My Prayer for Healthy Eating, Just for Today
Mimi D. from California USA shares a personal prayer she uses to practice the first three Steps and Step Eleven by surrendering her compulsive eating to her Higher Power just for today.
Surrender
I Couldn’t Control Bingeing on Leftover Foods Until I Understood Surrender in OA
“I have always been an emotional eater,” says Kerry from Michigan USA, and as an advocate for social justice, strong emotions are part of her work life. When she recognized that she couldn’t control her binge eating behaviors, Kerry turned to OA and discovered the key to overcoming her compulsion.
When I “Knew It All,” It Led to 10 Years of Relapse. Thankfully, the Longer I Am in OA, the Less I Know
Mimi D. from California USA has gained and lost 100 pounds (45 kg)—twice. The first time was during her first 18 years in OA. Thinking she was “cured” was the beginning of a decade of relapse and a rapid 100-pound weight gain. Yet today, she is abstinent and says, “My soul like a watered garden.” Learn how she found her way back to OA and abstinence.
Eight Practical Lessons I’ve Learned from Working OA’s Twelve Steps
Jean C. first joined OA 35 years ago but failed to work the Steps, which she attributes to another 18 years outside the rooms. Today, however, she is back, she is abstinent, and she is here to share what she has learned.
I Found My OA Recovery, so Why Did God Leave Me Stranded?
Diane D. did all the right things to find recovery in OA, from surrendering in Step One to adopting a plan of eating and throwing herself into service. But then everything crashed because of illness and an outside addiction, and God seemed nowhere to be found. How did she make it back to recovery?
It Took Four Years of Surrendering and Working the Steps. Now I Have the Gifts of Food Neutrality and Equanimity
“Now when I see cake, I can walk on by. It doesn’t call my name,” says Susan from New York USA. What an amazing gift of abstinence and recovery.
An Action Plan for Recovering from Surgery
An upcoming knee replacement surgery was the catalyst for Stephanie to take a really good look at using the action plan Tool. The result of her preparations and efforts? “I am no longer afraid of what is to come or whether I will be able to remain abstinent. . . . Now I am a Spiritual Light.”
10 Questions About Abstinence with a Member of Overeaters Anonymous: Commitment, a Higher Power, Making Changes
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 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.
No One Wants to Admit They Are Powerless Over Food
Maddie has been abstinent in OA for one week. “It’s terrible to admit . . . a destructive obsession with food,” she says. “But until we are ready to admit defeat, our abstinence will be on shaky ground.”