About OA | The Program | Plan of Eating

ADDICTION

Addiction is viewed as disease which has three dimensions: physical, mental, and spiritual. For addicts the physical dimension is described as an allergy, which results in the inability to stop using substances after the initial use. The mental dimension manifests itself through the phenomena of craving and obsession to use. The illness of the spiritual dimension is considered to be based in self-centeredness.

In Overeaters Anonymous, you'll find members who are extremely overweight, even morbidly obese; moderately overweight; average weight; underweight; still maintaining periodic control over their eating behavior; or totally unable to control their compulsive eating.

OA members experience many different patterns of food behaviors. These "symptoms" are as varied as our membership.

Among them are:

obsession with body weight, size and shape

eating binges or grazing

preoccupation with diets

starving

laxative or diuretic abuse

excessive exercise

inducing vomiting after eating

chewing and spitting out food

use of diet pills, shots and other medical interventions 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 comfort

Our symptoms may vary, but we share a common bond: we are powerless over food and our lives are unmanageable.

By admitting an inability to control compulsive overeating in the past and abandoning the idea that all one needs is "a little willpower," it becomes possible to abstain from overeating one day at a time.

While a diet can help us lose weight, it often intensifies the compulsion to overeat. The solution offered by OA does not include diet tips. We don't furnish food plans or diets, counseling services, hospitalization or treatment; nor does OA participate in or conduct research and training in the field of eating disorders. For weight loss, any medically approved eating plan is acceptable, with the assurance that OA supports each of us in our efforts to recover.

WHAT OA OFFERS YOU

Acceptance
As you are now, as you were, as you will be.

Understanding
Of the problems you face now and a place to share, almost certainly, with others in the group.

Communication
Since we find that we identify with each other, communication becomes the natural result of our mutual understanding and acceptance.

Relief
Having found acceptance, understanding, and communication with others, we have found relief from our illness and help toward a new self-acceptance and self-understanding.

Power
By the acceptance and understanding of oneself, by the practice of the twelve-step recovery program, by the belief in a power greater than oneself, by the support and companionship of the group, a door is opened to a new way of life.