Mike Huckabee’s “12-Stop” Program

“Never eat more than you can lift,” Miss Piggy once declaimed on the subject of dieting.
Too simple? Sure. Still, when you’re talking about addictions–food, drugs, smoking, sex, gambling, whatever–it’s probably best to keep everything simple.
Referring to alcoholics, Joe McQuany, Little Rock’s internationally known authority on the twelve-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, calls it “a simple program for complicated people.”
Makes sense. And simplicity is what former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee advocated in his book, “Quit Digging your Grave with a Knife and Fork” which was published a decade ago before he got really famous.
His credentials, which are impressive, include serving as Arkansas’s governor for 11 years, chairing the National Governor’s Association and emceeing his own TV show featuring his band, “Capitol Offense.”
Republican candidate
In recent years he has become much more involved in national Republican politics. He has been a candidate for President of the United States twice and is a strong supporter of candidate Donald Trump.
He is an ordained Baptist minister, his favorite book is the Bible, and his favorite quotation is “Come, let us reason together.”
His diet program, which he dubbed “A 12-Stop program (yes, I said, “stop”) to end bad habits and begin a healthy lifestyle”, is the soul of simplicity–fewer calories in and more calories out. What he provides are the details.
I went to one of his book signings at Barnes & Noble when it was introduced, and while he may have had a couple of “slips” since then, he’s looking fit these days.
Huckabee is an ordained minister and a darned good preacher. I’ve heard him several times at Fellowship Bible Church. He delivers a solid message with wisdom and good humor.
A bad spill
But to return to the matter of food addiction, a couple of things brought the Governor to the point of taking action. One was that he took a humiliating spill when his chair collapsed under his weight at a Governor’s cabinet meeting.
The other was a statement by his physician, Dr. Charles Barg, that if he didn’t change immediately, he was about to enter “the last decade of his life.”
What we’re talking about in this book, Huckabee says, is fundamental “change” not another diet–a change to better nutrition and fitness.
Entertainer, Totie Fields, makes the point about diets nicely. She once said, “I’ve been on a diet for two weeks, and all I’ve lost is two weeks.”
“My experience is that before we can start healthy habits,” Huckabee continues, “we have to first break the old ones. And that’s the hardest part of the battle, and the one this book is all about.”
There are things, he says, we have to “stop” doing that enslave us and destroy our health and self esteem, and he has condensed them into the “12 stops.”
“Foodaholics”
“I wrote this book for people like me who want to be ‘recovering foodaholics,’” Huckabee says, and his first stop calls for an end to procrastination. Once you have identified the problem of obesity and lack of fitness, get on with it, Huckabee says, even if you take small steps in the beginning.
He was able to overcome some of the cultural factors that promote gluttony in the Deep South but not all of them.
“In addition to being southern, I’m also a Baptist which means that while we ‘officially’ do not drink alcohol or use tobacco, we are free to eat every kind of food imaginable as long as we fry it and consume it in large portions.
“When I was a kid in school a teacher asked my class to have show-and-tell with the theme being religion. Children were encouraged to bring a symbol of their faith and explain it to their class.
“The following day, a Catholic girl brought a crucifix, a little Jewish boy brought a menorah, and I brought a casserole in a covered dish.”
Huckabee’s book also includes a “12 Stops of Food Choices” which is helpful in identifying what a healthy diet and healthy eating habits are for those who may not have been paying attention over the years.
Huckabee, not wanting to appear “preachy” does not discuss “the faith factor” in his recovery until the final page and a half in the book.
Creator, God, Father
About God he said, “A sense of His perpetual presence was tremendous encouragement and provided genuine strength when I needed it most… as well as satisfaction knowing that not only was I improving my behavior, but I was actually bringing pleasure to my Creator, God, Father.”
There is ample support for these views. AA, which produced the mother of all 12 Step programs including multiple references to God, says in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, “…there is one who has all power–that one is God. May you find him now.”
Huckabee’s book has unquestionably changed some lives and is, on that basis alone, a welcome addition to the body of literature on recovery. But it is also good fun. Anyone who has heard him preach and seen him on television would expect that.
“Witty, wise and truly empowering,” was the way Dr. David Katz at Yale put it. “Nothing less than a personal invitation from the governor of Arkansas to learn from his amazing experience and change your life for the better.”
What Huckabee is offering, thankfully, is not a bitter pill to swallow but the chance for a new life.