Before OA, my life was a constant struggle. It was me against the world, and I couldn’t lower my defenses, or I’d be eaten alive. It was very stressful and tiring. Lack of trust was one of my biggest problems. I grew up in a family in which anything you said could be used against you. I craved trust and …

Living in a small town, I found it difficult to maintain anonymity. At first, I did not want anyone to know I was a member of OA. My meeting took place in the church I attended, so I felt somewhat uncomfortable. Later, I helped the members find another meeting space. Then there was the challenge of finding ways to attract …

I have been in recovery a little over a year and I am 45 pounds (20 kg) lighter. This change in weight brought me a healthy body for the first time in my life and a complete change in how I live. Daily affirmations are a huge part of my recovery, and they’re one of the best ways I’ve found …

I like to remember the acronym K.I.S.S.—“Keep It Simple, Sweetie”—because sometimes when I experience a craving, I panic. “Oh, no!” I think. “I am about to lose my abstinence! I feel like eating something outside my food plan! This feeling is powerful and overwhelming. I am powerless over food. Where is my serenity? Where is my Higher Power? Where is …

Life’s problems and recovery—I love putting these two concepts together because it means I can let go of problems instead of wrapping my life around them and getting stuck. Recovery is about taking the action needed to experience serenity. Recovery gets me unstuck! I find such freedom in the program, such peace—and then, yikes! A problem hits me in the …

For me, meetings are the essential Tool, the base of the program. Without meetings, we would have nothing on which to hang the other Tools. Without meetings, we would have no ground from which to climb the Steps. Without meetings, we would have no hope of gaining serenity and no chance of attaining the abstinence necessary for recovery. A meeting …

Today I’ll walk the spiritual path by using an action plan. I will: Think of others. This relieves me of the “bondage of self” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 63). Tell my Higher Power I’m grateful. Gratitude brings my mind into a peaceful place. Know HP wants my happiness and well-being. I can “act as if” until I believe it. …

My first OA meeting was during the summer of 2012, following more than forty years of dieting, starving, bingeing, purging, abusing laxatives, and compulsively exercising. After a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and periods of extreme anorexia, my weight had once again ballooned, rising to 220 pounds (100 kg). Since childhood, food and the number on the scale had been my …