Before OA, mornings were a chore. When my alarm went off, I wanted nothing more than to pull the covers over my head and yell “Not fair!” at a God I thought was cruel and punishing. My overeating, my bingeing the night before, had taken its toll. Once again, I was not ready to function. Finding OA and working the …

I walked into my first OA meeting a little over two and a half years ago. It had taken me almost forty years to recognize that my eating disorder and compulsive food behaviors were out of control. I’d spent my entire adult life climbing the ladder of success, but when I reached the top, I realized it was leaning against …

I showed up at my first OA meeting because I was exhausted from trying unsuccessfully to break the cycle of bingeing on sweets, feeling awful about my behavior and myself, restricting and exercising to compensate for bingeing, weighing myself often, and eventually bingeing on sweets again regardless of the number on the scale. I ate to comfort myself when I …

From October through December, I used to engage in an eating frenzy that appeared to have no end. I absolutely could not comprehend that a Higher Power of any kind would be interested in my food issues, and my feelings of unworthiness and shame continued unabated. I just endured the process, as if it was a project I had to …

My trips to the grocery store became much different after I became abstinent more than ten years ago. Many aisles no longer held anything I could safely purchase. The remaining aisles got greater attention from me, and to this day, I read labels, check portion sizes, and compare prices. There is one aspect of the grocery store that gets my …

My self-esteem was low when I first set foot in these rooms of recovery. I was addicted to feeling bad about myself. I set impossible standards and felt shame every time I fell short of my ideal. When I did an impressive job, I wondered why it wasn’t an excellent job. When I did an excellent job, I berated myself …

Service came to me before abstinence. I attended and participated in OA meetings, which is a form of service, before the compulsion to overeat was lifted from me. Relief from obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors involves an ongoing learning with others in recovery that is guided by a Higher Power. Today, I am recovered from what seemed to be a …

In recovery, I have freedom from: pretending to be a normal eater and wishing people would just go away so I could eat using all celebrations as an excuse to binge eating secretly as I baked, prepared, and served food—and continuing to eat long afterward squeezing into only a few select pieces of clothing (usually with elasticized waistbands) making commitments …

During one of my regular OA meetings, something triggered an uncomfortable, awkward feeling that I couldn’t explain. As I made the long drive home, the feeling continued to intensify: I decided I would never attend another meeting. I knew how dangerous that thought was to my abstinence, but I couldn’t push it out of my mind. The next day I …

This is my third Unity Day, and I’ve been in OA three years. I attend at least two meetings a week, and Unity Day adds a good boost to my program. Weekly meetings can become routine, but there is something powerful about being in a larger group, knowing that OA members the world over are joining hands at the same …