Search Support It was May of 2015, and I was up 30 pounds (14 kg) after a yearlong sugar binge. Although I’d been on a constant roller coaster of losing and gaining, this was the biggest weight gain I’d experienced in seven years. It was also the low point when I began to realize my powerlessness over food. I had not yet … Read More
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
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
He Understood I came into the doors of OA six months ago, weighing 159 pounds (72 kg) at 5 feet 5 inches (165 cm) tall. I was athletic and a relatively normal size, but I was in food hell and miserable. I believed that if I just got down to a certain weight, I would be happy. By the time I stepped … Read More
An All-In Proposition “And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone . . . the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. . . . That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., pp. 84–85). When I first came into OA, I … Read More
My Providential Blurt As I sat across from my doctor and focused on entering my next appointment into my phone, another part of my mind took over my tongue. “I’ve been gaining weight since I moved here last year. Can you give me some advice?” For several months I’d been dithering about asking her for help. Now I felt shock—and immediate relief. She … Read More
Now I’m Learning I came into OA four years ago already knowing that the Twelve Steps work. I am a recovering alcoholic and addict, and not drinking or using drugs was my justification for bingeing for a long time. The best thing about recovery is you get your feelings back; and the worst thing about recovery is you get your feelings back. So … Read More
Working Out the Feelings I am so grateful for OA. It’s September 12, 2017, and I have thirty-nine days of abstinence after being in program since January 21, which is a date I will never forget because it is eight days after my mom passed away due to her drug addiction. Her death marked a turning point in my compulsive overeating. What was once … Read More
Prayer Positions I came to OA seventeen years ago this week. I’m deeply grateful to my Higher Power, who gave me the gift of the program and the willingness to keep coming back. I live in a small community in the hills, and my choice of meetings is very restricted, so I find myself listening to podcasts—often! Many thanks to all those members … Read More
Threefold Accountability One night, my sponsor asked me how I would feel about putting my scales away and only weighing myself every thirty days. At first, I was like, “What? You have to be kidding me!” I loved to weigh every day because it gave me a measuring stick for my progress. But I was in the program, literally willing to do … Read More