Kia M. has a wonderful story of hope, sharing with you her long road to abstinence since May 2011 and maintaining well over 100 pounds weight loss to normal weight, down from 280 pounds. She shares many events in her life and the wisdom she has gained from OA, including:

What it was like to feel so overweight that she refused to be photographed.

What she always wore to prevent her from feeling weight gain, and what revealed her weight gain.

What epiphany she realized that made her give up sugar.

What she believes is the difference between abstaining and abstinent.

What she craved eating after giving birth, what crazy thing it drove her to do that endanger her babies, and what she realized that helped her be a better mom.

How her relationship with food improved.

What happened to her finances since she has been abstinent.

Her ideas on the psychology of losing weight.

What is happened to her compulsion to overeat.

One of her quotes: “don’t let your fear rob you of the best life you have”

Enjoy Nancy J's 40th OA anniversary celebration! You will feel her joy as she tells what it has taken to maintain a 150 pound weight loss, including:

The three most important words in OA

What embarrassing thing happened when she needed to be weighed for a checkup

What it was like to be over 200 pounds in junior high, and what she did to eat faster

What unusual thing her sponsor asked her to do when Nancy could not define her higher power

Which she means by compulsive eaters being great compensators

Why she joined OA even though she thought it was a cult

What she thinks all sponsors should try to do

What it takes for recovery to set in and free you

The greatest things that OA gave her

What we have to accept in order to deal with compulsive overeating

Why service is slimming

Get out your pencil and notepad as Heather O. shares the wisdom she has gained in OA that has allowed her to maintain a 110 pound weight loss since. She discusses her belief that it was okay for her to be overweight, even when she stole food and money. She talks about what it took to overcome shake diets and exercise bulimia.

Some of the interesting and useful topics she covers are:

One word that described her inability to deal with fear, pain, and anxiety.

The thing that it is okay for her not to know.

The ways of being connected that maintain her abstinence.

A hopeful thought on how to deal with a rough life.

What promise is the greatest to her.

Visualizations that helped her maintain abstinence.

As a special treat, she will walk you through a simple eleventh-step visualization exercise that will help you hold onto serenity.

Loni G. shares her story of hope as a recovering compulsive overeater, telling how overeaters anonymous helped her drop from 340 pounds to normal weight. As a bonus, she shares great quotes you will want to make note of. Some of the things she talks about are:

·         What wonderful thing she does in front of a mirror before she leaves that she never did before.

·         What important thing she remembers when she wakes up each morning, and what she does after that.

·         The special prayer she uses to ask God to stand between her and fear and food.

·         Why terror after her big binge at Christmas of 1985 drove her to join Overeaters Anonymous in January of 1986.

·         The only thing she took away from her first meeting, and why losing her nerve prevented her from leaving her first Overeaters Anonymous meetings.

·         Why her horror and fascination with a rowdy OA group in LA was inspirational to her.

·         What she does instead of a fourth step checklist.

·         What she remembered that helped her get through her step work.

·         A great quote about ranting.

·         What three things she finds effective in reporting to her sponsor about her food.

Ira shares his story of hope.

Ashton shares her story of hope

When Ron replaced his other addictions with food, he had NO IDEA that eating compulsively was a disease.  He thought nothing of the fact that he was overeating.  Doesn’t everyone do that? 

He discovered OA through a friend from another 12 step program.  When he found that the program did, indeed, work and that he was still losing weight without exercising, he was surprised.  He then began to exercise, not to lose weight, but for his health.  The combination of doing what his sponsor told him to do, i.e. calling his food in daily (even though his food choices never changed), working the steps, making amends, and being of service, he has been able to remain abstinent for eleven years.  He still  prays and meditates daily and is now able to handle difficult situations by putting time between his actions and his reactions.

Ron said he has had a spiritual awakening, not a spiritual experience.  He wakes up in the morning with no fear, is a positive thinker, and is working the steps for the 3rd or 4th time.  Learning to surrender is one of the best things he has gotten from this program. He said  “As long as I surrender and follow direction with my sponsor, life’s going to stay good.”

When Rich wanted his problems to disappear he “pigged out to pass out”.  He calls the disease of overeating the “disease of numbing”.  He learned about OA at an Orange County Fair OA booth. When he attended  his 1st meeting he connected with the people but didn’t feel comfortable with reading  “The Big Book,” so at this point he decided not to come back.  However,  a few years later he did come back to meetings and worked the 12 steps in earnest .  He is an agnostic and chose his HP to be the group.  He found that reading chapter 4, “To The Agnostic” was very helpful for him.  He said “this program saved my life”.  He talks about resentments, sponsoring others and the gifts of the program.  He uses the tool of prayer daily and gratitude is the foundation of his recovery. 

Holly shares a heartfelt story with a great ending.   She is a single parent who spent most of her time working.  Her relationship with her daughter was strained, to say the least.  Her weight was over 445 pounds and she was miserable.  Her therapist suggested she try OA and to her surprise she realized that she was not the only person on earth who felt worthless. She never met anyone who understood what she was going through before she attended OA meetings.

The promises of the program are coming true for Holly.  Being a sponsor and working with others has changed her life.  She loves the fellowship and working with others.

Marci always felt she had a love/hate relationship with food, mainly sugar. When she was young she would sneak food or steal money to buy food.  Because she was an active child, she didn’t show a weight gain until she was in her late teens. When she got older she wasn’t honest with anyone, including herself, about what, and how much she ate.  When she gained 150 pounds during her pregnancy she knew she had a serious problem with food.  Even though she had a sincere desire to stop compulsively overeating she wasn’t able to stop.

Being obese started to seriously impact her health and that is what brought her into these rooms.  In the past, fad diets and taking prescription diet pills were her temporary fix.  These fixes never lasted very long and the weight would always come right back on, plus more. 

Since joining OA, Marci has given away over 100 pounds and has been abstinent for over 11 years.   Her abstinence is saying no to compulsive overeating and saying no to her “red flag” foods.  To Marci this means that overeating brown rice and vegetables while abstaining from her “red flag” foods is not abstinence.  For Marci, abstinence is NO COMPULSIVE OVEREATING at all.

Today Marci is a very peaceful and serene person who is working her 12 steps over and over again, and she truly believes if you work the program it will work for you.