I Found Wealth and Wisdom in Step Ten

When a job offer didn’t turn out as expected, Anonymous from the USA, reached out for a Tool and called an OA friend in recovery. “What I got in return,” she says, ”was a gift I never expected.” (And the gift came via a Step Ten inventory.)

I Couldn’t Bypass My Emotional Recovery

Weight-loss surgery (actually 2 surgeries) was not a magic bullet for Anonymous who writes after having joined OA in the last few years. Not only did she gain weight in the process, but when she lost weight, she “struggled with the comments abut the weight I was losing and the flirty attention I was receiving.” With OA, she has found emotional recovery and a sensible plan of eating.

It Is Truly Never Too Late to Come Back to Overeaters Anonymous

Can you find recovery from compulsive eating later in life? Nancy from Texas USA came back in her mid 60s after 30 years of relapse with compulsive eating. “That first meeting when I returned to OA was a ‘God moment’ for me,” she says, “and I’ve had many more God moments since.”

OA Keeps Me Buoyant with Optimism and Gratitude

Roberta L. from California USA joined OA in 1979. In spite of an early relapse, she kept coming back. She experienced her spiritual awakening in 2002, and since then she says, “My self-esteem has blossomed, and so has my life.” Enjoy her story of living in recovery.

Slip, Fall, Thank My Higher Power, Pick Myself Up

Anothony V. from Pennsylvania USA finds a lesson in the pain that comes from emotional pain, whether a slip or relapse back into compulsive eating or childhood trauma. “Today I can thank God for that pain . . .” he says.

OA Has Transformed My Outlook on Life

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.”

I Used Food to Outrun the Pain of My Childhood Sexual Abuse. But I’ve Found Empowerment in Overeaters Anonymous, and Now There’s No Need to Run

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.

My Compulsive Physical Hunger Was Impersonating a Spiritual Hunger

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.”