Tools & Concepts In Good Stead I joined OA in 2009. Below is a list of behaviors and actions I took (in addition to getting a sponsor, working the Twelve Steps, and using the Tools) in the past eighteen months that helped me stay abstinent and spiritually and emotionally recover. Without the program, I don’t think I could have done these things for myself. I live … Read More
Relapse Slipping & Sliding Nonslip Grip I have been in OA for twenty-eight years. Before OA, I was a force to be dealt with, very carefully and with dread. I was filled with self-righteous indignation. Imagine my surprise when I discovered indignation was just a synonym for resentment. That Step Four was a real eye-opener. It wasn’t everybody else’s fault after all. Now I am so … Read More
Gratitude Recovery No Stone Unturned OA recovery helps me with my relationships with my Higher Power, myself, and other people. Abstinence gives me clarity to be open to my Higher Power’s messages: I listen to the wisdom of my own body and I hear my HP’s voice in my sponsor and in meetings through members’ shares. I pray to see and hear others through God’s … Read More
Recovery Relationships From Mother to Child For many years I blamed my mother for conditions in our family that fostered my addictive nature and compulsive relationship with food. Because ours was such a confusing mixture of love and resentment, and because I never received the support and guidance I needed, I never thought I would want to bring a child into this world. Thank goodness for … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity Available to Feel I am so grateful for OA. It’s September 12, 2017, and I have thirty-nine days of abstinence after being in program since January 21, 2017. I will never forget that date: it’s eight days after my mom passed away due to her disease of drug addiction. Her death marked a turning point in my compulsive overeating. What was once a … Read More
Spirituality All I’ve Ever Wanted I have been maintaining an abstinent weight of 125 pounds (57 kg) since September 2015. My early life was what I’d call a perfect breeding ground for addiction: I grew up in an alcoholic home full of insanity, loud arguments that got my heart pounding, shame, abandonment, and no talk of a Higher Power at all. I remained hyper vigilant, turning … Read More
Abstinence Tools & Concepts Understand, Appreciate, Implement, Reflect I came to understand abstinence initially by doing what I saw other recovering OA members doing. This included: weighing and measuring food; following a food plan created by a registered dietician who tailored it for my body’s needs; avoiding sugar and wheat products; doing OA outreach phone calls; attending meetings; doing service; reading OA and AA literature; journaling daily; studying … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Profound Change Change is good, they say, and like medicine, it’s often prescribed to solve problems. I cannot tell how many times I tried this remedy. I tried fewer carbs, more lean protein, a new fitness regime, a fresh hairstyle, new clothes—just to give myself a much-needed boost and create the impression of doing something worthwhile so that everything would change and … Read More
Abstinence Need–to–Dos These are things I do to maintain abstinence: I have a sponsor. Although I often complain, procrastinate, and argue, I eventually become willing to do what my sponsor asks. I work the Steps with my sponsor. I call my sponsor almost daily to commit my food to him. I have a food plan. I know what abstinence means for me: … Read More
Uncategorized Working the Program Pug Life My name is Lucy. I am a pug. I want to tell how my brother Joey, my sister MP, and I all helped with our Mom’s recovery. In 2009, our Mom was very sad. She was eating a lot. Nothing would help. She even took trips and had holidays but was still very sad. We decided to help. On our Mom’s … Read More