After a twelve-year absence from OA, I began to admit that I was back in food obsession and my crazy thinking about food was my only tool for handling life. Even though I was down a little from my all-time high weight of 212 pounds (96 kg), I was hovering just below 200 pounds (91 kg), well above a healthy …

As a child, I loved this fairy tale: A girl is born, and a fairy gives her the “gift” of obedience. At first, she tries to protect herself by keeping her gift/curse a secret, but when her father remarries, her bossy, jealous stepmother and stepsisters quickly discover she has no choice but to obey. Her life becomes unmanageable. Stripped of …

Hi, I’m Chris B., a compulsive overeater and powerless over food. I would not be alive today if I didn’t sponsor. I say this because it’s my truth, and I cannot keep what I’ve received unless I give it away. I used to weigh over 430 pounds (195 kg). I used to question whether I could sponsor someone or not. …

I have not always had a weight problem, but I’ve always had the disease of compulsive overeating. Before age 13, the disease did not show up on my body, because I was using the fuel to grow. But it was definitely at work between my ears, manifesting mentally through my obsession with sweets and other binge foods and spiritually through …

I had never led a retreat by myself and worried I’d come off as unprepared and not able to give anything to the group. I worried that I’d get lost, miss the ferry, get carjacked, or hit a moose. I was crossing into Canada—aren’t moose everywhere? I was at a retreat two years before where a woman in the audience …

One of my favorite OA literature quotes is from the chapter on Step Three in The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition: “Once we compulsive overeaters truly take the third step, we cannot fail to recover” (p. 23). I find it a promise on par with any other; however, I understand that promise in the context …

Editors note: Below are two world service contributions from OA members in support of our Strategic Plan. In August 1999, I was desperate and obese. I was still pleasant at work but not at home. I had reached the point where I couldn’t stop eating but the food was no longer satisfying, so I had nothing to live for. A …

Back in 2007, I had the pleasure of hearing the chair of the OA Board of Trustees talk about how to strengthen meetings. She mentioned five simple (but not necessarily easy) concepts that may help all meetings and OA as a whole. 1. Offer radical hospitality. Newcomers want to be at the meeting. They are there because they are ready …

I’ve done it, you’ve done it, we’ve all done it: we spend the first twelve minutes or so of a fifteen-minute qualification telling members how awful things used to be (as if they don’t already know!) and then about two minutes sharing what happened to change us and one minute on what we are like now. Don’t get me wrong. I …

Editors note: Below are two world service contributions from OA members in support of our Strategic Plan. My name is Denise, and I am a compulsive overeater. I am a 62-year old straight black woman, wife, mother, and grandmother. OA found me in 1988. I was in program then for eight years. I lost 120 pounds (54 kg) and thought …