I would like to tell you how I think the character, Humpty Dumpty, can be like some compulsive overeaters. Humpty Dumpty had been told not to get on that wall. It was slippery and dangerous. “No one can tell me what to do. I will keep climbing that wall; I will not stop. I’m in control. I’m Superman,” he told …

Step One: We admitted we were powerless over food—that our lives had become unmanageable. Recovery began for me with Step One, when I admitted I was powerless over food and, as a result, my life was unmanageable. It gave me comfort, admitting my powerlessness. After all my failed attempts at dieting, I could see I had no control over food. …

Before I fully surrendered, my life was an ever-increasing battle with food, weight, myself, and others. I was a child who didn’t like being given half a cup of juice; I wanted the full cup. After overhearing family conversations about my “puppy fat,” I decided, at age 9, to attend my first commercial weight-loss club. I only had to lose …

“In keeping with Tradition Ten, Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on bariatric (weight-loss) surgery. In the spirit of Tradition Three, Overeaters Anonymous welcomes anyone with a desire to stop eating compulsively, including those who have had bariatric surgery or are contemplating it” (Business Conference Policy Manual, 2018b). When the delegates to WSBC 2018 voted to adopt this policy statement, I …

I grew up in an American, Midwestern, blue-collar, motorcycle-riding family that fully embraced pride of all sorts—pride in our family, our country, our bikes, our tattoos and putting in an honest day’s labor. If family needed help, you showed up on Saturday and helped. You taught your kids how to fix engines, build things, and to listen to their mama. …

In the years following high school, I couldn’t hold down a job for more than eight consecutive months, and my residence changed just as frequently. Between each new address, I would return to my childhood home, where my mother now lives alone. I’d pass through town just long enough to discard another mountainous load of boxes into her basement— always …

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: …

I am very grateful for OA’s Sixth Tradition. When I came into the rooms, I was angry and wanted to blame outside people, places, and things. I had operated most of my life using that reasoning. If I started a particular weight-loss program and it didn’t work, I could simply blame that program: “No wonder I’m still fat; their program …

After more than five years in OA, I can look back and see the grace of my Higher Power in the early actions of my sponsor when she immediately suggested we work through The Twelve-Step Workbook of Overeaters Anonymous. One of the earliest benefits of our work together was that I became aware of how much time, energy, and effort I’d …