Working It Hi. My name is Laurie and I’m an overeater. I’ve found I can handle life on life’s terms much better when I work with the Tools in my program of recovery I use the Serenity Prayer too. At the beginning of my recovery, my biggest challenge was my job because I was required to work near fresh-baked treats, sugary sweets, … Read More
Asked and Answered Seven and a half years ago, I was lying in bed with my abdomen pressing down on my diaphragm and a CPAP mask over my face, and I prayed, “God, see me through to morning, and I promise I’ll go on another diet.” Yet when morning came, I couldn’t diet past breakfast. I had hit bottom. I tell this story … Read More
Choosing Well I read an article in Lifeline about a person who had a problem she couldn’t fix, so she wrote an article for our magazine, and it stopped her from eating compulsively. I decided to do the same. I have been a member of OA for almost seventeen years and abstinent for sixteen of them, using the same manageable food plan. … Read More
Run to God Life’s problems and recovery—I love putting these two concepts together because it means I can let go of problems instead of wrapping my life around them and getting stuck. Recovery is about taking the action needed to experience serenity. Recovery gets me unstuck! I find such freedom in the program, such peace—and then, yikes! A problem hits me in the … Read More
Pain Management I was given gifts today, the gifts of patience and acceptance. About a week ago, I threw out my back playing volleyball at a picnic. It was painful, so I took some precautionary measures regarding my recovery, and I made careful choices so I did not overeat. After my meal, I committed to my husband that I would not eat … Read More
Direct Connection Having an eating disorder is a beautiful thing. It allows me to cherish and love every moment that I experience clarity, despite whatever situation I am in. It gives me a unique and miraculous opportunity to have a direct connection with God. When the desire insidiously reappears, either to abuse food or to take the control of my body size … Read More
Willing Release In the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous it says, “No man, we saw, could believe in God and defy Him, too. Belief meant reliance, not defiance” (p. 31). This is interesting because it clarifies the difference between understanding the concept of a higher power, and actually believing in a higher power. To truly believe is to accept … Read More
Self-less Recovery I’ve been in and around OA for twenty-four years. In my mid-twenties, I weighed about 250 pounds (113 kg). When I was 30, I weighed 173 pounds (78 kg). My denial weight in OA was 225 pounds (102 kg), and seven years ago, I weighed 185 pounds (84 kg). I’m 70 years old now, and in the last two years, … Read More
Facing Temptation I am a compulsive overeater recovering a day at a time in OA, down 86 pounds (39 kg) and abstinent for almost ten years by the grace of God and this amazing Fellowship. I have been meaning to share my experience, strength, and hope in the area of sex relations for a while. Last spring and summer, I faced a … Read More
Mirror Image “The main problem . . . centers in his mind, rather than in his body” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 23). Ever since I can remember, I looked in the mirror and honed in on the flaws of my body: the soft protruding belly of adolescence, the irregular dimples on my left buttock, the way my inner thighs jiggled when I … Read More