Abused from age 6, Linda started eating compulsively at an early age. As a young adult, she was unable to grasp the nature of her problem with food. When health problems mounted, and she was unable to cope, “I threw in the towel,” she says, “by overeating.” And that’s when the message of OA started making sense.
Laura from Connecticut USA originally thought that coming to an OA meeting was the same as taking the First Step. But for eight years, she never found a lasting abstinence. It wasn’t until she faced the prospect of an early death from obesity that she came to understand what it truly means to work Step One.
Deborah has endured jail, marital separation, and cancer, but today she shines with recovery. “I am now claiming six years of abstinence,” she says. “Y’all have taught me life is fun, but my meals can’t be fun. . . . It’s worth all the daily discipline for freedom from food obsession.”
“I work with therapists, dietitians, OA sponsors, and medical doctors to manage my mental illness, and I work on healthy eating and achieving a healthy body weight,” says Vicki. “Many food miracles miracles keep occuring, as I continue to work this program.”
A dietitian explains how the care she delivered was improved once she understood that addictive processes can apply to problems with food. She says the addiction can be broken with the OA program and its Plan of Eating Tool.
A medical doctor asserts that compulsive eating is a disease that precedes other chronic disorders. The disease can be successfully treated by applying treatment principles similar to those used for alcoholism.
A medical doctor puts the high cost of obesity in society in perspective and explains how OA provides a solution for individuals suffering from compulsive eating.
“Many of us come to OA feeling like this is the ‘last house on the block,’” Andrea writes. ”Thank God we find acceptance and understanding in OA.” Read about Andrea’s journey through food obsession, recovery, relapse, and finding serenity in our program.
Joan has completely turned her life around in the four years since she joined OA. “The person I am today is no longer full of yesterday’s resentments,” she says. “She is a person who seeks daily to be the OA message.”
Mary Ann weighed 236 pounds (107 kg) and was facing a fatal liver condition. That was her wake up call. She came to OA, threw herself into the program, lost 106 pounds (48 kg), and has found spiritual, physical, and emotional recovery.