All About Abstinence

All About Abstinence

What is abstinence in Overeaters Anonymous?

Abstinence is a gift from God, but I’m the one who gets to keep it or throw it away.
Abstinence is the gateway to recovery.
Abstinence is the most important thing in my life.
Abstinence needs to be strong, but not brittle.

Abstinence: I abstain from starting over. I abstain from negativity. I abstain from perfectionism. I abstain from ever leaving OA.

Anything I put before my abstinence, I lose.
As a compulsive overeater, if I make food an option, it will always be the only option.
Awareness and knowledge is discovery, but discovery is not recovery.

Do you want the food more than serenity?
Don’t take that first bite!
Food is not my problem and Food is not my solution.
From a speaker with 30+ years of abstinence to OA as a whole: “Your abstinence is important to me.”

I have a love/hate relationship with food, but normal people don’t even have relationships with food.

I haven’t really lost the weight – I know exactly where to find it – I just stopped looking for it.
If I ask myself whether or not the item is a dessert – that means it is.
If I have a problem and I eat, I then have two problems.
If you can take it or leave it, you can have it.
If you don’t want to have to turn it over, don’t pick it up.
If you want to find out what you’re eating over, try not eating.

Nothing tastes as good as abstinence feels in the morning!
One bite is too many and a thousand is not enough.

Relapse is NOT a requirement.

The tongue is the wrong organ to make food choices – that is why God gave us a brain.
The world record for abstinence is 24 hours.
Thoughts of food are not commands.

When I stay abstinent, I am making amends to myself.
With this program I never have to overeat again if I don’t want to – or even if I do want to…

Zero is easier than one.

Nothing tastes as good as abstinence feels!

JOURNAL PROMPT
Do you have a slogan to share about abstinence or a slogan about something else that aids you in your OA recovery?

Please send your recovery slogans to blog@oasv.org. We look forward to hearing from you and to sharing your story of experience, strength and hope with others on this amazing journey of OA recovery from compulsive eating through the Twelve Steps.