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, …
My sponsor asked me to write on these two questions: Jessica K. Source: oceanandbay.org
We recover together or not at all. This is the “we” in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.OA is not an “I” program. I tried the “I” program. It was all I knew; wasn’t I supposed to apply mywill to problems and overcome them? But my food issues were impervious to my efforts. I wasstuck. And I stayed stuck until …
I am a returning member, back in OA after many relapses over the past fourteen years. Earlier this year, after almost a year of abstinent recovery and losing two thirds of the weight I need to lose for my health, I began experiencing painful and disturbing digestive symptoms. It took months for doctors to diagnose the trouble, and in the …
Do you have a well-defined food plan? I do. Who helped you define your food plan? We had a suggested food plan in those days (1978)called Blue Sheet (it was on blue paper). I found balance in that plan and a guide to follow forthis defiant compulsive overeater. As time passed the amounts changed slightly and I found thisplan became …
There it was. I had done the first three Steps with my sponsor and we both knew what was coming next. He knew it was going to be a big step in my recovery, but to me it looked more like a pending emotional breakdown. Turns out he was right. I had built a pretty good system of denial and …
The first thing I ever identified with in the Big Book was the chapter “We Agnostics” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., pp. 44–57). I loved everything about it and still do. I love that the title says “We.” I love how the chapter is compassionate and understanding and does not talk down to anyone. When I first read it, I felt …
