How OA Changed My Life Recovery Life Transformed OA not only changed my life but this recovery program also gave me a life worth living. Before I became abstinent from sugar, compulsive overeating, and compulsive food behaviors, I lived a life in food, using it constantly to manage and escape feelings and stress. I’d never want to go back to the way it was before I found OA, and … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity Different Bodies, Similar Reasoning Look for the similarities, not the differences.” How grateful I am to have gotten that message straightaway when I walked in the doors of OA. It was out of desperation that I had to do this, because the only alternative was going to be death. I came to OA looking different than most, weighing in at 42–47 kilograms (93–99 lbs), … Read More
Recovery Relationships New Options Before I found OA, food was my answer to everything and anything. If I had a problem, I would eat. Uncomfortable feelings meant more food. After spending time in OA, I came to believe and accept that food is an ineffective means of coping. Using food to cope is no longer an option for me. Now, I eat to live, … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Shipwreck Survivor When I was growing up, I had a lot of emotions to deal with. I never learned good coping skills, so I handled situations by eating over them. I buried feelings that were too much for me. It was either eat or go crazy, so I ate. I like to compare my experience with a shipwreck. At first, I went … Read More
How OA Changed My Life This Holiday, Frenzy-Free From October through December, I used to engage in an eating frenzy that appeared to have no end. I absolutely could not comprehend that a Higher Power of any kind would be interested in my food issues, and my feelings of unworthiness and shame continued unabated. I just endured the process, as if it was a project I had to … Read More
Higher Power Spirituality A Better Way One of my favorite OA literature quotes is from the chapter on Step Three in The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition: “Once we compulsive overeaters truly take the third step, we cannot fail to recover” (p. 23). I find it a promise on par with any other; however, I understand that promise in the context … Read More
Relationships The Best Possible Place Step Twelve—Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs. The Step Twelve chapter (pp. 99–106) in The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous talks about being no longer controlled by or afraid of food. The fact is God … Read More
Relationships Personality vs. Principle Tradition Twelve—Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. Tradition Twelve has made a huge difference in my life. I began coming to OA regularly eighteen years ago, but I had some difficulties implementing the program. I could not seem to become abstinent. I did not feel like I really understood … Read More
