Steps Knowing about OA A doctor, a nutritionist, and a weight loss clinic gave me three opportunities to carry the OA message of recovery while maintaining the Traditions. What a gift. Several years ago, my nutritionist, who had not worked with anyone with food addiction prior to me, asked me to talk to a group of medical students as part of their nutrition curriculum. … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Before and After Before OA, I lived a life based on self-centered fear. I was always concerned with what you thought of me: Was I too fat? Too incompetent? Too uninteresting? Too shy? I avoided social situations, stayed home, and numbed out with TV, alcohol, and food. Now, I work daily to outgrow my fears. I face them with courage and ask God … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts Spiritual Feast I confess that service was never the first option for me. I went to meetings to vent my sorrows and problems, to be heard in silence, to receive hugs, and to put the minimum in the bag—to stay lean, leave OA, and never ask for help again. When the leader asked if somebody could do a certain service, I didn’t … Read More
Fellowship Courage and Magic I love OA retreats and workshops. I want to tell my OA fellows to jump in, don’t hesitate, make the commitment, and just go! I sometimes hesitate, but once I’ve gotten up the courage to commit to a retreat, magic happens! I show up and participate, just as I do in my OA recovery. I connect with people like me … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Forecast: Recovery My moods and emotions definitely relate to the weather report. Sometimes I have poor visibility around my food plan. Other times, I see through partly cloudy skies. Widespread wind currents can blow me into forgetting I have a fatal disease and blur the hours ahead. Hazard reports of drifting snow, slippery ice, and strong blowing rain can take over any … Read More
Diversity Newcomers 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
Keep Coming Back Relapse OA is Ready When You Are It works if you work it. I’m writing because I’ve been listening and talking to OA members who have been around program for less time than me but have expressed disillusionment; I’ve heard concerns and criticisms about OA, the recovery of our members, and the effectiveness of the program. Comments have gone something like this: I don’t know if OA … Read More
Diversity Newcomers What OA Is Not I realize after six months in OA that when I ate in the past, I was searching for the good feelings I had as a child. I remember happy family gatherings centered on food: family reunion picnics, camping trip cookouts, holidays, and celebrations. The fun and happiness had disappeared from my life. Why? I ate the same foods as I had … Read More
How OA Changed My Life The Brave Person in the Mirror After being a full-time mom to four children, I find myself at a new stage in life; I am now able to travel with my husband when he travels for work. It is wonderful, yet at every hotel or motel, every resort or lodge, big or small, fancy or casual, I consistently find myself confronted with one kind of furnishing: … Read More
Fellowship Prayerful Thinking When I say the serenity prayer—God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change—I remind myself that I cannot change anyone other than me, and sometimes I can change my circumstances and sometimes I can change my body problems. I remember to picture that other person or thing I want to change and acknowledge that I cannot. … Read More