Overeaters Anonymous Podcast

Principles of Tradition Six –Solidarity, and Concept Six - Responsibility "An OA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the OA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose." – Tradition Six "The World Service Business Conference has entrusted the Board of Trustees with the primary responsibility for the a...

How can you break down the barriers for both parties? What is your biggest barrier to becoming a sponsor? What is your biggest barrier to getting a sponsor?

How is it different than a diet? In Overeaters Anonymous (OA), one of our key  tools of recovery  is a plan of eating. It helps us abstain from compulsive eating, guides us in our dietary decisions, and defines what, when, how, where and why we eat.

Principles of Tradition Five – Purpose, and Concept Five - Consideration "Each group has but one primary purpose – to carry its message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers." – Tradition Five "Individuals have the right of appeal and petition in order to ensure that their opinions and personal grievances will be carefully considered."

How do I know if I'm ready to sponsor? How many sponsees should I have?

In this workshop, the speaker tells her story and talks about her personal commitment to abstinence one day at a time and the actions she takes to ward off the deadly disease of compulsive eating. The pamphlets  A Commitment to Abstinence  and  Maintaining a Healthy Weight  are explored as she shares on the importance of enjoying the gifts of recovery and how continuing to work the 12-Step program...

"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God  as we understood Him ."  This week's workshop leaders discuss the critical importance of Step Three to their recovery. The OA program tells us emphatically that "Once we compulsive overeaters truly take the Third Step we cannot fail to recover" ( The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous , p. 27). 

Principles of Tradition Four – Autonomy, and Concept Four - Equality "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or OA as a whole." – Tradition Four "The right of participation ensures equality of opportunity for all in the decision—making process."– Concept Four

• What would your recovery look like without a sponsor and/or sponsees? • If you do not currently have a sponsor, what can you tell that voice in your head that says you don't need one?

Person to Person - Carrying the Message  is the topic for this OA literature workshop. A member maintaining a 200+ pound weight loss shares her journey in recovery and how the OA literature, Steps, Traditions, Tools and a sponsor guide her recovery. She discusses sponsoring, the difference between a suggestion and advice, and how her sponsor's suggestion to pray and has helped her with the dilemma...

As this member tells her story of  recovery from relapse , she talks about how the kindness and repeated calls from a fellow member when she was isolating brought her back into OA. Pertinent OA literature and the Twelfth on the Twelfth Campaign are described as she shares how they may help members in relapse. Her passion for carrying the message is demonstrated throughout this workshop as she keep...

"Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."  This week's workshop leader discusses each aspect of Step Two, sharing her experience, strength and hope. "Ours is a spiritual program, not a religious one." (p. 13,  The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous .) 

"The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively – Tradition Three "The right of decision, based on trust, makes effective leadership possible." – Concept Three

What is your greatest fear about getting a sponsor? Is it okay to ask others how they got their sponsors?

The  Twelve Steps  are the heart of the Overeaters Anonymous (OA) recovery program. They offer a new way of life that enables the compulsive eater to live without the need for excess food. The ideas expressed in the Twelve Steps, which originated in Alcoholics Anonymous, reflect practical experience and application of spiritual insights recorded by thinkers throughout the ages.

The Twelve Steps are our Program of Recovery. In this workshop, two members relate how working the Steps allowed them to turn obstacles into opportunities for growth when life presented them with problems. One OA member shares about how, through working all  Twelve Steps , she discovered her Higher Power, rebuilt her relationship with her son, and dealt with surgery on a tumor.

"We admitted we were powerless over food - that our lives had become unmanageable."  Workshop leaders emphasize the importance of the Steps by reading the Introduction to the Twelve Steps "…

"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. – Tradition Two "The OA groups have delegated to the World Service Business Conference the active maintenance of our world services; thus, the World Service Business Conference is the voice, authority and effective co...

Does your sponsor fit the description on page 18 of  Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition  (Big Book)? What tasks does your sponsor request of you, and do you comply with those requests?

Compulsive eating, or food addiction, can wreak havoc in your life in so many ways. It affects your weight and your health, your relationships, your job, and your self-confidence and self-worth. In our first episode of this series, we will explore the  symptoms  of this disease and talk with Overeaters Anonymous members who, after years of misery, yo-yo dieting, obesity and other health issues

After sharing her story and some of the changes she made to find recovery, this long time member outlines the twelve freedoms she discovered in   The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous . Included are freedom from: food obsession, insanity and hopelessness; the bondage of self; dishonesty; isolation; the fear of change; self-reliance; blame; fear of people; complacency; lone...