Many Ways to Serve
There are countless ways to serve in Overeaters Anonymous, each offering an opportunity to support recovery and extend the hand and heart of OA to others.
Readings
Always Be Accessible to All
“No matter what walks of life the members come from, each is entitled to experience the fellowship our program offers,” says Anonymous, who showed up to their first OA meeting only wanting to be thin and for the emotional pain to stop and found themselves “loved and accepted as I was.”
Step Three: “The Importance of Working All Twelve Steps” Podcast Series
Gloria, a compulsive overeater and food addict, and Neil, a compulsive eater, host this workshop on OA’s Third Step: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”
Step Two: “The Importance of Working All Twelve Steps” Podcast Series
Mary, a compulsive overeater, hosts this workshop on OA’s Second Step, which some regard as a bridge from the powerlessness of Step One to the resolve of Step Three.
Step One: “The Importance of Working All Twelve Steps” Podcast Series
Tina, recovering compulsive overeater, and Ronnie, a compulsive overeater, host this workshop on OA’s First Step: “We admitted we were powerless over food; that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Introduction / “Step Zero”: “The Importance of Working All Twelve Steps” Podcast Series
This episode explores the nature of the disease of compulsive eating and the willingness it takes to begin the recovery journey. Some refer to the state of being just before accepting the OA program as “Step Zero.”
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
When an anonymous OA member started working Step Two and needed to contain his skepticism with some logic, he found a bedrock of truth in the ideas he had accepted in Step One. “If I practice honesty, the Principle of Step One, then I cannot wiggle out of these truths.”
Authority in the Rooms
“When I came into OA . . . I was working for an important corporation,” says Carrie. “It just amazed me that OA meetings were so much more efficient and effective than corporate meetings.” The reason? Our Second Tradition.
My Part of Together
“We are all dependent on each other for our shared welfare,” says one OA member. “You came with a commitment to love me until I learned to love myself. Because I owe you for that love and acceptance, I get the work done that needs to be done.”
Digging Differently
“By admitting my powerlessness over food and my life in Step One and by continuing to come back for twenty-nine years, I have maintained an 80-pound (36-kg) weight loss,” says Kristin, who previously had done many years of “research” into dieting.