No More Nighttime Eating – Thank you, OA!

Although I never admitted to this before coming to Overeaters Anonymous, I struggled for decades with uncontrollable nighttime eating. Recovery from compulsive eating and sugar addiction was but a far-fetched dream for the vast majority of my life. It was a secret longing, but never something I would talk about out loud – especially not […]

The Paradox of Powerlessness

I define addiction as the overpowering compulsion to do something that I know is going to hurt me. As an active addict, I lost the power to NOT eat food that I don’t even want to eat! Compulsive overeating is not just a bad idea; it is an addiction to substances and behaviors that affect […]

A New Year – A Renewed Commitment to Recovery

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 […]

During the Pandemic I found a Quick and Easy Tenth Step Inventory: AEIOU and Always Y!

As a low bottom compulsive eater (that used to turn to all kinds of unhealthy binge foods to stuff my negative feelings until I became overstuffed, bulimic, and obese), one of the real gifts and surprising blessings that came into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the widening availability of OA meetings and events, […]

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 […]

Again

Alone in the dark How did I get here? Again I didn’t want to Yet here I am Again Every day I wake up I say “not tonight” Every night I’m here Again Self loathing Obese Isolated Body Aches Again Then I met you I act “as if” I write to you I hit my […]