Like many compulsive overeaters, I entered the rooms of OA only to lose weight. I’d tried dozens of weight loss programs and lost weight, only to gain it back plus more. I came for the vanity and stayed for the sanity. I really listened to the Big Book promises when they were read aloud at OA meetings, and I realized …

Coming back to OA for the third time in over thirty years, I’m aware that one of the main things that gets in the way of my recovery is perfectionism. At times, my lack of “being perfect” can lead me to want to give up. What helps me accept myself as I am is remembering that only my Higher Power …

At last night’s meeting, my group read the April 17 entry in For Today (p. 108). Writing on the topic of “love in action” convinced me to be more questioning and honest about working the Twelve Steps. My main takeaway was the idea that love is expressed in actions. Words of love, in and of themselves, are insufficient. I have …

I was so new to program I didn’t really know what this was supposed to mean: “It works if you work it.” I thought it was corny and wondered why every meeting ended with everyone holding hands and saying it. After several weeks, my HP spoke to me, when I heard a spiritual advisor offer this analogy about faith: One …

I came into OA on May 31, 2013, fearful, bitter, angry, resentful, and worried about everything. When the Twelve Steps were read at my first meeting, I heard the First Step and thought, “How could this group of people possibly know me?” My life was unmanageable. I was on family leave to provide constant care to my husband. I was …

When I joined OA, my first struggle was to understand what “abstinence” meant. Oh, sure, I read the definition and understood the basic premise that abstinence meant not eating compulsively, but I couldn’t tell when I was eating compulsively and when I wasn’t. I just didn’t know. So I asked a bunch of long timers, and I got all sorts …

When I first came to OA, I was in an emotionally desperate condition. After decades of stuffing myself with food, I was highly motivated to avoid feelings. Fear of reality ruled my life, but suddenly the substances I used to numb out were gone. I was in the toddler phase of learning to live life on life’s terms. Pretending I …

I am very grateful for OA’s Sixth Tradition. When I came into the rooms, I was angry and wanted to blame outside people, places, and things. I had operated most of my life using that reasoning. If I started a particular weight-loss program and it didn’t work, I could simply blame that program: “No wonder I’m still fat; their program …