More and more, with each passing year, I count the many blessings that have come from working the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous. Today, deep in my heart, I can really FEEL the experience of “my cup runneth over.” This feeling doesn’t come from an overflow of food (as once was the case), but from […]
Category Archives: Abstinence
Hurting? Reach for your Higher Power, NOT Food!
Saturday (9/11/21) was the 20th Anniversary of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the militant Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States of America on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I spent much of that particular weekend reading about that day’s infamous events and watching a very detailed (and amazingly thorough) documentary that […]
A Desire to Stop Eating Compulsively
Tradition Three – The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively. The doors of Overeaters Anonymous are open to everyone who wants to seek this way of life. There are no bars to entry, no boxes to check to make us worthy of membership. There is just one requirement: a […]
Abstinence
Tradition Three in Overeaters Anonymous tells us: The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively. When I attended my first few meetings, I heard people talking about abstinence and, in some cases, abstaining from certain foods and eating behaviors. I was appalled. I had spent a lifetime dieting and restricting as […]
Show Me the Way
I’m a compulsive overeater and a sugar addict, and also a grateful member of Overeaters Anonymous. Before coming into OA, I used sugar to calm my nerves and I was always nervous. I had a marriage that was dysfunctional, and I thought it was my husband’s entire fault. I tried to match his addiction with […]
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 […]
How OA and Zentangle helped me untangle my life
I was fortunate to find a sponsor that was not merely extremely kind, patient, and loving – but someone willing to challenge my old beliefs about art and my own creativity! When I was a child, my parents had discouraged my keen interest in art by advising me it was “a complete waste of time.” […]
Putting Together A Plan of Eating
Our Plans of Eating are as varied as our members. There are those of us who are strict vegetarians (such as my sponsor) that rely upon tofu, seitan, or legumes with rice for their daily protein, whereas others among us much prefer to eat animal meat or seafood (such as I do), with healthy fats […]