Recovery Working the Program Ten Things Here is what has helped me get abstinent: Planning out my food for the next twenty-four hours and making my lunch and snack night before. Making a commitment to my OA sponsor (by phone or email) of what I will eat for the next twenty-four hours. If I need to change it, I call her ahead of time. Being rigorously … Read More
Abstinence Top Ten . . . Ways I Achieved Abstinence My sponsor asked me if I was willing to stop throwing up. I said yes and made a commitment. I knew that if I wasn’t going to throw up anymore, then I needed to quit bingeing too. God gave me the willingness and ability to keep my commitment. He continued to do so every day for the past twenty-three and … Read More
Relapse Relapse & Recovery One Thing I Did Right I’m sorry to say I’ve had many relapses during my twenty-two years in program. But the last five years have been much better: back-to-back abstinence based on putting together a program that uses all the OA elements. My program reminds me of my first relapse, how I got into it and how I got out. I had come into OA … Read More
Abstinence Clear and Free God has blessed me with more than twenty-five years of abstinence, and I am still grateful every day. The most important day for me to be abstinent is today. I was in OA seven years before I got abstinent, and I’ve been abstinent ever since, praise be to my HP. During those seven years, I experimented with abstinence and also … Read More
Relapse Relapse & Recovery Help Through the Tools As I sit here at day forty-five of my abstinence, I am amazed and grateful for what has turned out to be like a joyride! I’ve had a couple days of waking up crabby, but I told my sponsor, put it out on calls, surrendered it to God, and soon found myself back on my joyride again. When I think … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Many Forms of Footwork I am a compulsive eater and have been in program for thirteen years, but abstinent consistently, if not perfectly, for only the past year. I don’t like to count numbers and days, but I consider my first twelve years in program as vital to me and my recovery as this past abstinent year has been. For me, recovery isn’t a … Read More
Keep Coming Back Relapse Balance in Program The week before Unity Day, I made a commitment to call three people whom I had not seen in many months. I left three messages, and one called me back. She was happy to hear my voice, but said, “I just cannot stand to do all the work this program requires: the prep, planning, shopping, and precooking, and the reading … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Our Shared Solution We recover together or not at all. This is the “we” in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. OA is not an “I” program. I tried the “I” program. It was all I knew; wasn’t I supposed to apply my will to problems and overcome them? But my food issues were impervious to my efforts. I was stuck. And I … Read More
Diversity Newcomers Long Shot Win Overeaters Anonymous seemed like a long shot to me. How could it help me? I didn’t have serious weight issues—but my eating was out of control. I certainly was a compulsive eater. I spent most of my day obsessing about what to eat. Should I eat some protein or maybe more greens or perhaps just give up and eat potato … Read More
Telephone Tools & Concepts Call, Read, Write, Share I was sitting at my kitchen counter doing job-related work. I’d been struggling with food, and I had spent a lot of that day crying as I thought to myself, I am never going to be free. My phone rang, and I didn’t recognize the number. I contemplated not answering, but something prompted me to pick it up. I was … Read More
