I have been a member of Overeaters Anonymous since the early 1980s. I have attended OA meetings in the US states of Florida, South Carolina, Utah, and Maryland and in the country of Israel. There are many differences among these places—in cultures, geographies, and customs. But at every meeting, parts or all of the Steps were read and parts or …

Recently, I had the privilege of celebrating both my twentieth OA birthday and the twentieth birthday of my OA home group. I met OA for the first time at this group’s very first meeting. For this event, we asked our intergroup to invite other OA groups to join and celebrate our journey toward recovery. We had more than double our …

December 2009: I was eating my way through the holidays, agonizing over not being able to control myself after more than twenty-five years of dieting. I weighed 213 pounds (97 kg) and my excess weight was taking a greater toll on my well-being than ever before. I was sure of only two things: first, that I no longer had it …

I came into the rooms of OA in September of 2009. My husband and I were going to New Zealand in 2010 and my pride and ego could not face returning there while I weighed more than 280 pounds (127 kg). Nothing I had ever tried before worked for very long, but then I overheard a woman sharing her message …

I need meetings to be strong, vibrant places where a variety of voices express recovery through each person’s story of experience, strength, and hope. I grow concerned when I hear about OA meetings shrinking or closing entirely. Fewer meetings with fewer members means danger for me. I need support, and I need to be able to reach out to others. …

I found OA through an email loop. The loop showed me what OA was like and gave me hope and strength. After a month of email loop meetings, I went to my first live virtual meeting, a voice chat about Step One. There, I received my miracle. With an open mind, I accepted Step One and began abstaining from binge …

We all belong! We all belong! We are like pieces of a puzzle individually coming together to form one picture, not because of our differences, but because of what we share—compulsive overeating. Most of my life I didn’t feel as though I fit anywhere. I was a fat child suffering the indignities of what today would be called bullying; then …

Disparate yet one. Broken, but being made whole in the telling. Huddled around the campfire of our hearts. Finding a commonality, finding healing, finding wholeness. Warmed by interest, trust, and safety— our dreams and foibles uncovered. Winners and survivors despite our shortcomings. Diamonds in the rough sparkle as facets are revealed to the sun of understanding, identification, respect, and admiration. …

When I first came to the program of Overeaters Anonymous, I found out I wasn’t alone; there were lots of people who had the same disease that I had. What a relief! I no longer had to attempt to do this on my own, and I was offered the hope of recovery. As I became aware of the diversity of …