Frequently Asked Questions

OA describes compulsive overeating as “an illness--a progressive illness--which can not be cured but which, like many other illnesses, can be arrested.”³ This disease causes or contributes to illness on multiple levels, including physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. Because it is progressive, it eventually impacts every relationship and aspect of the person’s life. In OA we learn that we need to recover on all levels if we hope to maintain healthy eating and achieve a more satisfying way of life.

· “What do you mean by a compulsive overeater?”

“Compulsion” means “an impulse or feeling of being irresistibly driven toward the performance of some irrational action.”

"Like compulsive overeaters, normal eaters will sometimes find pleasure and escape from life's problems in excess food. Compulsive overeaters, however, often have an abnormal reaction when we overindulge. We can't quit. A normal eater gets full and loses interest in food. We compulsive overeaters crave more. Some of us even have a strange reaction to particular foods: while others can comfortably eat single portions of these foods, we feel compelled to eat another serving after we've finished the first. . . and then another. . . and another. Not all compulsive overeaters can identify particular foods which give us trouble, but many of us can."⁷

Experiences compulsive overeaters have in common include:

· "[Being] driven by forces we don’t understand to eat more or less than we need, and we eat this food in ways that are not rational. . ."³

· ". . .eating habits have caused growing and continuing problems in our lives.”³

· ". . . our bodies and minds seem to send us signals about food which are quite different from those the normal eater receives. We have found through much experience that no matter how long we abstain from eating compulsively, and no matter how adept we become at facing life's problems, we will always have these abnormal tendencies."⁷

The specific patterns of food behavior and list of symptoms experienced by OA’s are as varied as our membership. Among them are:

· Obsession with body weight, size and shape [persistent inescapable thinking about one idea]

· Eating binges [eating excessively large quantities of food in one episode]

· Grazing [repeated eating between meals]

· Preoccupation with reducing diets

· Starving

· Excessive exercise

· Inducing vomiting after eating

· Inappropriate and/or excessive use of diuretics or laxatives

· Chewing and spitting out food

· Use of diet pills, shots, and other medical intervention, including surgery, to control weight

· Inability to stop eating certain foods after taking the first bite

· Fantasies about food

· Vulnerability to quick-weight-loss schemes

· Constant preoccupation with food

· Using food as a reward or for comfort ⁴

· “Can’t a compulsive overeater just use willpower to stop excessive eating?”

Before turning to OA, many of us tried hard and long, using many methods, to reduce our food intake and change our eating habits. If we could have, we would have! But no matter how great our desire or how strong our willpower in these attempts, we have repeatedly experienced failure to stick to our resolutions and plans.

· “How can I tell if I am a compulsive overeater?”

“Only you can decide…. It must be emphasized that only the individual involved can say whether food has become an unmanageable problem.”³

Many present OA members only identified our problem after attending OA meetings and listening to others describe similar experiences. If you think you might be eating compulsively and want to stop, you are welcome in OA!

Answering 15 Questions may also help you decide.

· “How do OA members lose weight and maintain normal weight?”

“The concept of abstinence (staying away) from overeating is the basis of OA’s program of recovery.”¹

· We start by “admitting inability to control compulsive overeating in the past, and abandoning the idea that all one needs to be able to eat normally is ‘a little willpower’.”¹

· We become open to a Power greater than ourselves, which makes it possible to abstain (stay away) from overeating – one day at a time.

· Each person is encouraged to:

· Be honest about their own personal experiences with food,

· Consult qualified professionals for medical and nutritional guidance, including weight loss, and

· Use their own healthy plan of eating which:

· Meets their nutritional and medical needs, and

· Excludes particular foods and eating behaviors that trigger compulsive overeating.

· We support each other in seeking a new way of life through the Twelve Steps. We honestly share our experience, strength and hope.

· Although many members lose weight and maintain normal weight, OA is not a diet club and makes no commercial claims for weight loss.

· “Will OA help me with a diet?”

OA does not recommend any particular diet. As fellow compulsive overeaters, OA members can share what does and does not work for them, but are not qualified to give specific nutritional or medical advice.

Each person is free to develop a plan of eating based on their own experience and guidance from outside professionals as needed. With help, we honestly admit which particular foods and/or eating behaviors trigger our cravings for more. We can then develop safe and healthy guidelines for “what, when, how, where and why we eat… Although individual plans of eating are as varied as our members, most OA members agree that some plan - no matter how flexible or structured - is necessary.”⁶

· “What does abstinence mean?”

The word “abstain” means “to refrain or stay away from”. “Abstinence in Overeaters Anonymous is the action of refraining from compulsive eating.”⁵ One extra bite is too many and a thousand is not enough! At the physical level, a plan of eating helps us to achieve this.

· “What is the Twelve-Step recovery program?”

Patterned after the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, OA’s Twelve Steps “are the heart of the OA recovery program. They offer a new way of life which enables the compulsive overeater to live without the need for excess food. The steps are suggestions only, based on the experience of recovering OA members. OA experience has shown that members who make an honest effort to follow these steps and to apply them in daily living seem to get far more out of OA than do those members who seem to regard the steps casually.”³

CLICK HERE TO LINK TO THE TWELVE STEPS OF OA.

· “How does OA help members recover on multiple levels?”

In OA we learn that we need to recover on all levels if we hope to maintain healthy eating and achieve a more satisfying way of life.

Physical: The symptoms of compulsive overeating often show on us physically, and always progressively destroy our health if the underlying illness is not arrested.”

For recovery on the physical level, the concept of abstinence (staying away from compulsive overeating) is the basis of OAs program. Each member admits the particular foods and/or eating behaviors which trigger abnormal reactions for him/her. S/he is encouraged to develop a personal plan of eating based on an honest appraisal of her/his past experiences and current medical/nutritional needs.

We recognize, however, that even the perfect diet cant save us. Relying on ourselves alone, we are unable to stick to it! In OA, we are offered a way to heal emotionally, mentally and spiritually as well as physically. By daily practice of the Twelve Steps, we receive the power to live without excess food one moment, one day at a time.

Emotional: Many compulsive overeaters have called food their drug of choice. We’ve eaten to try to alter our moods, rather than honestly dealing with our emotions. Sometimes we’ve denied our feelings entirely by stuffing ourselves with food. Other times, we’ve gone on emotional rampages, only to return to overeating as we vainly sought comfort that the food could never truly provide.

We’ve often isolated ourselves from people in order to focus on eating, rather than learning how to improve our relationships with others.

The Twelve Steps and the fellowship of OA offer us a way to face life on lifes terms. We find increasing emotional balance and the support we need to live as full human beings without using food as a drug. As we learn to accept and love ourselves as we are, our relationships with those around us also get better!

Mental: “The word ‘sanity’ derives from the Latin word ‘Sanus’ meaning ‘sound, healthy’…. Most OA’s admit to irrational behavior with food in the past. A person with sound mind would not repeatedly perform actions that had not worked and still expect different results.” ³

It is important to remember that no eating plan by itself can provide a compulsive overeater with long-term abstinence. “This is because our malady was not just physical in nature... We were obsessed with food, and no amount of self-control or weight loss could cure us. Because of this obsession, the day always came when the excess food looked so inviting to us we couldn’t resist… and gradually (or rapidly) the eating worsened until at last we were out of control.

“This mental obsession was something we couldn’t be rid of by our unaided human will.”⁷

For compulsive overeaters, sane behavior is to not take the first bite of excess food rather than to continue trying to prove we can eat like other people.

Spiritual: “OA experience has taught that to achieve abstinence from compulsive eating and to maintain recovery, overeaters need to accept and depend upon another Power which they acknowledge is greater than themselves.”³ The interpretation of that Power is left totally up to each person. Most OA’s adopt the concept of God, as understood by the individual. Some members consider the OA group itself as the Power greater than themselves, or choose still other interpretations.

It is not necessary that we already believe, only that we become willing to believe in some Power greater than ourselves. “OA experience has shown that those who keep an open mind on this subject and continue coming to meetings will not find it too difficult to work out their own solution to this very personal matter.”³

· “Is OA a religious organization?”

No. “Overeaters Anonymous has no religious requirement, affiliation, or orientation. The Twelve Step program of recovery is considered ‘spiritual’ because it deals with inner change. OA has members of many different religious beliefs, as well as some atheists and agnostics.”¹

· “What are the Twelve Traditions?”

Patterned after those of Alcoholics Anonymous, OA’s “Twelve Traditions are the means by which OA remains unified in a common cause…. They are suggested principles to ensure the survival and growth of the many groups which comprise Overeaters Anonymous.”³

CLICK HERE TO LINK TO OA’S TWELVE TRADITIONS.

· “How did OA start?”

“In January 1960, three people living in southern California began meeting for the purpose of helping each other with their eating problems. They had tried everything else and failed. The program they followed was patterned after the Alcoholics Anonymous program.” ¹ From that first meeting, OA has grown into a fellowship with groups in over 50 countries throughout the world.

· “Who are OA members?”

“OA members are men and women of all ages from all over the world who wish to abstain from compulsive overeating and to carry this message of recovery to those who still suffer.”¹

· “What happens at OA meetings?”

There are many different formats for OA meetings. They all include compulsive overeaters sharing our personal experience of recovery through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OA.

Some focus mostly on one person sharing their story of recovery; some focus on a recovery topic and invite all members to speak for briefer periods. Some have special “newcomer meetings” to introduce first-timers to the program. No one is ever required to speak. There are no scales or weigh-ins. OA literature is usually available for purchase. Many meetings begin and end with a non-denominational prayer, such as the “Serenity Prayer”:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

As with all aspects of the OA program, participation in opening and closing prayers is totally optional.

· “Why is OA anonymous?”

“Anonymous” means “without name”. The practice of anonymity protects the individual OA member and the fellowship as a whole in several ways.

Only we, as individuals, have the right to make our membership known. Who attends meetings and whatever we share with other members is held in confidence.

“Anonymity allows the fellowship to govern itself through principles rather than personalities. Within OA, social and economic status have no relevance; we are all compulsive overeaters.” Our second Tradition states, “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.” We serve OA in whatever way we can, without expecting prestige or power.

Anonymity at the level of press, radio, television, and other media of communication assures that we focus the spotlight on OA, never on ourselves as individuals. Receiving “celebrity” status as an OA member would threaten humility and the ability to ask for help – setting a “star” up for a fall. This would harm the member and would also distract attention away from OA’s true message of recovery through spiritual principles.

Anonymity also protects the public from identifying the program with particular individuals. No one can speak for all of OA. But with all our differences, we agree that the principles of the Twelve Step program have brought us recovery - and this is the message of hope we want to share with those who still suffer.

· “How is OA funded?”

“Overeaters Anonymous has no dues or fees for membership. It is entirely self-supporting through contributions and sale of publications. Most groups “pass the basket” at meetings to cover expenses. OA does not solicit or accept outside contributions.”¹

· “Who runs OA?”

“OA has no central government and a minimum of formal organization. At the local, regional and international levels, responsible members serve OA… by volunteering to organize and lead meetings, conduct activities, and sit on the Board of Trustees.

“The World Service Office is a service center whose main function is to carry the OA message to the many compulsive overeaters who still suffer. The WSO publishes and distributes literature, maintains records on all registered groups, …. and issues meeting directories. The WSO also acts as a public information clearing house.”¹

CLICK HERE TO LINK TO OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICE OFFICE WEBSITE