Gratitude Recovery A Tale of Two Knees I have had two knee replacements in two years. The first time I wasn’t abstinent, but this most recent time I was. I want to share the difference. The first time I was in rehab, I was physically, spiritually, and mentally bankrupt. I paid an acquaintance, my eating buddy, to bring me non abstinent food. I ate sugar and white flour … Read More
Tools & Concepts Baby Steps Up the Mountain Recently I learned I needed to change my plan of eating for my health. Okay, how do I do that? Power through, right?! If I could control my eating I would never have come into Overeaters Anonymous almost thirty years ago. Before that, I tried: I tried every diet in every magazine. Every night, I planned to start this or … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity New Life Blooming I am a 21-year-old college student and a recovering anorexic, bulimic, and compulsive eater. I’ve been in OA for almost a year and recently got a sponsor to help me work the Twelve Steps. I’ve been in treatment for my eating disorders and that is where I discovered OA. I wrote a poem about my recovery, and my sponsor suggested … Read More
Recovery Relationships A Gift from Grace Before I returned to OA in 1999, my life was a prison of my own making, and I had no visitors. It was a world of isolation because all I trusted was food and how good it made me feel in the moments I was consuming it. My compulsive overeating began when I was 5 and a half years old. … Read More
Relationships Loner No Longer “I never have to be alone again . . .” It was June 1989: I was powerless over food and my life was unmanageable. I had just lost forty pounds (18 kg) again and quickly gained ten pounds (5 kg) back. I was on my way up the scale and full of anger and rage. I felt totally helpless, hopeless, … Read More
Writing Dog Talk My dogs’ unconditional love is so helpful when I can’t love myself. Dogs don’t judge my weight, my income, or my status in life. To dogs, I am okay just the way I am. When I was new to OA and first got a sponsor, I refused to talk to her about anything but dogs for three months because I … Read More
Traditions Losses and Gains Tradition Eight: Overeaters Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers. I am a professional person on several fronts. I have various public personae. I am a person of “wisdom” and knowledgeable about many things, like a trivia guru. I also have worn many masks. None of this, however, serves my participation in and appreciation … Read More
Recovery Never to Busy for Love My pets have always been important to me. I was socially awkward and an only child. Other than food, my closest relationships were with pets. My dog and cat were my best friends, my main sources of joy and comfort for many years. Early in my OA recovery, my pets gave me valuable insights into my eating behaviors. Although I … Read More
Diversity Breakup Note Overeating, you were in control of my life for a while. You ruined my life, took away my friends, isolated me, made me sick, knocked me down, destroyed me . . . and I let you. I didn’t fight back. I welcomed you every chance I got and let you hurt me, and I actually enjoyed it for years—until the day I … Read More
Fellowship Tools & Concepts Pass It On My first few years in OA, I was working the Twelve Step program my own way. It didn’t work. I heard the suggestion to get a sponsor, so I did—several times— but I never bothered to talk to them. After four of the most painful years of my existence, having one foot in the Fellowship and the other pointing outward, … Read More
