Recovery Working the Program A Set of Practices When I came into program in 2003, 30 pounds (14 kg) heavier than I am now, I was proud of myself if I went to two meetings a week and called my sponsor occasionally. As I spent more time in meetings, though, I was fascinated and a little nervous to learn how longtimers incorporated far more program into their lives every week. … Read More
Steps Traditions The Daily-ness of Surrender Surrender is a daily practice that I can choose or not: “the daily treatment that brings about our recovery,” as it says at the end of Step One (p. 7) in our Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition. All I have is a “daily reprieve” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 85). For my recovery, taking the … Read More
Abstinence Garden Variety I’ve lived most of my life in New Jersey, the Garden State, so you’d think I’d be used to eating an abundance of homegrown fruits and vegetables. Au contraire, my OA friends: I grew up with little interest in natural produce, though just outside the New Jersey Turnpike are thousands of fruit and vegetable stands to visit. No, my exclusive … Read More
Tools & Concepts Writing Worthy of Writing I feel that writing is one of the most valuable Tools in our OA toolbox. It’s available twenty-four hours a day and is a way to connect with our own thoughts and feelings and be nurtured and nourished, which is what I’m always seeking as a compulsive overeater. At any given time, I have on hand several journals for writing, … Read More
Gratitude Recovery Follow Through I came into the OA program after being in treatment. I was an insane compulsive overeater, anorexic, and bulimic. I took diet pills, narcotics, and alcohol to the limits of insanity and self-harm to control my compulsion for food. I was in rehab, two psychiatric units, and OA for four years before I understood this program. I have maintained abstinence … Read More
Share It A Great Way to Start In “Day In and Day Out” (October 2017), the author suggests listing five things for which to be thankful. When I started this exercise, “OA” was the only thing I could list. Now my list is up to forty and keeps getting longer when I think of something I missed. Making a gratitude list each morning is a great way to … Read More