Tools & Concepts Baby Steps Up the Mountain Recently I learned I needed to change my plan of eating for my health. Okay, how do I do that? Power through, right?! If I could control my eating I would never have come into Overeaters Anonymous almost thirty years ago. Before that, I tried: I tried every diet in every magazine. Every night, I planned to start this or … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Recovery Routine I work my program every day by doing a morning routine. First, I say the first three Steps. Then I say program prayers: the Serenity Prayer, the Third Step prayer, the Seventh Step prayer, and a shortened version of the Eleventh Step prayer. Then I say a prayer from my religious tradition for me and everyone I’m having trouble with, … Read More
Relapse & Recovery All-In Abstinence Planning Lately, I have been comparing my OA journey to someone else who has decades of abstinence. I know through working the Steps that comparing myself to others is one of my shortcomings. I did not get abstinent at my first meeting, nor can I say, “I have not relapsed.” I want my story to be different, but I can’t change … Read More
Working the Program Safe Deposit Restaurant meals can be unmanageable even when I order abstinent food. Portions are huge, with side dishes often comprised of multiple carbohydrates. Good self-care requires that I ask for substitutions, so I do. And I always ask servers to bring a take-home box to me along with the food I order. I often have to restate this request again when … Read More
Share It Outside Issues A concern arose as I was reading the April 2017 issue. The article in “What Works for Me” and the “Send Us Your Stories!” box imply that OA is a place to set forward personal likes or dislikes as advice or suggestions. They also imply that exercising, taking baths, and having pets are promoted by OA. They may be good ideas … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Better Now I have changed my focus: I used to say to myself, when I was about to overeat, “This will add half a pound (.2 kg) to my weight.” That consequence was not effective in stopping me from overeating. It seemed too distant, too much like “I will deal with that later.” I’ve now identified something that is affected the moment … Read More
Working the Program Can Do At my first OA meetings, I recognized myself in the shares of others. Defensiveness, excuses, blaming, rationalizing, self-loathing, failure—all those alcoholic thoughts and actions described in the Big Book—all were familiar to me around food. I’d eaten volumes and screwed up dieting every day for years. Every night was one last huge supper and a swearing off, but by breakfast … Read More
Working the Program Caring is the Key I have developed a repertoire of activities I can engage in instead of eating compulsively. My overeating often stemmed from a misguided attempt at self-care; I thought I could make myself feel better by eating. Therefore, my efforts to avoid overeating revolve around taking better physical, emotional, and spiritual care of myself: I write about what I am feeling and … Read More
Service Once I’ve Started I have been in program for twenty-seven years. When it comes to using a food plan, I used to have rules for what to eat, what not to eat, how much to eat, when to pray, and more. But I’ve found that the more I complicate my food plan, the more loopholes appear for my disease to discover and exploit. … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Orderly Direction I couldn’t believe it. I found myself bottomed out with a binge eating disorder. Calling it BED for short is appropriate, since I often took food to bed with me. I was a binge-eater, a grazer, and a midnight muncher. I ate mindlessly, grazing; my meals had fuzzy beginnings and no clear end. It was my not-so-little secret that I … Read More