Steps Surrendering Dreams If this were a highly complicated program requiring complex levels of thought and planning, I would have nailed it long ago.…
Newcomers Attitude Adjustment During one of my regular OA meetings, something triggered an uncomfortable, awkward feeling that I couldn’t explain. As I ma…
Newcomers The Best Thing I have always had an obsession with food. As a child, I was obese. Half an hour after I finished a meal, I would announce I …
Traditions Free Meetings After being in OA for a while, I see it’s really the Traditions that keep our program running and solid. Tradition Four indi…
Higher Power Closer When I Speak At my first Overeaters Anonymous meeting, I was scared, embarrassed, and nervous, and I felt very alone. Those same emotions…
Working the Program The Changes in Me I first came to OA in August 2015; I was bingeing most days and abusing laxatives. I weighed a hefty 246 pounds (112 kg), ab…
Newcomers So Rewarding Newcomers help me remember the desperation that got me into OA. Newcomers remind me how powerful this disease is and how pow…
Recovery Around the World Part of the Mosaic We all belong! We all belong! We are like pieces of a puzzle individually coming together to form one picture, not because o…
Steps The Navigator I am a newcomer to OA. I’d reached my bottom weighing approximately 350 pounds (159 kg), and I started coming to meetings th…
Higher Power The Still, Small Voice There is a voice that lives within me. It is calm and soothing and always steers me to the right course, even when my will w…
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