Elaine from New Zealand reflects on Lifeline and the amazing changes OA has brought to her life. “The OA program works. . . . Though I have wanted to leave many times, I have stayed and begun to see the transformation of my outlook on life.”
The sexual abuse that Blanca suffered as a child led her to gain weight in an attempt to make herself less attractive, and led later to multiple suicide attempts. Thankfully, her desperate attempts to outrun her pain were soothed and solved in Overeaters Anonymous. “My practice of the Twelve Steps leaves me with some very empowering ways of seeing life,” she says. “My smiles . . . . are coming from a place of inner peace, confidence, and happiness.
Sepidah, an OA member from Iran, came into the program feeling physically, mentally, and spiritually bankrupt. “I could barely bear the weight of my soul,” she says. Through OA and working the Twelve Steps, however, she has found a workable solution. “I am calm,” she says. “I sleep more peacefully . . . and I have better balance in working the Steps.”
Even after weight-loss surgery, Kaveh from Tehran, Iran, discovered that he could not overcome the feelings of inadequacy that had led him to overeat. He tried books and therapy, but ultimately found emotional recovery in OA. Working all Twelve Steps, Kaveh learned to “heal the overeater not only physically but emotionally and spiritually.”
“I can say without a shadow of a doubt that OA has completely saved my life,” says Renee D. from California USA. “I can’t wait to see what the next 900 days has in store for me.”
“Connection with another person on any level is what I love most,” says Elizabeth from Missouri USA. But even after losing 120 pounds (54 kg) her defects of character kept her emotionally isolated. See how she found success working the OA program.
Even with two relapses, Christine has found that life in the OA program is immeasurably better than life before OA. “Abstinence is the most important thing in my life,” she says.
What does it look like to be a compulsive eater? The answer is it depends, but what Meg B. from California knows for sure is that being a compulsive eater in recovery means getting to be a gracious and honorable human being.
“I will be the first to admit that I have been a control freak,” says Beth. “As I worked the Twelve Steps, I learned to let go of thoughts about how someone should have acted or how things should have gone.”
“Coming into the program, I didn’t even realize how isolated I was,” says Jesse. “Soon I started to see a glow in others and in myself: The glow of recovery.”