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 […]
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Our chronicle is a helpful way to learn more about Overeaters Anonymous Silicon Valley. We invite you to explore our blogs and get to know us better. Using the Twelve Steps has given us the freedom we have experienced, and we want to share that experience with you so that you, too, can experience freedom.
2024
- Monday, March 18 OA Member Recipe: Yummy Good-4-U Spinach Parmigiano Chicken Rollatini
- Monday, March 18 My OA Weight Release Journey: Happily Ever After…?“And they lived happily ever-after.” I grew up on fanciful fairytales and the happy-endings of Disney movies. How many of them ended with that famous one-liner? “And they lived happily ever after.” In coming into OA (after years of binge eating, sugar addiction, and endless fixing with food), my belief was that when/after I reach […]
- Tuesday, March 5 Comparing Weight Loss Drugs to OA’s Twelve StepsYou’ve likely noticed the multitude of news headlines and social media posts regarding “easy” and “dramatic” weight loss resulting from “a simple weekly injection,” along with the promise of that injection being made available “in the near future” as a simple little pill. Such a “magic pill” was once the ultimate dream for this compulsive […]
- Tuesday, October 24 Rigorous Honesty Opens The Path to Recovery from Compulsive EatingA 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 […]
- Friday, October 13 Epiphany in RecoveryAn 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 […]
- Friday, September 29 Practicing the Principles: Finding Recovery in FictionReading 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 […]
- Friday, September 22 Falling Into My Higher PowerI 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 […]
- Friday, September 15 Miracles of Recovery: Following Doctors’ OrdersA 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 […]
- Friday, September 8 Levels of Competence in RecoveryI’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 […]
- Friday, September 1 Two-Way PrayerTwo-plus years into my abstinence and recovery, I began to struggle. My food was in order, I was attending meetings and sponsoring, but something was missing. Using food to manage my emotions was pretty much a thing of the past, my life was much simpler and less stressful, and I found more possible to accept […]
- Friday, August 25 Tradition 10: Why Not Talk about Outside Issues?Sometimes it seems that the 12 Steps overshadow the Traditions. However, understanding the traditions and their influence on meeting guidelines helps keep our meetings safe. A saying in program quips that the steps keep us from killing ourselves and the traditions keep us from killing other people. I had a humbling experience several years ago […]
- Friday, August 18 Meditation MessageMeditation Message A crystal dish with a pewter lid tarnished black with age. The curved sculpted handle and carved violets grace the heavy, domed cover. The fluted, soap-sized bowl, rests after 100 years of service amid the bottles and brushes on dressing tables. A Victorian powder box, from my father’s mother and her mother before. […]
- Friday, August 11 Aspects of AbstinenceCompulsive overeating is a substance addiction like addictions to alcohol, drugs, nicotine, etc. In fact, we often refer to certain foods as “alcoholic foods.” As a compulsive overeater, I define my addiction as the inability to not eat something I know is going to hurt me. The harm goes beyond the emotional and social damage […]
- Friday, August 4 Achieving Fit Spiritual ConditionOA’s 12 step program of recovery from compulsive eating promises members “a life beyond our wildest dreams.” While that promise appears in various forms in our literature, the expression “fit spiritual condition,” comes at the end of the 10th step promises on pages 84 and 85 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous: “And we […]
- Tuesday, August 1 WHY ME GOD?I asked that question often when I was a little girl, probably omitting God. To me God was mean, punishing, to be feared. Why me? Why was I fat? Why wasn’t I cute like the other girls? They didn’t have to hide their bodies. I envied their legs. I wanted normal legs. There was a […]
- Wednesday, July 26 Compassionate Self Awareness“I can develop a non-judgmental awareness of myself, accept what I discover, and be fully willing to change. But I lack the power to heal myself. Only my Higher Power can do that.” Courage to Change, Jan. 31. I love the recovery I have found in Overeaters Anonymous. In the 11 months I’ve been in […]
- Friday, July 21 Seventh Step PleaOh, 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 […]
- Friday, July 7 Living Life in the SolutionI’m a compulsive overeater; what some might consider a “garden variety” overeater. In my disease, when I start eating, I cannot stop. I would graze constantly throughout the day, take multiple servings of food at mealtimes, and nibble on leftovers during clean up. Of course, my day wasn’t complete without something sweet before bed. I’m […]
- Thursday, January 19 Serenity at the BeachI came into OA in February 1989. I stayed for twenty-one years through periods of abstinence and relapse, my wedding, jobs, having children, and the death of my father. I shared my problems and my willingness to work on my program. Eventually, I’d realize that the problems I obsessed about were solved. I’d move forward […]
- Thursday, January 19 The Paradox of PowerlessnessI 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 […]
- Monday, March 21 My O.A. Story – Love Notes to MyselfWhat was it like What happened And how it is today. My story starts straight forward But gets more complicated As I proceed. How do you explain the ins and outs From my first beginnings in the program To now, this very fruitful life. I’ve evolved and changed Through the course of years. At first […]
- Monday, March 21 Abstinent Holidays“Once we become abstinent, the preoccupation with food diminishes and in many cases leaves us entirely.” — Our Invitation To You. Before I came into OA, my disease didn’t know the difference between a holiday and a regular day. Any Tuesday in the middle of September was an excuse to overeat. Holidays just made it […]
- Thursday, March 17 Happy to Share the Secret to RecoveryStep Twelve: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs. “We’re always happy to share our secret: the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous, which empower us to live well and be well one day […]
- Friday, February 11 OA Silicon Valley Newsletter – February 11, 2022Please Pass Along These Important OASV Announcements – Remember, together we get better! SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR RECOVERY? GET INTO SERVICE! A vital part of our personal growth in OA that serves to deepen and enhance our recovery is service. All OA members share a responsibility for the operation of OA. We encourage you to consider […]
- Friday, February 11 The Gift of AbstinenceStep Twelve: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs. “We’re always happy to share our secret: the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous, which empower us to live well and be well one day […]
- Wednesday, January 12 RebirthDo 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 […]
- Wednesday, January 5 A New Year – A Renewed Commitment to RecoveryMore 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 […]
- Friday, December 24 What It Was LikeI Swirling confusion spirals around me. I’m caught in a whirlpool of behavior, emotion, belief, and memory that I can’t reconcile. I fight against the current, swim away from the vortex. I’m so tired, so sad. I long to surrender to the tide, but I choke back the tears, and insomnia protects me from my […]
- Friday, December 24 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 […]
- Friday, December 24 Attraction Not Promotion – We Maintain AnonymityTradition Eleven: Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television and other public media of communication. “When we maintain our Tradition of anonymity, we ensure that Overeaters Anonymous remains a spiritual Fellowship, supporting all of us in our […]
- Friday, December 24 Tool of Sponsorship“We ask a sponsor to help us through all three levels of our program of recovery: physical, emotional, and spiritual.” – Tools of Recovery Pamphlet The first time I heard about OA, I said, “Is that a group thing? Groups don’t work for me.” I thought I had all the answers and believed that self-reliance […]
- Friday, December 24 Improving My Relationship with My HPStep Eleven: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. “Our Higher Power is the only source of help that is always available to us, always strong enough to lift us […]
- Wednesday, October 27 OA has Changed My Life for the BetterMy name is Fernando C and I’m a compulsive overeater. I am 42 years of age and have had problems with compulsive overeating my entire life. Growing up, I faced two distinct challenges: 1) I was born into a family where food was scarce and 2) my father was an active alcoholic. Throughout my childhood, […]
- Monday, September 13 Humbly Asking and turning it overStep Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. ”Each of my character defects is replaced by its opposite, and I am equipped with a new set of survival skills.” — Voices of Recovery, October 7. If I’ve done a good job at becoming willing to let go of my character defects, turning them over […]
- Wednesday, August 18 Growth is Taking Responsibility and Being Self-supportingTradition Seven: Every OA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. “Taking responsibility is a meaningful sign of spiritual and emotional growth.” — Voices of Recovery, September 8. When a basket gets passed at a meeting or the meeting treasurer posts a donation link in the chat window, it reminds me that this […]
- Monday, August 16 The Deadly Disease No One wants to Discuss – Compulsive EatingTo sustain life, every living thing must eat – and, typically, human beings must eat several times a day from a wide variety of food groups. And yet, each of us will come to develop a relationship with food that can either lead to a happy and balanced way of being, or it can result […]
- Monday, August 16 A Desire to Stop Eating CompulsivelyTradition 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 […]
- Monday, August 16 Sharing the worst of myself led to the best thingsStep Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. “We find we can cope with both good times and bad, learning and growing spiritually from each experience, as our Higher Power intended us to do all along.” — OA Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions page 49 […]
- Friday, August 13 Understanding Autonomy Through Tradition FourTradition Four: Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or OA as a whole. “All of us need the balance implicit in the Principle of autonomy to be the unique OA groups and individuals we are meant to be.” — OA Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions page 118 I was raised […]
- Wednesday, June 30 Tools – Meetings: Virtual Meetings“Newcomers are more likely to return if they see and hear recovery in action and if someone in the group gives them personal attention and encouragement.” OA Handbook for Members, Groups & Service Bodies p11 Had you heard of Zoom before the spring of 2020? I hadn’t. Those first virtual meetings felt so awkward. I […]
- Wednesday, June 30 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, […]
- Wednesday, June 23 Thanks to Step Two I Came to believeStep Two: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. “Having reduced us to a state of absolute helplessness, you now declare that none but a Higher Power can remove our obsession. Some of us won’t believe in God, others can’t, and still others who do believe that God […]
- Tuesday, June 22 A Searching and Fearless Step Four Moral InventoryWhen we face the guilt that truthfully tells us, “You made a mistake,” we’re freed of the shame that falsely tells us, “You are a mistake.” OA Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, Second Edition, page 36 I don’t know about you, but when I was new, I didn’t have that much experience with being really […]
- Wednesday, June 16 Tradition Two: One Ultimate AuthorityTradition Two: For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority–a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. I don’t know about you, but I just love running the show, being in charge, telling other people what to do. When […]
- Wednesday, June 9 AbstinenceTradition 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 […]
- Friday, May 14 AgainAlone 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 […]
- Friday, May 14 Giggles and GrinsA man arrives at a bus stop, and while waiting, he notices two men working in the center divider of the road. He watches the first man dig a hole about three feet deep, then move down about 4 feet and digs another one. Meantime the second man fills the first hole up with the […]
- Friday, May 14 All About AcceptanceAcceptance is the inner realization that all is well despite outward appearances. All problems are arguments with reality. Happiness doesn’t come from getting what I want – it comes from wanting what I already have. Serenity isn’t freedom from the storm; it is peace within the storm. Acceptance is Not Arguing with Reality. Acceptance is […]
- Friday, May 14 This ObsessionThis obsession – always thinking, planning, wishing to be thin, beautiful. This obsession is the way I hate myself: the way I look, the way I am, who I am. When I attack my body, I attack my soul, my Inner Self. My soul fills me like water fills a sponge, Reaching everywhere, Even into […]
- Monday, May 10 Tools of Recovery: OverviewIn working Overeaters Anonymous’ Twelve-Step program of recovery from compulsive overeating, we have found that a number of tools are available to assist us. The Tools of Recovery, p1 When I showed up at my first meeting, I didn’t have any idea what to expect. It was the basement of a church, and the meeting […]
- Monday, May 3 Admitting PowerlessnessStep One: We admitted we were powerless over food — that our lives had become unmanageable. Once we honestly examine our histories, we can deny it no longer: our eating and our attitudes toward food are not normal; we have this disease. Overeaters Anonymous Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, p3 I have heard people say […]
- Saturday, April 17 New BeginningsWith all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. – Alcoholics Anonymous p. 58 Welcome to the new website and the new blog. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share my experience, strength and hope! I’ve gone through a lot of holidays, […]
- Saturday, April 17 Laughter is the Best MedicineA man is sitting at a bar, crying. The bartender asks, “Why are you crying?” Man says, “I wish I knew where I was gonna die.” Bartender says “Why’s that?” Man sobs “I wouldn’t go there.” A man from the south walks into a bar in Boston and hears the bartender talking in that Bostonian […]
- Saturday, April 17 Show Me the WayI’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 […]
- Friday, April 16 All About AbstinenceWhat 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 […]
- Friday, April 16 How OA and Zentangle helped me untangle my lifeI 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.” […]
- Friday, April 16 Show Me the WayI’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 […]
- Friday, April 16 What Do You Mean By “Doing the Footwork?”Soon after I got into OA, I heard “Let go and let God.” Later it was “Just do the footwork.” I tried to understand how I was supposed to turn things over to my Higher Power, but also do the footwork. I couldn’t figure it out. What was the difference between taking back control of […]
- Friday, April 16 In the Throes of my BulimiaI am a proud member of Overeater’s Anonymous. It’s hard to believe that I can honestly say that sentence. I first heard about OA when I was in the throes of my bulimia. I didn’t know anything about OA except the thought of it scared me and made me sick to my stomach. There was […]
- Friday, April 16 Writing Out My Gratitude ListMany sponsors encourage members to make gratitude lists to aid us in the recognition of what is going well in our lives, rather than focusing on the things that make us unhappy or uncomfortable. My sponsor encourages me to remember to make a “Gratitude List” – especially on the days when things aren’t going as […]
- Thursday, April 15 One Member’s Action PlanThe following is an Action Plan I put together that has helped me to release over 90 pounds and to remain abstinence since 6/14/17. This is my personal Action Plan designed to meet my unique needs and the individual challenges I had to face. It does not represent OA as a whole. I developed this […]
- Wednesday, April 14 Putting Together A Plan of EatingOur 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 […]
- Monday, April 12 Putting Together A Plan of EatingOur 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 […]
- Monday, April 12 Higher Power/GodWithin the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous, the word “God” appears three times – for the first time in Step Three, and then again in Steps Five and Six. And although the appearance of this word should not be surprising given that Overeaters Anonymous is a spiritual program, it is the one word which tends […]