I remember the honest and gut-wrenching inventories I went through when I worked my Fourth Step. The first time was difficult. The second time was not as difficult, but it took me deeper into my hidden valleys as the layers of secrets were peeled away. Feelings of sadness, anger, and fear were thrown at me like javelins. I had no idea they were deep inside of me, and their …

I have really been getting a lot of guidance and clarity from HP during meditation lately, particularly during OA meditation phone meetings. On a recent group meditation call, these words came to me as a message to my body after I realized what a beautiful and sacred gift my body actually is. Dear Body, You are so amazing! You have been trying to take care of me for …

When I entered Overeaters Anonymous, I simply wanted help to stop bingeing. I couldn’t stop no matter what I did, so walking into the rooms, I already knew I was powerless over food. What I didn’t know was that my compulsive eating was a symptom of a disease. I understand now that I have “a disease that affects the person on three levels—physical, spiritual, and …

Higher Power, build with me and do with me as this program requires. Relieve me of the bondage of self. Let victory over my difficulties bear witness to the love and power of this program. Let me follow its way of life always. Direct my thinking. Eliminate my self-pity and dishonesty with myself. Confine my self-seeking to positive directions. Keep my mind open and …

“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” (Step Two). That is all I heard twenty-two years ago when I went to my first OA meeting, and I’ve held onto that Step since. God could restore me to sanity, and he did. During all these years, I’ve never even thought to or wanted to leave this lifesaving program. At my first meeting, …

In May 2019, three of us founded an atheist/agnostic face-to-face meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. We’d already had nineteen people at our most recent virtual meeting and had launched a second meeting online. Our purpose has been to help make the OA community more accessible to people who do not believe in a deity or have unconventional beliefs. We begin our …

I am athletic and an atheist. I don’t fit the stereotype of what a compulsive overeater looks like. Twenty-five years ago, before phone or online meetings took off and before anorexia and bulimia were in the media, I attended my first face-to-face OA meeting in Sacramento, California. California, land of the progressive, land of the open-minded, right? Wrong. I did not …

When we approach Step Nine, how often have we heard the suggestion to put ourselves at the top of the list? When we first hear this, it is usually very difficult. We have forever been putting ourselves at the bottom of the list and now folks are saying to put ourselves at the top? Scary! But so important! How can …

The first time I worked the Steps, more than thirty years ago, I believed in a benevolent HP who was watching my back. I was sure of this because I was very happy at that time in my life. Twenty-five years later, I had a spiritual crisis when I lost my career, and now, I believe no entity was ever …

I am grateful for the coronavirus. No, thank God, I have not had it, and I know it has caused a lot of suffering, but I’m still grateful. Why? There are silver linings for every cloud. One of them was a recovery event put on in April by the Los Angeles Intergroup of Overeaters Anonymous that they called “Quarantine and …