My self-esteem was low when I first set foot in these rooms of recovery. I was addicted to feeling bad about myself. I set impossible standards and felt shame every time I fell short of my ideal. When I did an impressive job, I wondered why it wasn’t an excellent job. When I did an excellent job, I berated myself …

I realize after six months in OA that when I ate in the past, I was searching for the good feelings I had as a child. I remember happy family gatherings centered on food: family reunion picnics, camping trip cookouts, holidays, and celebrations. The fun and happiness had disappeared from my life. Why? I ate the same foods as I had …

I’ve struggled with my weight since I was 5 years old. At that time I heard my father comment, “No fat daughter of mine will ever be seen in a tutu!” Those words would haunt me for fifty years. At the time I heard them, I didn’t know I was fat; I was only in kindergarten. I had not yet …

I spent the first part of my adult life wearing sizes 7 and 9 in clothes, until the event, the incestuous encounter. What made my incestuous situation unusual? My perpetrator was my father, and I was an adult when it happened. I was in such shock after the event that for the next few days my brain (to help me …

When I walked through the doors of my first OA meeting I was skeptical, anxious, and ashamed. I circled the room awkwardly, found a seat, and plastered a fake smile on my face. I felt resigned that I’d finally hit such a low bottom and this was the last hope for me. But I thought that if I just tried …

I have changed my focus: I used to say to myself, when I was about to overeat, “This will add half a pound (.2 kg) to my weight.” That consequence was not effective in stopping me from overeating. It seemed too distant, too much like “I will deal with that later.” I’ve now identified something that is affected the moment …

I was introduced to OA in 1987 following outpatient therapy for binge eating, overeating, and bulimia, so I was already armed with a food plan and an understanding of the First Step when I “jumpstarted” into the program. The miracle of abstinence led to a new spiritual life, and OA saved me from the insanity of my disease. I was …

I always suffered from feelings of not belonging and not being good enough, and I was always the biggest one in my class. When I was in sixth grade, we had to be weighed, and the whole class knew I was 250 pounds (113 kg). I wished they had hit me with a baseball bat—it would have hurt less. The …