Food and rage were Judith’s ways of dealing with stress before OA. In this story, she recounts how using the telephone Tool both to call and text her sponsor and other OA members helped her take her next Step and truly feel the support coming from her Higher Power.
“I knew I had huge self-will…” says one member who came in broken after trying to work the program her own way. But she was also desperate and willing, and her willingness led to progress, and her progress eventually, and inevitably, led her to her dream of “a peaceful and serene life.”
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.
Cyndy, compulsive eater, and Meg, food and sugar addict, host this workshop on Step Twelve: “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” This workshop includes great shares about the value of giving service.
Linda, grateful compulsive overeater, and Beverly, compulsive overeater, host this workshop on Step Eleven: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” Examples of prayer and meditation are discussed.
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.”
The list of amends to make in Step Nine may be long, but it is guaranteed to be finite. Even in a difficult Ninth Step, the promises still come true! “And,” this writer reports, ”I am able to stay abstinent . . . one day at a time!”
Tina, a recovering compulsive overeater, and Gloria, a compulsive overeater and food addict, host this workshop on Step Nine: “Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” They give specific examples to show what making amends can look like in different situations.
Stephanie, a compulsive overeating, and Nancy, a gratefully recovering compulsive overeater, host this workshop on OA’s Fifth Step: “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
Ronnie, a compulsive overeater, and Tina, a recovering compulsive overeater, host this workshop on Step Eight: “Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.” For Ronnie, the accountability of Step Eight is what differentiates the OA program from talk therapy.