Mill Creek OA 100 Pounder Speaker Meeting

My childhood was devoted  to sweets. A friend died of obesity when we were 41. Got me to a doctor who scared me healthy for a moment. Found a new diet online called OA. Followed grey sheet, lost weight with no recovery. and paid the price. Finally found my way back to OA and the Pizza Box meeting. They were extremely serious about their recovery AND had fun. Today I have have a daily ritual includ...

Sugary and starchy foods are a problem for me. I was a chronic dieter and nothing ever lasted.  At 5' 1" almost 300 lbs is a lot of mass.  My thinnest got me hospitalized. Always Malnourished. I came to O. A. seeking and external solution to an internal problem. Self loathing is not the path to recovery. I was inspired (Not my idea) to attend an OA Conference. I was struck abstinent at that weeken...

Came in 2007 at 519 lbs I had a core belief ' I am not ok". If thing did not go the way I wanted it proved me right, kept me outside. I learned to accept that truth. My relationship with food verified it more. My weight went up, down, up more, down, up more up to a high of 525. The honest awareness and acceptance I could not do it by myself got me into O.A. Step 1 was a grieving process for me. Wh...

Came back into program from a terrible relapse in 2010  Took until 2014 to get abstinence. My mother put me on diets very young. No diet lasted very long. I went from a small town catholic girls school to NYC nursing school. discovered I really like to party. Married with two children I thought there would be a top to my weight gain. Did not find it. Anxiety pills and vodka produced the expected r...

I think I was a compulsive over-eater as kid. Thin kid with a belly. I got in trouble for bumming food. I picked up drugs and that worked for me. I ended up putting down the spoon and picked up the fork. I ended up using and eating up to over 300 Lbs.  I found out about OA, got a food plan and literature and did it on my own. But not very well. Finally realized I needed a sponsor. got a real food...

Spring bringing a sense or renewal parallels my experience in OA Prior to OA I was a Seed, full of potential but eating and nothings happens, In OA I germinated and began to grow - spiritually. But not right away. My highest was at least 562. so far over 300 lbs Walking upstairs is a miracle given to me by my participation in OA. There are "God shots" which give me appropriate times to share about...

I came into OA wondering why everyone was cheerful. My eating habits were reflected in the birth weight of my children. I picked a sponsor for their energy and joy, not the weight loss.  I don't know what ' A little bit' means. I am better off when have a solid food plan and don't have to think about it or make decisions. I survived my son's wedding.  I work to avoid complacency. I am maxed out wi...

Normal weight up till 11 when my Dad died. In HS I was 4'9" and 250. My mom put me on every diet available and none worked. 1st time in OA I  lost over 100 Lbs but it brought up issues I was unwilling to deal with.  OA works if you work it. I didn't. Came back with a clearer understanding my step one. I lived with the paradox of the my weight saying 'Notice me' and also wanting to be invisible. My...

I have had all the promises come true and can still be a jerk. I came into program 40 years ago.  Living in Woodland hills drove to LA to meeting. the obsession hit and I bought food on the way home but was to sick to eat it.  GOD = Gift of Desperation. I came in angry at everybody and everything. Today I am a safe person. Find someone you trust and can really talk to. Happy joyous and free is fee...

Never a time when food wasn't the most important thing to me. First OA Meeting when I was 12. At 23 I was my top weight 423 but because I was young the physical damage was not that bad yet. I broke toilets, lived through surgical complications and more all because of my weight without any change. My body was killing me and I couldn't do anything. It was the only body I knew When I fanallly return...

100 Pounder multiple times. I lost the weight but i was still me and my best friend was food. I am a survivor of abuse as a child. As an adult I addressed my part and moving from victim to survivor. I was always my own worst critic and I was brutal. When I found my first OA Meeting I was broken and hopeless. They welcomed me.  Current weight loss is about 155 lbs. Service has saved my life. I reco...

Top weight over 500 lbs in high school. Now around 195.  I flucuated between 350 and 500 many times. Coming into OA I had a food plan AND I restricted. I started lying, the food and weight was coming back and I acknowledged I was in relapse. I eventually ended up praying, had a spiritual experience and the journey to recovery started for real. Rigorous honesty became a way of life as I made my ame...

Cannot remember a time when I was not obsessed with food. Major disappointment when I realized my size was related to my food and thought it was my fault. Going away to college opened up all the doors. Top recorded weight was 236. now about 135. On my own I lost weight but was super unhealthy and the stress was still terrible. Why can't I control this? Came into OA realizing I was an alcoholic wit...

No matter how long I have been in the program I need to be accountable for my food. I gained 110 Lbs in my last relapse which brought on a host of physical problems When I took my 1st compulsive bite 4 years ago it did not occur to me downhill path I would go down. I never stopped going to meetings or the OA birthday event. In a moment without my intention I jumped back in. got a sponsor and took...

Joined OA In San Fernando Valley for a year. The premise ' I can do it in my own' did not work. My intellectual armor was the wall I kept banging into. Coming back to OA it was a spiritual focus on the steps and tools which  relieved me of the bondage of self and made the difference for the long term. Our food plan is personal based on our PARTICULAR way of eating compulsively.

I was packing food. Loved being full. Day after day - "I'll never do this again." I married the first guy who asked and had 2 kids by 21. I believed I was a victim . . .of my husband, of my disease of everything. It was always a diet, Goal weight and immediately 'game on' I got caught eating a spoiled sandwich for the first time I was outed for a particular behavior. When I admitted I was  a compu...

When I ate I got things done. I was choosing food over shelter. A 300 lbs I felt small. I went to OA, got embraced, hooked and started my recovery. I get an apartment and a job the first week. The foundation of my recovery is honesty. That creates the space for God to come in. My recovery is not a return but a discovery and becoming who I am. I am in multiple 12 steps programs and I need to be. bu...

Thin to normal until late teens. by 24 years old I added 3 kids and 125 pounds. Tried to manage my weight myself with little results Came to OA 2 years ago, Had 1 short slip after 6 months and now a back on track. I have medical issue and medicine that affects my weight. At one point I would try to make my husband responsible for what I ate.

As a child my constant discontent was only salved with food. Joining the service kept in under control . . for a while. When everything failed even in the program I finally surrendered and got a sponsor and followed direction. and i worked.   Who knew?

I am not an occasional or moderate over eater. I am addict as outlined in the Big Book My relationship with my higher power mirrors my recovery. My recovery jumped into high gear when I started working the program as outlined in the Big Book.

We are united by a very personal and individual disease. well over 300 LBS a number of times was one way my disease manifested in my life. Rapid weight gain and rapid weight loss was a recurring pattern. My therapist 'suggested' OA. I became abstinent immediately. It was a shock. I found I was able to out foods down for one day . . repeatedly. The Doctor's Opinion in the Big Book meant a lot to me...

I had my stomach pumped at age 5. I ate over every single feeling. My family tried everything, doctors, bribes etc, some worked . for a second. Food was my second addiction, Poor me. Joined a very strict  program, Felt great for two years, then back out and plus 100. Important to trick the fast food clerk that it wasn't all for me. Found OA in order to work the steps on food through the Big Book....

I had a good childhood. No major drama, church etc.  However Love = Food and I wanted love. with weight - Loosing =Good, Gaining = Bad. Only in hindsight do I realize food was my drug even as a child. I was active which helped keep my weight down but I still used pills. Left on my own in college - Game on!  Through marriage, kids the YoYo got bigger, more expensive, and more devastating. I knew th...

Stats - came in 2011 at 35 years old and 320 Lbs. Now maintaining a 150 lb loss for the last 4 years. Only one of 5 kids who was overweight.. I was a participant in my life. My weight did not define me but it was always with me. Lost 90 lbs before getting pregnant, Put on 100 during and after. I had heard about OA from my mom forever so I knew where to go when I was ready. 3.5 years for physical r...

I put on 250 lbs in high school. I had success with a soup, Valium and scotch diet, for a minute. I thought drugs would be my solution. I had highly negative side effects. I ended up in OA with 3 three meals nothing in between one day at a time and today I have a level of serenity and acceptance beyond anything I could have imagined. My goal weight is what I weigh today and adjust my food plan  ac...