Diversity Fellowship Meetings Diversity and Disability Q: My sister tried to attend an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. She’s obese, with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. She’s also deaf. She was lucky enough to find a member of the group who knew American Sign Language and could sign for her. Unfortunately, one of the other group members complained that the signing was distracting. The translator felt … Read More
Keep Coming Back Relapse Relapse & Recovery Standing in the Wings I came to Overeaters Anonymous to lose weight, period. I had no idea what the program was about. A friend told me she had lost weight in OA; maybe I could lose weight too. The methods I had tried over the years (little chocolate candies, pills, shots, nasty-tasting predigested protein, aerobic exercise while wrapped in cellophane, and actual physical exercise … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts No Better Way The only way I know to work my program is to work my program. When something is disturbing me, I need to recognize what in me is niggled. Recently, I have been feeling less than serene about the lack of long-term abstinence at our small meetings. When we do get newcomers in the door, members who have been around for some … Read More
Fellowship Recovery My Life Depends on You Recently, my schedule changed, so I had to change my weekly attendance to a different OA meeting. Sadly, the new meeting has been disappointing. The turnout is rarely more than five or six people. Sometimes, only two are there to get the meeting started, and several members show up late. This type of behavior in recovery is disturbing to me … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Always a Newcomer As I approach the anniversary of my twentieth year of abstinence from compulsive overeating, I’m reflecting on the miracle of finding my way to the rooms of OA, as well as my first years of recovery. When I entered OA in late August 1999, I was a nightmare of a human being. I lived in self-centeredness, self-absorption, and self-pity. I … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery All the Way Today, I am celebrating thirty years of abstinence. It took me four years to get, and I truly appreciate the miracle of still having it so many years later. When I came to OA in 1985, I was 21 years old, and I had no idea what OA was going to do for me. Like many people, I wanted to lose … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts A New Focus Whenever I went to my Tuesday night meeting, I noticed my sponsor talking with newcomers. He greeted them when they came in the door and sought their reactions after the meeting. I was amazed anyone could be so invested in helping others. I wanted the kind of recovery my sponsor had, so I also began to focus on newcomers. I … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Just Like Me Attending my first OA meeting was the result of seeing some dramatic changes in a close friend. We had known each other long enough that we knew each other’s big secret: We were compulsive eaters. It was fine to share such an intimacy on a personal level, but the thought of doing it in a room full of strangers seemed … Read More
Steps Traditions Light Reaching Out Why would you care about a visibly overweight stranger? A person who needs a chair to sit on during long strolls through a department store? A person whose breathing you can hear as you travel close by them in an elevator? Do you understand a person who never seems to gain weight yet always eats or a person who shows … Read More
Fellowship Recovery All Are Welcome Q. I keep hearing the term “food addict” when people introduce themselves at meetings. Is this okay today? I have always used the terms “compulsive eater,” or “compulsive overeater.” I personally do not care for the term “addict.” What is considered correct? A. The answer is there are no rules concerning how people introduce themselves at an OA meeting. Some … Read More
