How OA Changed My Life Recovery Clean Clothes, Balanced Life By admin Posted on January 1, 2018 3 min read 3 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Reddit Share on Pinterest Share on Linkedin Share on Tumblr OA has improved how I look, and not just with weight loss. I look better in my clothes now that they’re not covered in food and drink stains. When I was eating compulsively, I was reckless. I ate as much as I could as often as I could. I wasn’t careful or dainty, so I sure didn’t eat like a lady. I wasn’t concerned about other people or any conversation or whether the setting was special or mundane; I just ate. I was obsessed. My attention was entirely on the food, and the state of my clothes showed it. I had little awareness that my compulsive nature was reflected on the front of my clothing. I constantly spilled on myself, and the stains were almost like a road map to where and what I’d been eating that day. Today, this is mortifying. But the truth is I didn’t really care back then, because food was the most important thing on my mind. I didn’t take care of myself, and I didn’t care what I looked like or how I presented myself to others, so I didn’t take good care of my body or any care at all about what I wore. I was a full-time mom of four and had few fancy places to go in my life, but that wasn’t the whole story. When I was eating compulsively, I was not taking good care of any of my needs: emotional, spiritual, or physical. Today I have nice clothes, and I don’t ruin them by eating quickly and recklessly. I have a well-balanced life, grounded in my faith and my abstinence. With God’s help, one day at a time, I am committed to continuing to grow and learn how to meet my emotional, spiritual, and physical needs. I am constantly learning and changing. This is the great grace of my God. My abstinence can be witnessed in the cleanliness of my clothes and in so many other places too. Thank you, God, and thank you, OA! — Kris I., Puyallup, Washington USA