Newcomers Just One I can clearly remember my frame of mind the first time I attended an OA meeting. I had absolutely no idea what OA was about, or how or why it worked. Most importantly, I wasn’t at all sure I belonged there. I wasn’t sure I fit the profile of a person who needed OA. Because of that, my first meeting … Read More
Recovery Around the World Virtual Help I found OA through an email loop. The loop showed me what OA was like and gave me hope and strength. After a month of email loop meetings, I went to my first live virtual meeting, a voice chat about Step One. There, I received my miracle. With an open mind, I accepted Step One and began abstaining from binge … Read More
Recovery The Paradox Why do I keep coming back? Because enlarging my spiritual life is a never-ending process. I came to OA on August 19, 2007, and have been abstinent from compulsive overeating and compulsive food behaviors since October 2, 2007. God has released me from 45–50 pounds (20–23 kg) of excess weight. I am grateful to God that I have never left … Read More
Tools & Concepts Being There We once had a large group. Slowly it got smaller until we were just two. We thought seriously of closing our meeting, but it was our time to get together (we’d even have supper after). So we continued to meet for several years. One day, three members who had dropped out of OA ten years earlier came back. We were there … Read More
Working the Program Showing Up for Practice I used to be someone who would dive into things and give 100 percent, but only until the going got tough or I became bored. Then I’d move on—from jobs, weight-loss programs, even interests. For me to keep coming back to OA is testimony of the power of this program. I keep coming back because: OA works long-term when nothing … Read More
Newcomers The Magic Number I should be the poster child for “keep coming back” because my stubbornness is finally paying off. I regularly showed up to a meeting once a week for almost two years, but I wasn’t working the program and I didn’t have a sponsor. Today, I am a newcomer with a newcomer’s mind. Until a month ago, I did little more … Read More
Relapse Big Truth When I first came to OA, I had no hope. I thought I would never look normal or be able to eat regular food. I was obese and profoundly depressed. In OA, I found much more than just weight loss and “control”; I found a Higher Power, a Fellowship of people who understood me for the first time in my … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Fellowship Higher Power Working the Program OA Shorts Dear Mr. Merriam, dear Mr. Webster, I write to you as a humble requester. I propose a new spelling of a certain word; The change would be seen but would not be heard. The word in question is now spelled “serenity.” I suggest changing it instead to “surrenity.” If one “surrenders” using “humility,” One can achieve a sense of tranquility: … Read More
Traditions Service and Belonging Our First Tradition states, “Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity.” To be part of this whole, to belong, my piece of the puzzle is service. The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous states: “We need daily opportunities to be of service to other compulsive overeaters, opportunities which the OA group provides” (p. … Read More
Fellowship Tools & Concepts Phone Phenomenon My Higher Power’s grace led me to phone meetings, and after participating in a holiday phone marathon, I was hooked. By now, I’m sure I’ve called in to thousands of phone meetings! This may seem like a lot, but it’s easy because meetings are almost always available—there are three hundred phone meetings registered right now on oa.org. I may call … Read More