Diversity Newcomers Thanking My Lucky Stars In the past, whenever I got into a rut, had problems, felt angry, or couldn’t cope with stress, I would eat and eat and eat. Eating used to help, especially that first bite. But after that first bite, I would just automatically shove food into my mouth, and I wouldn’t stop until my jaws were tired. I was always hoping … Read More
Recovery Working the Program The Essential Me I’m juggling a lot of stressful family and work responsibilities right now. It’s easy to get lost in the potent stew of “must-do’s,” worry, and expectations (both mine and others’) and find myself trying to control events, people, feelings, and outcomes and make everything “right.” (Right, of course, means “my way.”) That’s how I used to live, on the adrenaline … Read More
Literature Tools & Concepts Truly a Gift My first sponsor was a temporary sponsor, and as a newcomer, I felt funny talking to a stranger about my issues with food. I didn’t want a sponsor, but he was there for me. I started emailing him my meal plan. I read articles from Lifeline magazine and then wrote to my temporary sponsor. I was obsessed with everything food, even … Read More
Abstinence Gut Check Before I came home to OA, it didn’t take much to send me to the food. While stress and other emotions were obvious reasons for me to bury myself in junk food, other feelings— physical ones like being tired or in pain—also gave me all the excuses I needed to overeat. I had no spiritual life either, so I only … Read More
Steps Traditions Saying the Words Step Ten: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. Most days, I take personal inventory at the end of the day. It helps me sleep. I inventory fears, resentments, and stressful thoughts and beliefs. Wrongs seem to stem from those. I also list gratitudes, but not the things I think I should be grateful for. … Read More
Gratitude Recovery The Strategy of Surrender At our writing meeting, we often read articles about spiritual awakening from books such as Lifeline Sampler. Reading articles written by fellow Overeaters Anonymous members, people like me, seems to give me the deepest insights, and this particular meeting opened up a new perspective about gratitude. Once again, I became able to identify behavior patterns I’d created a long time … Read More
Recovery Relationships Keep Recovery a Priority I wrote a song once that said: “I am stuck in the middle of the hard part of my story.” I was 27, and I thought it was a clever lyric for a challenging time. Eleven years later, I see that difficulties back then pale in comparison to what’s happening now. Due to a series of stressful events, I am … Read More
Higher Power All I Have to Do! Slogans—I love them! Since my return to OA, I seem to be using them more and more. To me they are triggers, good triggers—words and sentences that help me remember the teachings of the Twelve Steps. The one that seems to come to mind most often these days is “let go and let God.” When I returned to OA after a … Read More
Recovery Consequences and Magic I came into OA when I was 35, after realizing that I felt about food the way alcoholics feel about liquor. If I started eating, I didn’t stop until the food was gone. But I didn’t understand being powerless over food; I just wanted to lose weight and move on. You can’t die from food, I thought. Well, I had … Read More