A.F.S. from Illinois USA was a “revolving door member, joining and dropping out, for decades, and during that time she continued cycles of binge eating and restricting. It was not until she was given the gift of desperation that she committed to truly working the program. “And I hated it,” she says, “but the freedom tastes much better than any food I could eat.”
When Judy E. fell into relapse, she never stopped working her program. She used all the Tools and worked the Steps, but she just couldn’t stop herself in the moments leading up to that first compulsive bite. Then she heard a message from her Higher Power and set a goal to improve her awareness. Read on to find out how she did it.
Regarding the start of her relapse, Lee R. from Massachusetts USA reflects, “Looking back, I realize that what I was trying to do was “to be normal,” which could never happen. I am a compulsive overeater and nothing will ever change that.” But she never gave up hope and the miracle happened for her.
Have you ever met someone with 47 years of abstinence? Meet Chris Q., who became abstinent on November 13, 1977, and shares read her story about what it takes: “Abstinence . . . . is ours for the asking if we are willing to fight for it,” she says.
As a psychiatric nurse, Nancy Z. from Missouri USA knew what insanity looked like, so at first it seemed absurd to her that she needed to be restored to sanity. But as she started to look at the evidence—her weight and her relationships—she started to see that there was something for her in taking the Second Step.
When the thought of binge eating comes to Jacki A., she turns to writing to remind herself of her inherent self worth.
“I though God had forgotten me in my relapse,” says Hafeze from Gilan, Iran. She later realized that God was simply waiting for her to ask for help. When she came back to OA, she was blessed with a better understanding of the disease and how to find recovery.
“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.
Jacki shares a writing exercise placing a help wanted ad for her personal Higher Power. In OA, we need a Power that is greater than our problem with food, and we get to choose for ourselves the nature of this Higher Power.
Weight-loss surgery (actually 2 surgeries) was not a magic bullet for Anonymous who writes after having joined OA in the last few years. Not only did she gain weight in the process, but when she lost weight, she “struggled with the comments abut the weight I was losing and the flirty attention I was receiving.” With OA, she has found emotional recovery and a sensible plan of eating.