Food Addiction – Renew. Refresh. Recover.

December 2025 Edition

“Peace is found in presence, not perfection.”

A Note From Your Editor

December can be beautiful. It can also be loud, emotional, rushed, and full of expectations that pull us in twenty directions at once. For many of us in recovery, this month brings both joy and vulnerability. The pace quickens, gatherings increase, memories surface, and old patterns try to whisper their way back in.

This month’s theme is Staying Grounded Through the Holidays. Grounding is not about perfection. It is not about controlling our surroundings or being endlessly calm. It is about coming back to center. It is about pausing before reacting. It is about reaching out instead of isolating. It is about remembering that connection and surrender are powerful anchors when emotions rise.

You are not meant to navigate this season alone. You are part of a fellowship that understands the inner work of recovery and the quiet strength it takes to live one day at a time. Let this month be an invitation to practice presence, protect your peace, and deepen your connection to God and to each other.

Recovery Radar – Staying Grounded When the Season Gets Loud

The holidays often amplify everything. Joy feels brighter, stress feels heavier, and emotions can swing faster than we expect. Recovery teaches us to move slowly and gently, especially when life speeds up.

Grounding during the holidays is a spiritual and emotional practice. It looks like:

• Pausing before responding
• Making space for quiet when the world feels busy
• Staying honest with ourselves and others
• Keeping contact with recovery friends
• Allowing God to guide instead of trying to control everything
• Recognizing feelings without being led by them
• Creating boundaries that protect peace.

Staying grounded does not mean staying calm all the time. It means returning to center again and again, even if we wander.

Healing Highlights Through The 12 Steps

The holidays tend to expose our old patterns and emotional triggers. That is why this month points us back to the Steps, especially the ones that keep us spiritually aligned.

Step One reminds us that we are powerless, not hopeless.
Step Two invites us to trust that sanity can be restored even when the world feels chaotic.
Step Three teaches us to hand control back to God.
Step Ten helps us pause, reflect, and make things right quickly so we can stay steady.
Step Eleven grounds us in prayer, meditation, and conscious contact.

Affirmation:

“Peace is available to me in every moment. I can pause, breathe, and choose presence.”

Member Spotlight: Monthly Mirror Reflection

Grounded in Surrender and Connection

When the holidays get busy and my emotions start to rise, I always go back to the basics that saved me in 2012. Back then, I came into recovery as a blank slate. I truly had no idea what recovery even meant. I was desperate enough to ask for help, and that desperation became the doorway to my healing. My foundation was simple. I had to accept where I was, stay willing, and connect with people who could guide me when I had no idea how to guide myself.

Emotional steadiness did not happen overnight. Recovery made me grow up on the inside. I had to learn how to pause instead of react. I had to learn to listen instead of defend. I had to talk things through instead of shutting down or pretending I was fine. The community around me gave me a place to practice humility, compassion, and honesty. When I fell, people helped me back up. When I felt alone, someone would call at just the right moment and remind me that I belonged. Connection slowly turned my isolation into inclusiveness and my fear into trust.

My very first holiday season in recovery was extremely vulnerable. My sponsor suggested I spend only a short time with my family and then go home to rest and read when the emotional weight became too much. That boundary was painful. It felt like a loss, and I grieved it. But it kept me centered when I did not yet know how to center myself.

Over the years, people have continued to show up for me in very practical ways. When I had no car, someone picked me up for meetings. When discouragement hit me hard, a recovery friend called out of the blue. When my health problems became overwhelming, a sponsor noticed what others had missed and guided me toward chronic pain support where I finally felt seen, understood, and spiritually grounded.

Today, staying grounded during the holidays looks a lot like those early days. I ask for help sooner. I limit stress where I can. I stay close to God and close to people. I rest often and protect quiet moments. I talk through my emotions instead of carrying them silently. I practice compassion toward myself and others. These simple things are what keep me steady when the season gets loud.

Imperfectly in fellowship,
Alex – a fellow food addict

Freedom in Action: Tools for Real Recovery

Holiday Grounding Worksheet includes:

• Daily grounding check in
• Surrender prompts
• Connection reminders
• Spiritual reflection guide

Holiday Grounding Worksheet.docx

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