When I first joined OA in 1996 we gathered at the “Lemon Squeezer” church in Victory Park, Johannesburg. It smelled of highveld dust and floor polish. At 30, I seemed to be the youngest in the room filled with middle-class white women who looked like my elderly relatives. Just two years into South Africa’s democracy integration wasn’t happening and the …
As a longtime agnostic, I had a lot of hesitation as I walked into a church basement to attend my first OA meeting. My doubts quickly multiplied when I heard them read the Twelve Steps. I was distressed by the references to God, especially to a male God to whom I was supposed to “turn over my will”. As a feminist, …
Monica is the Chair of the PIPO committee of OA Foot Steps, the Co-Chair of Unity with Diversity at World Services, and a WSBC delegate. Q: What Is the Goal and aspirations of the PIPO unity with Diversity? A: The mission is to attract & draw in, compulsive eaters to OA, and to attract people from under represented communities in …
At the last Virtual Intergroup Meeting (VIG), we went into breakout rooms and played with a team building exercise. We came up with words and phrases of what OA Foot Steps represents for us. We are not a glum lot, and had some fun!! Here are some images from our wonderful Illustrator.
Q: What is your story with Compulsive Eating? A: I have always been a compulsive eater. When I was 1.5 years old, my mom put these sweets, baked by my aunt, in front of me to keep me quiet while she was cutting my hair. Next thing you know, I was drunk as a skunk as these were Rum balls. …
TSW is the Twelfth Steps Within committee. The goals of the committee are to provide services to members that will help keep them from relapse, and also help them if they do come back after relapse. The committee will be doing at least one workshop each quarter. TSW also hosts 15 week Step Studies. We are in the process of organizing two …
When I was in my disease and eating compulsively, I was preoccupied with food. Iwas obsessed with diets and my weight. There was no reprieve from the insanethoughts that pervaded my mind. Everything centered around the next binge,hoarding and hiding provisions, a warped body image, and eventually how much Icould restrict.Every diet was followed by demoralization, depression, and disillusion. I …
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I would like to talk on behalf of Traditions One and Two. Beginning in April of 1946, in the Grapevine, Bill Wilson began to expound on what he called “The Twelve Points to Assure our Future’’. These became known as the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, and eventually, our own adopted Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous. The First Tradition states “Our …
Before I found OA, food was my answer to everything and anything. If I had a problem, I would eat. Uncomfortable feelings meant more food. After spending time in OA, I came to believe and accept that food is an ineffective means of coping. Using food to cope is no longer an option for me. Now, I eat to live, …
