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.
Lisa A. from California USA saw that abstinent OA members not only committed to their plan of eating but also committed to working the OA program. Keeping her abstinence has required adjustments over the years, but nevertheless, “I am free from compulsive eating . . . and free to experience the promises . . . of the Big Book,” she says.
“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.“
Edward from Kentucky shares an important lesson he learned about recovering from relapse. Spoiler alert: the lesson is to keep coming back!
A healthy check-in from Rosanne’s sponsee leads Rosanne to reflect on what it was like for her before she found OA. “I wanted to be thin but not give up the food. . . . OA encouraged me with more than just food issues—I no longer felt alone.”
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.
“Gone are the binges followed by total despair for days,” writes Julian, who left OA after he felt he wasn’t making progress only to later realized just how much he needed our program.
Isa experienced food addiction and body image issues from early childhood. “I would have done anything to be thin,” she says. After topping 242 pounds (110 kg), she joined OA and knew right away she was in the right place.
Linda, a compulsive eater, and Karen, abstinent compulsive eater and food addict, host this workshop on Step Ten: “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.”
OA invites DIVERSITY and promotes UNITY. In this episode, one OA member describes coming back from relapse and another finds motivation in a program that promotes 90 days of abstinence from compulsive eating.