In August 2008, several of us were sitting in the proverbial OA circle before a discussion was to begin and joking about the way we fit on our chairs. My comment was, “My thighs always hang over the edge.” The man next to me noted he didn’t have that problem and mentioned he could “help me with my food.” My …

I had wanted to give service in any way I could. When there were no abstinent people available for a position on the intergroup board for our region, I offered to take up a position that I had thought I could do. I did not think my attention deficit disorder would be a problem, because I knew how to write …

I resisted doing service—the same way I’d once resisted writing out a food plan for the day. And I hated the slogan “service is slimming,” which some members chanted during the reading of the Tools in meetings. But my program was faltering in all areas: physical, emotional, and spiritual. I was forgetting all the important parts of the program, forgetting …

This program has changed my life. It has taken away my desire to assassinate your character. It has stilled my desire to engage in gossip because it has made me feel better about myself. It has forced me to cease being intolerant and judgmental and to humbly accept that I am no better or worse than you—just equal. The Twelve …

Before OA, I lived a life based on self-centered fear. I was always concerned with what you thought of me: Was I too fat? Too incompetent? Too uninteresting? Too shy? I avoided social situations, stayed home, and numbed out with TV, alcohol, and food. Now, I work daily to outgrow my fears. I face them with courage and ask God …

OA is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It has changed my life—irrevocably, I hope—since that day in 2002 when I, with my usual reservations, finally became willing to surrender to a sponsor. OA has healed me physically, emotionally, and most important to me, spiritually. According to my reading of program literature, spirituality is the crux of it …

Eight weeks ago, I attended my first OA meeting. I’d researched OA and vaguely knew about a concept of abstinence, but that was about it. After a bit more reading, another meeting, and devouring the Big Book and Twelve and Twelve, I realized I urgently needed a sponsor. After all, on reading the Twelve and Twelve, it seemed I was …

Today my husband and I are living our retirement dream, thanks to OA and the Twelve Steps. My life is so different today than it was before program. Today, I have a life and food has its proper place, thanks to a food plan that works for me. Two years ago, I relapsed after seventeen years of abstinence. It was …

As I sit here at day forty-five of my abstinence, I am amazed and grateful for what has turned out to be like a joyride! I’ve had a couple days of waking up crabby, but I told my sponsor, put it out on calls, surrendered it to God, and soon found myself back on my joyride again. When I think …

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 …