Abstainers and Maintainers

I’ve been thinking that a list of the common characteristics among longtime abstainers and maintainers in Overeaters Anonymous might be very revealing and helpful. In my mind, I picture all these members attributing everything on the list below to working the program—the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions—into their daily lives: They have a healthy and conscious relationship with … Continued

What OA Has Done for Me

Mindy shares how Overeaters Anonymous transformed her life through surrendering to her Higher Power, working the Twelve Steps, and embracing a supportive community, leading to profound physical, emotional, and spiritual growth.

First Things

After four and a half years in OA, Rachel had experienced both solid abstinence and a period when life’s challenges had her surviving but not thriving. “What really propelled me through,” she says of this challenging time in her life, “was working another set of Steps.”

IDEA Event Well-Worked

The Milwaukee Area Intergroup’s International Day Experiencing Abstinence (IDEA) event featured a speaker, a writing activity, and a lively discussion based on the Lifeline article *Outside and In*, exploring the contrast between trying to be abstinent and being willing to embrace abstinence.

Our Small but Mighty IDEA

“Our small but mighty IDEA celebration brought together recovering compulsive eaters to share powerful insights on abstinence, threefold recovery, and the strength of unity.”

An IDEA Once Planted

“Through nurturing both a small plant gifted in celebration of abstinence and my OA program, I’ve learned that with care, patience, and renewed enthusiasm, growth and beauty can always be rediscovered—even after 9,190 days.”

Good IDEA

“International Day Experiencing Abstinence (IDEA), observed the third Saturday of November, reminds us that abstinence is not only freedom from compulsive eating but also a profound connection to a Higher Power and spiritual balance.”