Steps Surrender Happens 24/7 When I came into OA, I was on the edge of a mental breakdown. I’d tried everything to stop my food obsession and my destructive food behaviors. I’d done a lot of work on myself and learned lots of self-help tricks, but nothing was working. I was numbing my feelings 24/7 and could not see a way out. That was … Read More
Diversity Newcomers Thanking My Lucky Stars In the past, whenever I got into a rut, had problems, felt angry, or couldn’t cope with stress, I would eat and eat and eat. Eating used to help, especially that first bite. But after that first bite, I would just automatically shove food into my mouth, and I wouldn’t stop until my jaws were tired. I was always hoping … Read More
Recovery Relationships Real Love and Innocence Growing up in the home of an alcoholic father with my six other siblings seemed easy while I was in it. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered I was having problems because of it. ln my 60s, I started to notice a problem with food, one that I had to admit had been there all my life. It … Read More
Recovery Relationships Loving Amends Why did I feel like eating? I was working on my Eighth and Ninth Steps—that should have been a clue right there—and I just could not get rid of the hatred I felt toward my grandmother. “Boys don’t cry!”—that’s what she said! So I ate instead, up to over 400 pounds (181 kg)! I knew I wasn’t supposed to hate her, … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Feeling, Not Eating Before OA, I was an emotional eater. I used to eat every time I was anxious, sad, or afraid. At times, when I was bingeing, I tried to stop—but I couldn’t. I had to finish the whole pack of whatever I was eating, as if I was a prisoner of the food. I tried many diets, but none worked. Every … Read More
Steps Digging Differently As part of my daily program routine, I have been reading the Big Book and then writing on certain passages. On page 325 of Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition, it states, “You hit bottom when you stop digging.” I can thankfully say that I’m not still digging in the way that I used to. I had many years of digging and … Read More
Diversity Newcomers My Replacement I began Overeaters Anonymous in February 2014 after becoming desperate. I was scheduled for a double knee replacement later in the year. At 240 pounds (109 kg), I was told I must lose at least 50 pounds (23 kg) for a successful recovery. I tried and I couldn’t, because I was depressed for three years after being fired from my … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts Making Connections It’s as simple as this: I settled for food. To block the pain of my love starved existence, I used food and sugar until my carefully constructed façade of beautiful well-being began to bloat from the excesses I needed to eat to feel safe. But I had to do something to keep from losing my looks, the one thing that … Read More
Steps Traditions Transformational Awakening What is a spiritual awakening? How do we get it? If it is the result of working the Twelve Steps, that means we have to work them. This is how we can practice the Principles embedded in the Steps. It’s a pattern for living. And, we carry the message to newcomers by living the Steps, while protecting our own and … Read More
Relapse Twelfth Step Within Kindred Spirit When we met, I said that I knew there was a reason, and perhaps this is it. Perhaps we may suffer from the same horrible disease, compulsive overeating. For most of my life, I didn’t know that, to me, food was an addiction. Certain foods are like heroin to me. It wasn’t until I went to a meeting that I … Read More