Meetings Tools & Concepts Intentionally Strong We can be intentional about strengthening our OA meetings. At your next group conscience meeting, try these conversation starters: What is a “strong meeting” for you? If someone told you their meeting was struggling, what specific suggestions would you offer? What actions might you be willing to take to help a struggling meeting or strengthen a meeting you attend? OA has … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Attractive Basics The first OA meeting I attended had all the elements of a strong meeting, and it still does seventeen years later. I continue to attend the Saturday morning Back to Basics meeting in Oakland, California, with about forty other compulsive eaters. We study one Step and its corresponding Tradition for an entire month, and each week, we read from OA-approved … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Multifaceted Meeting I love my Saturday Abington meeting because it is so strong. The following qualities all contribute to its strength: The meeting only uses OA-approved literature and material downloaded from the oa.org website. Newcomers and returning members are acknowledged and given a Serenity Prayer coin and newcomer literature or a Welcome Back, We Care! packet. Greeters make a point of talking … Read More
Diversity Newcomers It’s All Worth It I came into OA at 18 years old. I’ve been in program for two years, so I’m 20 now. Let me tell you, in the beginning, it wasn’t so easy to gain abstinence and honesty. Even though I’d never really struggled with a lot of weight gain, nobody really knew how much I struggled with food because I looked like … Read More
Gratitude Recovery Lessons Learned I just celebrated my sixth OA birthday and took time to reflect upon what I have learned. I am sending this to Lifeline per my sponsor’s direction. My recovery has taught me: I am a woman in recovery. I am no longer a victim. There are no mistakes. Everyone I meet is here to show me something if I am … Read More
Diversity Breakup Note Overeating, you were in control of my life for a while. You ruined my life, took away my friends, isolated me, made me sick, knocked me down, destroyed me . . . and I let you. I didn’t fight back. I welcomed you every chance I got and let you hurt me, and I actually enjoyed it for years—until the day I … Read More
Higher Power Quit Claim One program slogan is particularly special to me because it saved my life: “Don’t quit before the miracle happens.” Back in the early 1990s I decided to give OA a chance. I was so sick of therapy, diets, and self-help books; I felt I had nothing left inside to keep me living—but this phrase stuck. When I thought I had … Read More
Ask-It Basket Ask-It Basket Q: Since sponsors are one of the strengths of our program, why is there not a Sponsor Appreciation Day? A: Sponsors give endlessly and deserve their own day of thanks. I agree with you that sponsors are one of the strengths of this program. I can’t work the program without one, and I am very grateful for my sponsor. The … Read More
Abstinence Half a World Away When I lived in Lithuania, which had no OA groups at the time, staying connected to my OA group in Montana helped me maintain my program and continue to lose weight. My OA group in Montana is small, and the members live in different communities. We have limited access to sponsors, so we use group emails to help us maintain … Read More