OA anyone?

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merzback
merzback Posts: 453 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok I realize I have a food addiction and have had one for quite some time. Can people tell me their experience with OA- overeaters anonymous please?

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  • happypath101
    happypath101 Posts: 534
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    I've never been to an OA meeting. But, I can relate. I have a good friend that is a reformed alcoholic. I had the great privelege to attend his 20 year Birthday (20 years dry) party. It was also an AA meeting. WOW! I took everything from what people said to the posters on the walls and related it to how I feel about and deal with food and it totally fit. That was an epiphany.

    The only thing that kept me from joining OA is that I found that when I really increased my proteins, my cravings for sugar went down. They went down to the level where I was no longer thinking about food all day long every day. That's one of the reasons I joined MFP. I couldn't live like that any more. I also hear that "eating clean" that do that for you.

    Good luck. You're not alone!
  • merzback
    merzback Posts: 453 Member
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    If I do join, I am not abstaining from sugar. I will be abstaining from binging. I know that some people think you have to abstain from sugar. I do not want anyone to tell me how to eat- so that may be a source of difficulty for me if I go to a meeting where people are judgmental.
  • happypath101
    happypath101 Posts: 534
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    I would expect that this would be the LEAST judgmental environment possible. But, if you find it isn't, feel free to in search of another support group. Right? You're not married to the first one you try. :O)
  • sparknotes
    sparknotes Posts: 16
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    March 4, 2004 I was at my all-time high. I had read a book about OA. I went to a meeting one night, then the next night I went to another meeting. I actually found myself a sponsor that night and starting working my program. I gave up both sugar and flour and without EVER feeling like I was on a diet, I lost 75 pounds in 13 months...and I never got impatient during that time. I stayed with it through my mom's cancer, a divorce and having to find a job.

    So...I really can answer questions if you have any. I have never felt better or been able to eat so much food and lose weight so easily and with such focus. I think its a combination of things. I was SO ready, I found a sponsor that really had what I wanted (that's how they tell you to choose whom to ask to be your sponsor) and I just worked it. When I felt confident enough to try to expand my food selections, and she questioned it because they were trigger items for her, we each realized we had "parted ways" on our path...it was amicable but I chose another sponsor. In the 13 months I had three sponsors...they were all wonderful women and each of them supplied me with EXACTLY what I needed AT THAT TIME!...

    After my mom died and then I got promoted to a job that was an hour's commute and my dad started to fall ill, well, I lost steam in the self-care department. I now find that 60 of those 75 pounds found their way back...I went back to what was cheap, easy and convenients for the kinds of commuting I was doing (I work retail and sometimes had to leave in the am by 5:30 and at night, I sometimes had to drive home after midnight.

    There is also a pamphlet entitled "The Dignity of Choice"...which talks about the role a sponsor and a sponsee play with each other. Anyway...ask if you think of anything and if I know the answer, I'll gladly answer what I can!
  • needamulligan
    needamulligan Posts: 558 Member
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    I would expect that this would be the LEAST judgmental environment possible. But, if you find it isn't, feel free to in search of another support group. Right? You're not married to the first one you try. :O)

    There seem to be 2 distinct factions here: weight loss/health (supportive) and hardcore fitness ("brutally honest" and exceptionally judgmental). As long as you can read only the supportive comments, sure this is a non judgmental environmental.

    I have no experience with OA. I do know about being out of control and how I feel I regained control. I have limited my white flour, sugar and fast food. I know that my triggers are some combination of simple carbs, fat and sugar. Fruit and complex carbs don't seem to set me off. Perhaps you could try limiting one thing at a time. You may not miss sugar as much as you think you will.

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