How OA Changed My Life Recovery True Freedom When a fellow OA member suggested I reflect on what true freedom looks like for me, I discovered I could probably write a book. Before OA, I truly felt I already had it in the form of a solid career, a warm and loving home, the freedom of living where I lived, and more. Even today, I cannot dispute anything … Read More
Tools & Concepts Working Wonderfully I have been in OA now for over twenty-eight years, and I have come a long way. When I first came into the program, my food plan consisted of eating very little—I was a starve-and-binger. At the meetings I attended back in those days, there was no clear process for how to pick a food plan. I had a sponsor … Read More
Abstinence Choice and Freedom To me abstinence means freedom: freedom from the obsession with food and having to act on it when I get cravings. I still think about food a lot (I’m quite newly abstinent), but I have the choice not to pick-up because of certain daily actions that give me protection. Abstinence means sanity. It keeps food in its right place. I … Read More
Recovery A Celebration of Freedom I have had the good fortune of attending two World Service Conventions since I became a member of Overeaters Anonymous in 1980. My first was in New York City in 1997, and the venue was an iconic hotel. Although I lived in New Jersey, I’d never had the opportunity to stay at such a landmark in the heart the city … 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
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
Diversity Newcomers The Great Miracle Recently, I was asked to write a response to a newcomer’s question: “What can OA offer me?” I suffer from two problems that make me powerless over my compulsive eating: a physical problem and a mental one. Certain foods, ingredients, and eating behaviors trigger me to eat uncontrollably. Many times while eating trigger foods, I tried to will myself to … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Starter Recipe My spiritual breakfast is Step Eleven, and it’s the most important meal of each day. It nourishes my brain with fuel I need to have a fighting chance of serenity and abstinence in the twenty-four hours ahead. I try to do Step Eleven as soon as I wake. If I give my brain even half an hour in charge, my … 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
Literature Tools & Concepts Real Magic I am contemplating the last workbook question of the Twelfth Step: “What is the message I am living?” (The Twelve Step Workbook of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 107). My mind ventures back several months, when a spark inside my soul led me to put these Twelve Steps to the test. Would the promises of the Step Principles really materialize … Read More
