I am a compulsive overeater. While not every day of my thirty-nine years in OA has been an abstinent day, for many years now, I’ve been gratefully recovering and maintaining a healthy weight. Being a teacher by profession has led me to watch for ways to boil things down to their simplest form. I look for little tricks to help …

Please keep stepping. I am following you, watching. Please keep serving. I am needing you, calling. Please keep sharing. I am learning from you, listening. Please keep praying. I am kneeling with you, awakening. Please keep reading. I am quoting you, speaking. Please keep confiding. I am counting on you, protecting. Please keep planning. I am writing with you, abstaining. …

Recovery in the workplace certainly has its challenges for me. I’m the receptionist for a big organization with a large lobby area. Constantly, lunch spreads and snacks are placed right in front of my desk area. Having to see and smell these items, which are usually off my food plan, can make workplace abstinence a real battlefield for me. I …

I’m abstinent and quite fired up this morning! I’m fired up and a bit frustrated because, at the moment, I seem to be surrounded by fellow members who are struggling with abstinence and sharing excuses for why they can’t be abstinent. I know this program teaches me to focus on my side of the street, which requires a daily cleaning …

Traveling away from home over the holidays can be a difficult time for a compulsive overeater like me. Surprisingly, I am still compulsive away from home! Because I travel often, I’ve developed some techniques that help me stay abstinent and in recovery on the road, especially over the holidays. To set up recovery before my trip, I do these things: …

After more than five years in OA, I can look back and see the grace of my Higher Power in the early actions of my sponsor when she immediately suggested we work through The Twelve-Step Workbook of Overeaters Anonymous. One of the earliest benefits of our work together was that I became aware of how much time, energy, and effort I’d …

I have been in program for twenty-seven years. When it comes to using a food plan, I used to have rules for what to eat, what not to eat, how much to eat, when to pray, and more. But I’ve found that the more I complicate my food plan, the more loopholes appear for my disease to discover and exploit. …

Early in my recovery, I often heard longtimers say, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” My first sponsor drove home this idea by always encouraging me to call ahead and plan ahead for meals and events and to make backup plans, including knowing who to call for support. This instilled in me a desire to keep …

Traveling to the OA Region One Assembly was a perfect opportunity for me to practice navigating an airport without compulsively wanting to eat. I am really glad I had my plan of eating in place. Arriving at the airport two hours early sometimes leaves me with time on my hands. The smells of airport foods can arouse compulsiveness out of …

This morning I was struck by the thought that preparation is a key element in my plan of eating and has a significant place in my daily action plan. Before OA, I made meals, but it wasn’t the same. Now, I am willing to commit the time it takes to think out a menu; shop for the ingredients (or, lucky …