Meetings Recovery Working the Program worldwide Day or Night I need a traveling program, one that is available to me 24/7. I have used our website, oa.org, a lot. I’ve looked up in-person meetings when I travel. This past November, I was traveling on the East Coast (I live on the West Coast), and I searched and found a meeting for every day that I was available, including a … Read More
Literature Tools & Concepts Abstinent Now I am writing to echo sentiments from “Print Preference.” I came to OA in 1986 and have abstained from sugar since then and have been maintaining a 100-pound (45-kg) weight loss. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for the gift of OA, for the gift of a life free from food obsession and bondage, and for a life in … Read More
Abstinence What a Gift to Grow Abstinence has changed my life physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Abstinence has stopped physical cravings and emotional swings. It has opened the doorway for acceptance and understanding as well as Step work around my powerlessness over food, people, places, and things. Abstinence has opened me up to Higher Power, inner growth, and open-mindedness. One day at a time, Higher Power and … Read More
Fellowship Recovery The World’s Longest String In the summer of 1979, I, along with three other compulsive overeaters, none of whom weighed less than 225 pounds (102 kg), jumped into my subcompact car (talk about a low-riding chassis!) and drove twelve hours from Durham, North Carolina. Our destination? New York City, home of the 1979 World Service Convention. What do I remember? I remember the show … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Abstinent Past My Expiration Date I am a compulsive overeater. Before coming to OA, I tried many diets and weight-loss programs. I always lost the 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 pounds but promptly gained it all back and then some. After losing my three-year-old daughter, I wasn’t able to diet and lose weight anymore. When I finally came to OA in 1973, I came … Read More
Literature Tools & Concepts Self-Sustaining Abstinence Did you know that OA exists in Barillas, Guatemala? I am writing to you from a small, rural village outside of the town. Today is Thanksgiving Day in America. My heart is full of gratitude, and my belly is not stuffed from overeating holiday treats! My two teens, my husband, and I have spent the last four days with the … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Work-World Recovery Two years ago, I was hired to work as a workshop leader at a treatment and rehabilitation facility in California, so I travel there every other month. About a month ago, I was outside, walking along the coast, when it hit me hard: I have this opportunity only because OA changed my life and brought me into the world of recovery. … Read More
Recovery Working the Program I Stayed Abstinent A favorite OA phrase of mine is “willing to go to any length” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 58). Practicing this has helped me stay abstinent, which for me is not eating foods with refined sugar listed in the first four ingredients, for twenty one and a half years. For me, this phrase means: Attending at least two OA meetings … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Traveling Recovery Traveling away from home over the holidays can be a difficult time for a compulsive overeater like me. Surprisingly, I am still compulsive away from home! Because I travel often, I’ve developed some techniques that help me stay abstinent and in recovery on the road, especially over the holidays. To set up recovery before my trip, I do these things: … Read More
Diversity Newcomers The Path of Totality In August last year, parts of the United States witnessed a full solar eclipse. There was roughly a 70-mile-wide (113 km) “path of totality,” and the lucky individuals along this path got to experience an awesome phenomenon. At first, I didn’t understand the hype, but my daughter lives near Nashville, which was in the path of totality, so she invited … Read More
