Tools & Concepts Working Wonderfully I have been in OA now for over twenty-eight years, and I have come a long way. When I first came into the program, my food plan consisted of eating very little—I was a starve-and-binger. At the meetings I attended back in those days, there was no clear process for how to pick a food plan. I had a sponsor … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity Different Bodies, Similar Reasoning Look for the similarities, not the differences.” How grateful I am to have gotten that message straightaway when I walked in the doors of OA. It was out of desperation that I had to do this, because the only alternative was going to be death. I came to OA looking different than most, weighing in at 42–47 kilograms (93–99 lbs), … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Most of All, Hope I grew up as an only child with alcoholic overeaters for parents. For the first seventeen years of my life, I dealt with two drunken “rageaholics” acting crazy. I never knew what would happen. I walked around in sheer panic and terror, afraid my parents would divorce, afraid Mom would drink herself to death, afraid Dad would kill someone on … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity The Doctors on the Road to Recovery Two doctors gave me tough love at crucial times in my recovery, for which I am now grateful, though I wasn’t at the time. Shortly after I joined OA in 1990, my new friends suggested I see my general practitioner about my recurring stomach upsets. This doctor told me bluntly that the upsets were due to my anorexia, specifically from … Read More
Relapse Relapse & Recovery Back from Relapse I am a grateful, recovering anorexic, exercise bulimic, and food addict. I have four wonderful years of abstinence. I came to OA in 1996, and by 2002 I thought I had graduated. I stopped going to meetings, making my calls, and writing down my food. I suffered through two years of relapse—starving my body, mind, and spirit—and came back in 2004. … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity Lucky One OA saved my life—or maybe I should say OA is saving my life, one miraculous day at a time. I will celebrate my 21st birthday in May. This is a birthday I never thought I’d see, because I’d pushed the self-destruct button for most of my teenage years. A family member introduced me to the OA meetings and Fellowship when … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity Keep Coming, or Just Stay I am a compulsive eater, bulimic, and anorexic, and I have found a home in OA. I came through the doors in April 2001 at age 19, weighing 90 pounds (41 kg) at 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm). I didn’t come to OA because of my low body weight; I came because I could not stop bingeing. My head … Read More
Relapse & Recovery Out of My Closet I have been in the rooms of OA for five years. I have been relieved of 91 pounds (41 kg). I have been in and out of relapse and have heard many stories of fellows who suffered terribly in this disease. I did not understand the phrase “we use food to stuff emotions we do not want to feel” until … Read More
How OA Changed My Life OA Found Me Prior to entering Overeaters Anonymous in September 2004, I was a 25-year-old woman who could not break free of the binge and starve merry-go-round. My troubled relationship with food began at an early age. During my early teens, my food restriction was progressive. I was already fearful of my capacity for eating enormous amounts of food. This culminated in a … Read More