Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Reddit Share on Pinterest Share on Linkedin Share on Tumblr Editors note: Below are two world service contributions from OA members in support of our Strategic Plan. My name is Denise, and I am a compulsive overeater. I am a 62-year old straight black woman, wife, mother, and grandmother. OA found me in 1988. I was in program then for eight years. I lost 120 pounds (54 kg) and thought I could do it on my own, so I was out of program for five years and regained 60 pounds (27 kg). I came back to stay fifteen years ago. My weight has been up and down, but I’m grateful it’s gone nowhere near my top weight of 280 pounds (127 kg). I came from an alcoholic household. I thought I was better than everyone else because I never picked up drugs. But I stuffed my feelings. I didn’t know how to articulate my feelings or what I needed. I binged almost every night. I tried to control the weight through exercise bulimia and restricting. It never worked. I was hitting bottom. I was spending all my money on food. I was ready to die. I wanted to cut my arm to feel physical pain rather than the emotional pain that food would no longer fix. I called the number for a meeting and asked what to bring. The woman said I was giving myself the greatest gift I could ever give and I didn’t have to bring anything but me. I live my life in recovery. I practice these principles in all my affairs. I serve my Fellowship. I sponsor others looking to find a solution to a hopeless state of mind and body. My life is filtered through the Twelve Steps. I have been through the loss of relationships and family members in this program. I have learned to move through resentments and heartache and not use food. I am so grateful. My name is Matt, and I am a compulsive overeater. I am a straight white man who came to recovery at age 21. I am down 160 pounds (73 kg) from my top weight. I have ten years of abstinence. I grew up in an alcoholic household. My parents divorced when I was young. That hurt me a lot. I experimented with drugs; I drank; I did lots of things that could kill me. I marvel that I didn’t end up in the hospital, in jail, or dead. I had tons of partners—live-ins, one-nighters, and spouses. I was searching for something, and I didn’t know what it was. My eating didn’t catch up with me until my late 20s. My weight ballooned. There came a point when I was alone and miserable. I had a twelve-year period when it was just me and the food—no one to witness my bingeing. Boom, there I was, nearly 300 pounds (136 kg). For years, I carried around the number for OA. I didn’t call, but I’d look at it from time to time. Of course, I tried all the diets, but I could never make it a whole day. I bought larger and larger clothes to try to cover myself up. I only looked at myself in the mirror from the neck up. Denial. Today, I’m living in a body I love and care for. I have fantastic support in my OA family. They have loved me through life’s ups and downs. They’ve shown me how to love myself, and my heart has opened to love everyone. They’ve shown me to live life on life’s terms. I try to pass on what I’ve learned to sponsees, newcomers, fellows, and even folks outside program. I don’t say it’s program stuff; I just share my experience, strength, and hope. I do service, and it feels good. I know this is a gift of the program. I have deep faith in a Higher Power, another huge gift. With the Tools and Steps and a Higher Power, there is nothing I can’t face.
