Working It I have been in the rooms of OA for over eight years. The feeling of being recovered eluded me until recently—but now, through fearlessly and fully working the Twelve Steps, I have finally found the joys and promises of Overeaters Anonymous. Just like many others who share this addiction, I am a true people pleaser and always want to be … Read More
The Brave Person in the Mirror After being a full-time mom to four children, I find myself at a new stage in life; I am now able to travel with my husband when he travels for work. It is wonderful, yet at every hotel or motel, every resort or lodge, big or small, fancy or casual, I consistently find myself confronted with one kind of furnishing: … Read More
Unwrapping For me, being a compulsive overeater is a gift. It came wrapped in ugly, grimy paper, but it’s still a gift. The ugly paper represents how my illness treated me: It made me eat so much I got really fat, made it so that even if did lose weight I gained it back, and it made a glutton of me. … Read More
Every Minute, Every Situation The key threads woven into and through my soul and my program of recovery are hope and gratitude. The hope I felt at my first OA meeting was probably what kept me coming back, even though I wasn’t sure for what, besides weight loss, and even though my insides were twisted with pain, anger, and resentment. (I didn’t even know … Read More
I’ve Learned In OA, I’ve learned I don’t have all the answers. I can depend on God. I’ve learned food will never meet any need other than the physical maintenance of my body. I’ve learned how to be vulnerable with others, and how to just sit with pain, allowing myself to feel it. When I permit myself to experience pain, it doesn’t … Read More
Simple, Powerful Acts Since arriving in the OA rooms, I have a new understanding of forgiving myself and others. OA does not say I must be good or walk on my knees repenting. OA says: Make a list, go to meetings, share my despair and hear the despair of others, and listen to the solutions that each of us apply, one day at a … Read More
Better Now I have changed my focus: I used to say to myself, when I was about to overeat, “This will add half a pound (.2 kg) to my weight.” That consequence was not effective in stopping me from overeating. It seemed too distant, too much like “I will deal with that later.” I’ve now identified something that is affected the moment … Read More
The Antidote “Well?! Are you?” asked a raspy, aggressive voice. Even though the woman stood about two feet shorter than me, I took a step back. I’d been walking the aisles of the grocery store and it took a few seconds to register what she wanted to know. My shirt had the word “fearless” in block letters across the chest. I hadn’t … Read More
One Small Part Learning to take small actions toward completing projects has been the greatest, most functional difference in my life since I came into this Twelve Step program. Before, any big chunks I had to do went undone, or only got partially done, and were followed by self-deprecation because I could not see the end. Plus, my job was overwhelming. This was a … Read More
Negative Space The biggest negative I have to overcome lives between my ears. It isn’t an outside circumstance or even an emotion. It is my own focus on the negative. I learned this type of negative thinking at a young age. Complaining was habitual and commonplace in my family of origin—so much so that I didn’t realize how much I did it … Read More