Anorexia & Bulimia Don’t Do It Alone I am a lifer. My disease is such that I can never leave OA. I spent a lifetime struggling to control my food and body, and the result was a soul-wrenching desperation to find another way. My disease takes a form I call “classic bulimia.” I binged until it hurt, threw up, and then binged again. It wasn’t always end-on-end … Read More
Abstinence Six Courses of Abstinence The first thing I did as a member of Overeaters Anonymous on a path to abstinent eating was to divide all foods into two groups: foods I would eat and foods I would not eat. Thirty years later, I still have not eaten any of the foods in the second group, just as I would not eat a pencil or … 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
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
How OA Changed My Life Every Minute, Every Situation The key threads woven into and through my soul and my program of recovery are hope and gratitude. The hope I felt at my first OA meeting was probably what kept me coming back, even though I wasn’t sure for what, besides weight loss, and even though my insides were twisted with pain, anger, and resentment. (I didn’t even know … Read More
Working the Program My Way Didn’t Work “Just put down the food and you’ll recover”—that simply didn’t make sense to me. If I could just do that, I wouldn’t be in OA. I had successfully put down the food before—many times before—but eventually would pick it up again, eating excessively. Food was my enemy and my best friend. Why couldn’t I eat moderately? Why was I so … 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
Working the Program Can Do At my first OA meetings, I recognized myself in the shares of others. Defensiveness, excuses, blaming, rationalizing, self-loathing, failure—all those alcoholic thoughts and actions described in the Big Book—all were familiar to me around food. I’d eaten volumes and screwed up dieting every day for years. Every night was one last huge supper and a swearing off, but by breakfast … Read More
Abstinence Controlled Response After ten years in OA, a cancer diagnosis pushed me to realize abstinence is a matter of life or death for me. Doctors told me my best defense was a normal body weight, regular exercise, and a healthful diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, even though I had been in OA for a decade, I was unable to stay abstinent or reach … Read More
Recovery Birthday Share As I celebrate my twentieth birthday of abstinent recovery in OA, I am filled with gratitude, joy, and hope. Prior to February 14, 1996, these incredible gifts were in short supply as I navigated through life, bingeing and depressed, depressed and bingeing. For decades, I expended endless amounts of energy keeping up appearances and maintaining my dirty little facade. I was … Read More
