We are self-supporting through our own contributions, neither soliciting nor accepting outside donations. Contributions are optional. Obesity is just one of many symptoms of the deadly disease of compulsive eating. What if I have only a little weight to lose? The amount does not matter; if you need help with compulsive food thoughts and behaviors you are in the right place!
Do we have a diet? No, OA is not a diet club. It aims at spiritual growth, but it is not limited to any sect or denomination. It is open to all who want recovery. Recovery is targeted at three levels: Physical, Spiritual and Emotional. As suggested, I also attended daily meetings, part of the beginner's 90 meetings in 90 days.
The urban meetings were lighter on religion; one Tuesday in Colorado Springs, I found myself in a thinly veiled Christian prayer group. I noted that on the days I went to a meeting, I stayed on my food plan. I should've been able to do it without a meeting, but functionally, I didn't.
I found it impossible not to improve from a daily hour focused on my problem. Eating kicks the legs out from under your emotional eating.
You just can't do it. It also shines high wattage on your flawed coping skills. On those evenings when I still wanted to crawl through the garbage for a cupcake, it became painfully clear that I was reacting to something else, perhaps a boyfriend crisis or a stack of work.
On my happy days, I had to set an alarm to remember lunch. I realized that I'd never actually eaten well-rounded, sizable meals before, and I found them rather satisfying. I suddenly understood French waistlines.
Yet many of my epiphanies had little to do with the OA structures and everything to do with the longtime members, who had an eerily encyclopedic knowledge of exactly how to manage me: One day an alcoholic overeater commented that her periodic kicks of dieting were the equivalent of being a dry drunk, white-knuckling along without addressing the underlying emotional eating.
Me too. A struggling obese woman mentioned her work to get off of diet soda, my first awareness that perhaps my all-consuming seltzer habit was a little extreme.
A year-old doctor commented that stress and little sleep always result in a spinout, so she now knows that the battle is always fought the night before.
And a bulimic something announced that her root problem isn't eating but lying to herself, the "It's OK to do this because I'm having a rough day. As I struggled to stick to my plan, I wondered whether the program even works, and was not surprised to learn that some psychologists and psychiatrists deeply question step programs.
Numerous, hotly debated studies indicate that step programs are effective for a small minority but not the majority, and that intensive therapy is more worthwhile though pricier. Psychologists wince at OA's nuances, like the word abstinence.
It makes less sense for food," says psychologist Edward Abramson, Ph. I'm not a big fan of OA. Some people get benefits from the group support, but it tends to promote black-or-white, all-or-nothing thinking, which for eating behavior is a mistake.
The overarching problem is that OA is a substance-abuse program used for overeaters. Step 8 is Made a list of all persons we have harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. It's not like someone who is addicted to heroin," says Stanford psychiatrist Keith Humphreys. Then there's the OA ideology, which deems overeaters powerless over food and in need of God's grace to save them.
Addiction psychologist Stanton Peele, Ph. What's the therapy? Get up and say you're powerless over something? Humphreys attributes any success to the positive peer pressure. And you start to care about the group and what they think, and you want to succeed. Carrie was pretty and perfect, and I wanted to be in her club. OA people talk about finding your "home meeting. Likely while you're asleep in my bed. Yet I couldn't swallow the main tenants of the program.
Every time someone talked about her "imperfect abstinence," I wanted to yell, "Abstinence is really not the word you're going for! I did not, as members implied, immediately spiral into a godless world of addiction.
I adopted many OA habits, beginning with "sharing," because talking about your feelings for three minutes is kind of great. You often blurt out exactly what you need to hear. When creating your plan, be sure to consider your nutritional needs, trigger foods, and eating behaviors.
There are plenty of resources and sample plans available to help you get started. What you consume and how much is ultimately up to you. This is the best way to get the nutrients you need. Cooking with whole foods is more beneficial for your overall health than cooking with packaged alternatives. It may even help you avoid certain triggers. When choosing foods, also ask your doctor if there are any ingredients you need to limit, especially if you have health conditions like:.
Some people like eating three meals per day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other people prefer smaller, more frequent meals. Others like snacking throughout the day. The time you eat and how frequently you eat may be based on your daily schedule, your physical activity level, and any binge triggers. The U. Department of Agriculture offers a tool called ChooseMyPlate. It offers sample food plans for people of all ages. Many people find the most difficult part of the plan is managing how much they eat at any one time.
Here are a few tips to help practice healthy portion sizes:. Visual cues can make portion sizes more automatic. You can learn more about healthy food portion sizes at ChooseMyPlate. Enjoying a variety of nutritious whole foods, eating at regular intervals, and eating healthy portion sizes can help you have a healthier diet. The OA Plan of Eating aims to help people recover from compulsive eating.
OA members are encouraged to work with a nutritionist or other professional for specific advice regarding their own food plan. OA does not set rules or make recommendations about the type or quantity of food that OA members eat. Instead, it is suggested that members consult a healthcare professional either a doctor or nutritionist for advice in establishing a plan of eating that best suits their individual needs.
When designing a plan of eating, many members exclude foods that seem to trigger cravings that lead to compulsive eating. OA can help people with many forms of problem eating, including compulsive overeating, binging, purging, restrictive eating, overexercising, and others. Anyone with a desire to stop eating compulsively and to change their relationship with food is welcome at OA meetings. OA can help people with many forms of problem eating, including anorexia and bulimia.
Anyone with a desire to stop eating compulsively is welcome at OA meetings. At its core, OA is about dealing with the issues which drove us to engage in unhealthy behavior with food.
Gastric bypass surgery helps deal with the excess weight but not with the reasons for the behaviors that caused the excess weight.
OA works for anyone of any age. Teens are welcome at all meetings. If you are an OA member the best thing you can do for another overeater is to continue your own recovery. Friends and loved ones may see the positive changes in you as a result of your recovery in OA and be attracted to your new ways for themselves. OA does not charge any fees to its members. Per our 7th Tradition, we do pass a donation basket at meetings into which most people make a contribution. Groups use the money to pay the rent for their meeting space, to buy OA literature and to help inform the public that OA is available to help other compulsive eaters.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively. Sponsors are OA members who help guide other members through their recovery. A sponsor helps other members by sharing their experience, strength, and hope on a one-to-one basis. So, while a sponsor is recommended, it is not a requirement for OA membership. Members are also free to change sponsors at will. There are no dues or fees for membership.
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