Service Matters - December 2023

GSA Podcast Retrospective

Season’s Greetings to Everyone,

During the holiday, the conversation around weigh loss is often dominated by fad diets & quick fixes. But amidst this sea of fleeting promises, the GreySheet Podcast stands as a beacon of sustainable change. Launched two and a half years ago, the podcast has guided countless individuals toward a healthier, happier relationship with food, their bodies, and spirituality.

At the heart of the GreySheet philosophy lies a simple yet profound concept: consistency, where we weigh and measure our food without exception. On each episode, we reflect on a particular topic sharing experiences, strengths, and hopes. The podcast's hosts, Carla from Utah, Eileen from Taos, New Mexico, Miguel from Madrid, Spain, and Joey from Long Island, New York, provide a supportive and encouraging environment, offering practical tips and unwavering accountability.

Let’s get a glimpse of what four GreySheeters learned from the collaboration.

The Podcast Committee is a labor of love, the product of a few of us GreySheeters and the guests we invite, also GreySheeters, having a conversation about GreySheet topics. With these episodes, we hope to offer another way to introduce compulsive eaters to GS abstinence, as well as to discuss together different topics of interest to recovering people with this disease. We meet once or twice a month to come up with topics and guests who represent the broad range of our fellowship worldwide. We would love to have people write to us and suggest new topics to tackle and explore.

Working on the podcast with the team has been an incredibly enriching experience, fostering creativity and collaboration that have made each episode a joy to produce and that has enriched my personal recovery. I am optimistic that our efforts will positively impact food addicts worldwide, providing them valuable insights, support, and a sense of community on their journey to recovery.

The podcast embodies the spirit of GreySheet. My journey with GreySheet has been one of ups and downs, but I became stronger and more committed to helping others. The passion and dedication of the guest speaker/s and the group are contagious, inspiring listeners to embrace their journeys with self-compassion and determination. The GreySheet Podcast is more than just a weight loss program; it's a movement for sustainable change. It's a testament to the power of community, consistency, and support. As we often say, “GreySheet is not a diet; it's a new way of life.”

The GreySheet food plan is not a temporary fix; it's a lifestyle shift. We learn to weigh and measure our food without exception and lear how to live life on life’s terms. The plan centers on three meals a day, eliminating the need for unhealthy snacks and mindless grazing. GreySheet's success lies in its emphasis on community and support. Regular meetings provide a platform to share our experiences, celebrate triumphs, and overcome challenges. The podcast serves as a virtual meeting place, where listeners can connect with fellow GreySheeters and draw inspiration from their stories.

If you want to hear more about the GreySheet Podcast, email us at Podcast@GreySheet.org.

Board of Trustees Column

World Service Conference 2023 Review

Our 8^th annual meeting of the World Service Conference went off without a hitch on Sunday October 22^nd thanks to the hard work of many dedicated trusted servants. For the first time, we offered Spanish and Hebrew simultaneous interpretation.

61 delegates registered for the meeting, representing the board, nine of our ten intergroups, and 33 of our 145 groups. 55 delegates participated in debating and voting on 11 new resolutions, three amendments, three new board trustees, and other annual business. All proposals passed with at least a two thirds majority (substantial unanimity) so now our challenge will be to implement them!

Some of the new resolutions were significant changes: we created two new intergroups — La Comunidad Hispana for Spanish speaking groups and Southern Central to serve the Midwest US as well as the Southern US. We adopted job descriptions for Intergroup Service Representatives, board trustees and board liaisons to intergroups and committees, and we approved the board publishing guidance to groups on accepting donated meeting facilities like rooms, zoom accounts, and phone conference lines. We adopted the use of the new GSA Preamble using the word, “people” instead of “men and women” at the World Service level.

Other adopted resolutions include Rules of Order for World Service Conference committee meetings, policies for video and audio recordings of World Service meetings, and policies on procuring goods and services and avoiding conflicts of interest.

You can see the Summary of Votes and the Minutes of the meeting in Spanish and English!

GSA World Services is more and more an established organization with clear expectations for how we work together to safeguard the donations of our members and to carry the message to the next compulsive eater. After all, our vision for World Service, “Whenever anyone, anywhere realizes they have a problem with food, they think of the GreySheet solution,” is quite an ambitious goal. We need to be standing on solid ground as we strive to achieve it.

I am always amazed at the multitude of ways GreySheeters Anonymous members first heard about our solution — we are the best-kept solution in food addiction recovery! One day we won’t have to marvel at how someone found GreySheet because everyone will have heard of us. GreySheet will then be an option for anyone suffering as we suffered. The GreySheet miracle will be available to all who want it.

If you are interested in hearing more about how we will be implementing these resolutions, come to Committees Connecting every month from December to April to hear from your board and committees — and offer your suggestions.

Together we DENMW!