Thirty Days! I’ve reached my twenty-ninth day of abstinence. Tomorrow will be my weighing day and my highly anticipated thirtieth day. I’ve never gone thirty days without weighing myself, but the experience has been interesting! It really takes the focus off numeric results and has made me realize other subtleties of physical, emotional, and spiritual recovery. Thirty days ago, I wrote a … Read More
A Series of Miracles In 2011, I weighed 534 pounds (242 kg) and was unable to walk due to sepsis from an E. coli infection. When I was admitted to the hospital, my feet and legs were black from the blood pooling, my organs had shut down, and I smelled disgusting because my skin was weeping from the infection. I also had diabetes, high … Read More
Shining Miracles Before I’d ever heard of OA or its Principles and practices, my only desire was to lose weight. I was tired and bloated and felt ten years older than I was. God intervened and put the words “Maybe you could try Overeaters Anonymous?” upon the lips of a good friend. I went to a meeting and immediately felt at home. … Read More
Heard and Answered A month ago, I had a visit from my friend. We had been saying for a long time that we should pick a time for her to come visit my studio and see my artwork. Like so many wishful plans, it hadn’t happened sooner because we were both very busy. So when we saw each other at a party a … Read More
What OA Has Done for Me One of my trigger foods was sugar, and on January 4, 2016, I surrendered all recreational sugar to my HP. I have remained abstinent. My attitude has changed. I have written my Fourth Step three times and worked my way through the Twelve Steps three times. I have released almost 100 pounds (45 kg), and my three-legged stool is stable … Read More
Blessed with Willingness In 1993, I sneaked into my first OA meeting. My shame told me you were all just crazy fat people, even crazier and fatter than I was—what could you possibly do to help me? Twenty years later, my home group was reading “Rozanne’s Story” (Overeaters Anonymous, Third Edition, pp. 7–22), and it struck me that Rozanne was inspired to create our … Read More
Regular Reminders of Recovery I am a very grateful compulsive overeater with thirty-six years of abstinence. That is amazing to me, but not to my Higher Power, who asks me only to be abstinent one day at a time. The adding up of days and weeks and years is in the hands of my Higher Power. My job is to be abstinent today, and … Read More
Good Questions Here is a simple question that has helped me numerous times: how important is it? Asking myself this helps me reframe how I think about problems and situations and spurs me to ask myself these follow-up questions: Is it worth my sanity and my abstinence to keep obsessing over a problem? The answer is always “No, it is not.” Without spiritual, emotional, and physical recovery, I cannot maintain contact with my HP, who helps me live a … Read More
Whittling Down to Normal “I ate when I was anxious, fearful, lonely, or tired” (Voices of Recovery, p. 254). I can add more to that list: I ate when I was excited, happy, with people, or wide awake. Food gave me confidence and allowed me to act happy in deplorable situations. I was in a job I didn’t like and a sick marriage, and my social circles were narrowing. Life was … Read More
The Tiniest of Cracks A couple of months ago, I had an evening when I was feeling so much frustration, irritation, resentment, and disconnection from myself and those around me. I texted my sponsor and said, “I don’t know how to allow a Higher Power to help me. I just have too much resistance. I know that the Power of love in the world exists and could help, but I feel too resistant … Read More