Meetings First-Meeting Gifts I went to my first OA meeting on a Saturday in March 1979. I was coming off a food binge of almost two years; it had started…
Traditions What We Have in Common Tradition Three: The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively. When I first came into OA, …
Atheists & Agnostics Reliance, Not Defiance When I came into Overeaters Anonymous almost twenty-one years ago, I came for a diet. I needed to lose a lot of weight and k…
Newcomers OA Means Life All my life I’d been the skinny kid. My brothers and sisters nicknamed me “Stick” because I was so thin. I could eat anythin…
Tools & Concepts Sustaining Actions Working my program by attending special-topic meetings that use the OA-HOW meeting format has taught me how to create an act…
Recovery Together We Get Better When I walked through the doors of my first OA meeting I was skeptical, anxious, and ashamed. I circled the room awkwardly, …
Atheists & Agnostics Living Instead My psychologist recommended I go an OA meeting, but it took three months before I actually set foot through the door. I told…
Newcomers To Newcomers, with Love OA has many sayings One says, “Welcome Home” Before you leave, we want you to know You don’t have to go it alone We’ve sat w…
Spirituality All I’ve Ever Wanted I have been maintaining an abstinent weight of 125 pounds (57 kg) since September 2015. My early life was what I’d call a pe…
Share It A Sense of Humor I just wanted to let you know that the “Dogust” 2017 issue and the theme “Let’s Share a Laugh” are great. I was looking for …
How OA Changed My Life Recovery True Freedom When a fellow OA member suggested I reflect on what true freedom looks like for me, I discovered I could probably write a book. Before OA, I truly felt I already had it in the form of a solid career, … Read More
Higher Power Spirituality Stepping-Stones, Nuggets, and Gems Spirituality is the solution to our problem of powerlessness, and we find this solution in the Twelve Step program of recovery. I’ve experienced three stepping-stones in this process: Amen, Amends, Am… Read More
The Road Narrows My twenty-ninth birthday in OA is approaching, and it is cause for renewed reflection about my program. I spoke to my sponsor a week ago and mentioned to her that I was thinking of not taking a candle this year. Other OA members on their birthdays pitch about life changes: weddings, kids, jobs, financial gain, or acquisition of cars. I … Read More
Share It: Powerful Shares, Joyful Reading, Pages and Prayers Powerful Shares I wanted to share how sad I am to hear about the discontinuation of Lifeline. It has literally been a lifeline to me. I am one of the ones who answered your 2018 subscription appeal, and I recently renewed my subscription and will cherish every last issue. Thank you for the articles about “The Joys of Retreats and … Read More
Recovery Beyond Measure In a few days, I will celebrate thirty-eight years of recovery in OA. Today my goal is health, sanity, and wellness, not a size 8. Physically, my body has been a normal size for many years. G-d has removed the compulsion for what I call “the hard stuff”—the stuff you see at the grocery checkout counter. I have reached a … Read More