle with food cravings and I am not living with body aches and pains. My life no longer revolves around food—I am free from the bondage of food!

I know that God is doing for me what I could not do for myself. It is the spiritual part of the program that makes this work. My Higher Power got me to COR, gave me the willingness to work the program, and keeps me going one day at a time.

I am so grateful…

My morning prayer each day is THANK:

T - Thank you for the gift of another day.
H - Help me do your will. 
A - Help me to be abstinent today. Help me to be aware of the beautiful human Spirits, and handiwork, that you put in my path.
N -  Help me to be non-judgmental.
K -  Help me to be kind wherever there is an opportunity.

AMEN.

About COR Retreat
COR Retreat is a residential retreat program that teaches a way to live free from the obsession with food through a 12 step program. COR Retreats are 5-day programs, scheduled each month at the McIver Center in Wayzata, MN.

Learn more about the COR Retreat Experience, and register online to attend an upcoming retreat.