Tools & Concepts My Action Plan: A Checklist I’ve been in Overeaters Anonymous for decades to help me deal with the many facets of my compulsive eating, including bingeing, dieting, starving, using laxatives, and overexercising. Before I joined OA, my weight ranged from a high of 150 pounds (68 kg) to a low of 89 (40 kg). At my lowest weight, I thought I looked fat, and at … Read More
Tools & Concepts The “Write Way” to Work the Steps When I first came into OA and sought out a sponsor to guide me along my path to recovery, she asked me to complete a reading and writing assignment every day. At this, I balked! I’m not that good of a writer and didn’t think I’d be capable of doing it. She was kind and gentle with me, but insisted that … Read More
Steps Try Attraction “No-Apologies ‘Carefrontration’” (May/ June 2019, pp. 8–9) gave me pause, such that I reread it several times. I found the approach a bit troubling. No matter how hard I try, I’ll never be able to make another person become abstinent. I don’t believe that is what the Steps, Traditions, and Concepts of OA Service tell me to do. Step One … Read More
Steps Fourth Step Persistence My sponsor taught me “Abstinence no matter what,” and for me, it all begins with willingness. I have severe and persistent mental illness, or SPMI. I don’t see myself as a victim, but I do feel anger regarding my symptoms. I’ve learned, though, that everyone in OA has challenges in addition to their overeating illness that make it difficult to … Read More
Ask-It Basket Connecting to Recovery Q. How can I feel hopeful about recovery when folks at the meetings I attend have been going to meetings for seven, ten, even twelve years, but still haven’t got thirty days of food sobriety—abstinence—under their belts? I need to see abstinence at work. A. Actually your question feels less like an inquiry, more like an expression of your desire … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Many Forms of Footwork I am a compulsive eater and have been in program for thirteen years, but abstinent consistently, if not perfectly, for only the past year. I don’t like to count numbers and days, but I consider my first twelve years in program as vital to me and my recovery as this past abstinent year has been. For me, recovery isn’t a … Read More
Share It No Moderation Definitely do not change “abstinence” to “moderation” as suggested by “Alternative to Abstinence” (March 2019, p. 26). Moderation implies that we can eat like normal people. We are not normal eaters and never will be. Ads for drinking alcohol and gambling in casinos end with warnings to practice these activities “responsibly,” in other words, in moderation. Ads for food do … Read More
Share It Timely Help “Meeting on the Menu” (March 2019, p. 7) reminded me of two OA miracles: arriving “to the meeting on time” and “how effortless it had been to refrain from compulsive overeating” once I became abstinent. Because my life today doesn’t yet look how I wish it would, I often forget where I came from. I used to be in constant … Read More
Share It Professional Benefits I’ve had similar experiences to those described in “Corporate Conscience” (February 2019, p. 22), where a member observed that her group conscience meetings were much more efficient than meetings in her professional life. The article also reminded me to appreciate the benefits of recovery that I now use in my career: Abstinence gives me the ability to focus on what … Read More
Recovery Working the Program First, I Trusted At a recent OA speaker meeting, I was struck by a question asked during the Q&A session: “What did you do first?” My own answer is: First, I trusted that OA had a solution. I came to OA in either 2004 or 2005—I really cannot remember because I was in a food fog. I do remember that my ritual of … Read More
