Tools & Concepts Simple Plan Following a simple fill-in-the-blanks plan of eating has been so helpful this past week while I’ve been away from home and eating in a cafeteria that offers a variety of weird and complicated foods. Just today, I was at the local outdoor market, which was full of arousing aromas, but I decided instead to get a standby lunch option from a … Read More
Tools & Concepts Building on Success I had been attending meetings sporadically for a few months and was thinking about a plan of eating. I read about the different plans listed in Where Do I Start?, but I wasn’t drawn to any of it. So, I asked my sponsor for his take on the subject. He suggested I choose a plan that I was 99 percent sure … Read More
Tools & Concepts Working Wonderfully I have been in OA now for over twenty-eight years, and I have come a long way. When I first came into the program, my food plan consisted of eating very little—I was a starve-and-binger. At the meetings I attended back in those days, there was no clear process for how to pick a food plan. I had a sponsor … Read More
Tools & Concepts My Plan Keeps Me Moving I normally start my day with my arthritis exercises before I get out of bed. But if I am just not feeling it, then I get out of bed, turn on my computer, pour a cup of coffee, and start my meditation and journaling. I have several daily readers from which I read, and then I do freewriting to tell … Read More
Tools & Concepts Simplicity and Priority I have always made action plans . . . if all my to-do lists count. Daily to-do lists keep me organized and let me check off the items I complete. However, when it came to recovery from compulsive eating, I found I needed something more specific to keep me on track with my abstinence. I needed an action plan that … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Fresh in My Mind Last January, I celebrated OA’s 59th birthday, my 76th birthday, and two years of continuous abstinence. I went to my first meeting with a couple of buddies who were already in OA. I was beat and knew I needed a Twelve Step program to start crawling my way out of the abyss of compulsive overeating. I knew I was powerless … Read More
Diversity Newcomers My Replacement I began Overeaters Anonymous in February 2014 after becoming desperate. I was scheduled for a double knee replacement later in the year. At 240 pounds (109 kg), I was told I must lose at least 50 pounds (23 kg) for a successful recovery. I tried and I couldn’t, because I was depressed for three years after being fired from my … Read More
Relapse Relapse & Recovery One Thing I Did Right I’m sorry to say I’ve had many relapses during my twenty-two years in program. But the last five years have been much better: back-to-back abstinence based on putting together a program that uses all the OA elements. My program reminds me of my first relapse, how I got into it and how I got out. I had come into OA … Read More
Abstinence Taking Inventory By my age, I’ve learned that setting down New Year’s resolutions is a hopeless and futile exercise. Last year, however, as a new calendar year began, I realized that I needed to take inventory of my life and my whole program, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I needed to be honest and admit that something I had been rationalizing was a … Read More
Higher Power Adopting a Loving Attitude Mid-afternoon triggers one of my compulsive food behaviors—munching. Every day, hungry or not, food thoughts start to pester me. One day, I asked my Higher Power, whom I call Loving Mother, to handle the urges for me. “I’ll do what you tell me to,” I assured her. “Well, it’s not really about doing; it’s just about loving.” Her reply surprised … Read More