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 […]
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OA Member Recipe: Yummy Good-4-U Spinach Parmigiano Chicken Rollatini
My family is from Italy and came over to the US on a boat back in the late 1940’s. Although they are all exceedingly slim and healthy (most of them living to ripe, old ages), I was the exception in that I struggled mightily with my weight from nearly the moment I was born. While […]
Rigorous Honesty Opens The Path to Recovery from Compulsive Eating
A Requirement for Recovery In addition to having a sincere desire to stop eating compulsively, rigorous honesty is possibly the most important factor in success in recovery. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous clearly states: Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people […]
Epiphany in Recovery
An epiphany in recovery is a deep realization of an important truth. In my experience, an epiphany is often accompanied by goose bumps, tears, or other physical sensations. In recovery, epiphanies are described as “aha” moments and can be very powerful. I once heard that an epiphany is a thought in the form of an […]
Practicing the Principles: Finding Recovery in Fiction
Reading program literature is an essential tool of recovery in Overeaters Anonymous and other 12-step programs. Alcoholics Anonymous, aka The Big Book, is an essential guide to recovering from addiction in all its forms. Overeaters Anonymous recommends replacing “alcohol” and “alcoholic” with “food” and “compulsive overeating” when reading AA literature. The 12 Steps and 12 […]
Falling Into My Higher Power
I am sitting in the shade of a tree overlooking the water of the Niagara River as it rushes toward the American Falls. It’s the last day of my vacation, so I came back to this park to meditate for a few minutes, to connect with serenity, and capture my thoughts before I finish getting […]
Miracles of Recovery: Following Doctors’ Orders
A recent conversation with a fellow OA member had me thinking about the miracles of recovery in Overeaters Anonymous. One of those miracles enables us to follow doctors’ orders regarding changes to our food and action plans to support our health. Even after 30 years of abstinence in OA, I still can resist making changes […]
Levels of Competence in Recovery
I’ve been in OA for 30 years. Over time in recovery listening to speakers at meetings, retreats, and conferences, I’ve heard many ways to express the levels of competence in recovery. One of the ways I marked my early progress was to notice my turn-around time. I had a long history of overreacting to the […]
Seventh Step Plea
Oh, God of my understanding, Higher Power of my fathers,Understand my cries tonight. Hear my call to you for help.This is the first and greatest of my defects. My characterSuffers so from independence. It was once a necessaryEvil, but today I must put away the shards of glass that myChrysalis has become. It is my […]
Rebirth
Do butterflies recall caterpillar days: Green bloated bodies chewing leaves into lace, spinning themselves into shrouds of blessed invisibility? Do swans relive ugly-duckling beginnings, avoiding their own reflections in barnyard mirrors, forced into shame by the jeers of the cuter species? Frozen by familial terms of cruel endearment, a cowardly bookworm devouring fantasy stories of […]
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, […]