How OA Changed My Life Recovery Lost Half, Gained Everything I am at a peculiar milestone. I now weigh 168 pounds (76 kg), and that reflects my 168-pound weight loss. It’s also been three years since I started my transformation. I joined OA in January 2013. The following September, I was sitting in my chair and purposefully eating myself to death. I felt done with life; I could no longer … Read More
Literature Tools & Concepts Truly a Gift My first sponsor was a temporary sponsor, and as a newcomer, I felt funny talking to a stranger about my issues with food. I didn’t want a sponsor, but he was there for me. I started emailing him my meal plan. I read articles from Lifeline magazine and then wrote to my temporary sponsor. I was obsessed with everything food, even … 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 First Meeting Back The seed of OA was planted in this compulsive person’s head in 2002 when I was 19 years old, but I was not yet ready to accept the fact that I was a compulsive overeater. Fast-forward to 2015: at 31 years old, I was at the end of my rope—I’d lost my will to fight for myself and was questioning … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity Sponsored Help I arrived in OA a raging bulimic, underweight, and with a self-image that suggested my body was larger than my home state. I was suicidal because I did not believe I could escape this madness of food-obsession and self-obsession. At the first meeting I attended in October 2000, I met an OA member who had what I wanted. She agreed to be … Read More
Atheists & Agnostics Feeling Supported Longtimers used to say, “Either you’ll get the God-thing, or you’ll put a gun in your mouth.” At a recent meeting, some men shared about having suicidal thoughts. I had been a part of that misanthropic club, so I may be a terminal case, but I’m not unique. The God-thing must be easier for religious folks. I can’t buy a … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Teddy Bear Self-Esteem My self-esteem was low when I first set foot in these rooms of recovery. I was addicted to feeling bad about myself. I set impossible standards and felt shame every time I fell short of my ideal. When I did an impressive job, I wondered why it wasn’t an excellent job. When I did an excellent job, I berated myself … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Acknowledging the Backstory Back in the twentieth century, it still felt okay to ridicule fat people. They seemed so cartoonish. Who could resist poking fun at them behind their backs? Today, I know that gossip is despicable. The obese are the last objects of scorn and prejudice, aren’t they? What did we ignorant people know of their inner lives? In a memoir I … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Trust and Enjoy At a meeting today, a member shared that another OA member with many problems had committed suicide. That share prompted others to share about the importance of working the program, doing what works, trusting that process, and walking in action, no matter how we feel. This week has been a challenge, but it’s amazing how God works in my life … Read More