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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.”

I Was So Overwhelmed by Binge Eating that I Even Lost My Job. But One Day, Abstinence Came

As I continue to work the Steps and continue to attend meetings, I’ve been delivered more hope and faith in the power of this program . . . I came into Overeaters Anonymous nearly a year ago, distraught and caught in a relentless cycle of bingeing and at other times bingeing and purging. I was … Continued

For 32 Years, I Kept Coming Back Until I Became Willing to Go to Any Length for My Recovery

“I was a fat kid, a fat adolescent, and . . . weighing 315 pounds (143 kg), I was a fat adult,” says Stuart, an OA member from Louisiana USA. Stuart suffered relapses and weight gains “but I never quit coming back,” he says. “In concert with my Higher Power, I have achieved a normal body weight of 139–144 pounds (63–65 kg) for the very first time in my adult life. . . . I am eternally grateful.“

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Keep Coming Back

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

My Compulsive Physical Hunger Was Impersonating a Spiritual Hunger

I Was So Overwhelmed by Binge Eating that I Even Lost My Job. But One Day, Abstinence Came

For 32 Years, I Kept Coming Back Until I Became Willing to Go to Any Length for My Recovery

A Tale of Two Relapses and the One Thing That Made a Difference

Even Through Relapse, I Have Kept Coming Back for 48 Years

I’ve Tried Dieting. I Definitely Belong in OA.

What OA Has Done for Me

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