Steps Take as Needed In our readings and in many other ways we are told, “Once we compulsive overeaters truly take the Third Step, we cannot fail to recover” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, p. 27). That’s quite a promise. When I was a newcomer, and again during my horrible three-year relapse, when I gained 60 pounds (27 kg) and … Read More
Steps Surrendering Dreams If this were a highly complicated program requiring complex levels of thought and planning, I would have nailed it long ago. But a simple program of recovery? Nope, that’s baffling! As wise fellows have said, “You can’t be too dumb for this program, but you can be too smart!” I have this vision of me versus God. I’m on my … Read More
Newcomers The Best Thing I have always had an obsession with food. As a child, I was obese. Half an hour after I finished a meal, I would announce I was hungry again. My family didn’t think this was possible. As a teenager, I was never seen without a soda and a sweet. They were my icons. I tried every weight-loss program invented. I … Read More
Relapse Slipping & Sliding Newly Willing I joined OA in January 2016. Though I consistently attended meetings, I could not get more than four months of continuous abstinence. Program has been a miracle—I remember a time when I couldn’t go more than twenty-four hours without bingeing, restricting, or over-exercising—but I still found myself frustrated. Slips began with compulsive habits creeping back: taking little nibbles of food … Read More
Working the Program Show Me the Ropes The recovery Tools I have learned in OA have recently enabled me to overcome one of my greatest fears. I had always been terrified of heights, so when I heard that my coworkers and I would participate in a ropes course as part of our staff training—climbing sixty feet up in the air and balancing on ropes and small pieces … Read More
Working the Program Change When Needed I thought I had the OA program down. I knew what I needed to do. I had a plan of eating, and I worked my program. Everything was going great—or so I thought. After years of being abstinent and following my food plan, things began to change. Inexplicably, I started gaining weight. After going to a doctor with complaints of … Read More
Traditions Always Rewarded Unity plays a role for me in going to any length to recover. My sponsor told me to attend OA events, and not only was it good for my program, but also it was a service to support all the OA members who organized the event and all the others who attended. So often I need to make attendance a … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Uncategorized Stepping Up Attending World Service Business Conference as a delegate, I discovered how much responsibility is involved in shaping and maintaining the OA recovery framework from which we all benefit. Every policy and piece of literature goes through an extensive process that includes several layers of review and revision. Ordinary OA members participate in that development process, so our program’s resources are the … Read More
Steps Powering Through Came to believe in a Power greater than myself—that’s where I got stuck. I couldn’t get past me. I was all wrapped up in my old beliefs about religion, God, and church. I became a prisoner of my beliefs, my parent’s beliefs, and other people’s conceptions. I never truly felt a positive connection with a God of my understanding. My … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Oh Baby Before I found abstinence and started working the Twelve Steps of OA, my life was falling apart in every way imaginable . . . My health was suffering from the extra 90 pounds (41 kg) I carried, and I was at risk of losing my job in the military because of my weight. If I lost my job, I would … Read More