I’ve been in Overeaters Anonymous for decades to help me deal with the many facets of my compulsive eating, including bingeing, dieting, starving, using laxatives, and overexercising. Before I joined OA, my weight ranged from a high of 150 pounds (68 kg) to a low of 89 (40 kg). At my lowest weight, I thought I looked fat, and at …

When I attended my first OA beginner’s meeting three-and-a-half years ago, I brought a concept of God that I’d cobbled together from childhood. And, coming from a family of atheists, I’d felt an unspoken need to keep my spiritual beliefs a secret. Standing in a circle, holding hands, and saying the Serenity Prayer at that first meeting was terrifying. It …

Q. How can I feel hopeful about recovery when folks at the meetings I attend have been going to meetings for seven, ten, even twelve years, but still haven’t got thirty days of food sobriety—abstinence—under their belts? I need to see abstinence at work. A. Actually your question feels less like an inquiry, more like an expression of your desire …

When I first came to OA, I was a very complicated person (by my own doing) who responded to uncertainty, frustration, resentment, and fear by overeating. At my very first meeting, however, the OA message was delivered right on target, with two of the four members present sharing succinctly how they got over compulsive overeating. By their visible appearance, all …

How did I get to the point of isolation? I binged; I ate to numb myself from my problems and stress, my disappointments in life. I was embarrassed by my eating behavior and didn’t want to face my friends, so I withdrew. I forgot what I’d learned through working the Steps; I forgot because I stopped working them. I forgot …

After a twelve-year absence from OA, I began to admit that I was back in food obsession and my crazy thinking about food was my only tool for handling life. Even though I was down a little from my all-time high weight of 212 pounds (96 kg), I was hovering just below 200 pounds (91 kg), well above a healthy …

Gratitude was not part of my vocabulary until I walked into an OA meeting. At times, I may have experienced gratitude or been aware of it, but I never verbalized it. Since coming to OA, I am aware of my gratitude on so many levels. First, I’m grateful that such an organization exists and is available to me wherever I …

My spiritual journey in OA started like a ship in a sea of confusion. How could I understand God’s plan for me, or take Steps Three and Eleven—surrender to, and maintain conscious contact with, God as I understood him—when I don’t believe that I, as a human, can understand God? My ship visited many ports of discovery. In Port One, …

I started attending a Monday night OA meeting but found myself struggling with abstinence. A weekly meeting didn’t seem to be enough. Then I found a meeting that met Monday through Friday at 7 a.m., 22 miles (35 km) from my home, and I started traveling to these daily meetings. I’ve learned that if you want continuous recovery from any …

Coming back from work one late winter afternoon, I caught myself thinking that since the weather was cold, I’d better get home, take a hot shower, put on those nice pajamas, have a soup, and finally snuggle into a soft warm blanket to watch a movie or read a novel or newspaper. However, it was Wednesday, the day of my …