Listen to an OA Meeting
Listen to OA members share at a real OA meeting about OA’s First Step: “We admitted we were powerless over food—that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Kevin McGuire
Unity Day Podcast: “Growing OA Unity Worldwide”
Unity Day is a day set aside to affirm the strength inherent in OA’s unity. Unity Day is celebrated in February on the last Saturday of the month in even years and the last Sunday in odd years. It is observed by OA groups worldwide at 11:30 a.m. local time.
Reflections: A Visit with OA’s Founder
Recorded in 1999 on the occasion of OA’s 40th anniversary, OA’s founder Rozanne S. shares her recollections of OA’s simple beginnings and giant strides. Listen and learn about the history of OA’s Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, world service, and early group conscience.
Interview with Kaitlin: Sugar Addiction, Bulimia, and Anorexia as a Teen
Kaitlin’s sugar addiction started in middle school after her parents’ divorce caused a number of stresses in her life. She later discovered bulimia and started overexercising, using laxatives, and vomiting. Today she has a new life that she once thought was impossible.
Interview with Charles: Exercise Bulimia and Compulsive Overeating
ane. That’s the word Charles uses to describe his relationship with food before OA. He went to his first OA meeting only to support a friend, but he did not recognize his own problem. Years later, when he could no longer control his weight, a growing sense of hopelessness made Charles ready to hear OA’s message.
Interview with Esti: Compulsive Eater and Dieter
Esti remembers as a teen feeling a compulsive need to diet and believing she was heavier than she actually was. She ate to cope with negative emotions and could not stop thinking about food.
Esti recalls immediately feeling comfortable at OA meetings and finding abstinence. Looking back, Esti says her inner life has changed significantly, and she is able to live her life without obsessing about food.
Interview with Joe: Compulsive Eater
A preacher’s son, Joe’s compulsive eating was born when he became an adult and renounced the religion of his upbringing. From then on, Joe says he was “running too the food or away from the food.” At Joe’s first OA meeting, he felt hope seeing that others had overcome their food obsessions.
Interview with Dodie: Compulsive Eater
Before OA, food ruled Dodie’s every waking moment, even from a very early age. In college, Dodie weighed 215 pounds (97.5 kg) and felt trapped in ugliness. When she realized she had a problem with food, she found OA, and now maintains a 85-pound (38.5-kg) weight loss.
Interview with Bob: Overeater and Overexerciser
Bob was already in shape and at a healthy weight but learned in OA that his exercise habits masked a food addiction. He describes how OA gave him a safe place to find recovery and build a productive life.
Interview with Kathleen: Binge Eater
Kathleen’s binge eating and low self-esteem made her ill and unable to hold a job. She was in the midst of bingeing and counting calories when she heard on the radio a public service announcement about Overeaters Anonymous. When she attended her first meeting, someone told her “You’re not alone anymore,” and that was enough to give her hope and start her on her recovery journey.