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Forget What You Know (a.k.a. “Step 0.5″)

As you cross the threshhold into your first 12-Step meeting, try to leave all your mental baggage at the door.  (You can have it back on your way out, I promise!)  Just try for that hour or that hour-and-a half to put aside all of your pre-conceived ideas about what you expect to get from …Continue reading →

Don’t Count Days!

I know I am not supposed to be telling anyone what to do but… Although counting days and getting medallions is a wonderful way to celebrate days of sobriety in AA, in my experience, it is not such a good idea in OA.  My first time around in program, getting that one-year medallion meant everything to me.  …Continue reading →

What are “The 12 Steps?”

The 12 Steps are the instructions on how to break-free from addicition.  In the original steps, they only referred to alcohol, but they have since been adapted to work for any “drug of choice.”  The 12 Steps are taken directly from The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (see “12-Step Links” on the side of this …Continue reading →

What is “The Big Book?”

“The Big Book” is the book that all 12-Step programs are based upon.  The actual title of the book is “Alcoholics Anonymous,” (which is where the name of the first 12-Step groups came from), but over time it has come to be known as The Big Book.  It was written in 1939 by Bill Wilson.  After …Continue reading →

Spoken & Unspoken Meeting Rules

Here is a list of what I consider to be the main “rules of the road” for those of you who decide to check-out some 12-Step meetings.  This is not an “official” list (I don’t think there is one), but rather, it is just a bunch of observations I have made over the years. Anonymity.  …Continue reading →

There Are Different Types of OA Meetings

When I first started going to OA, way back in the late 1980’s, all I knew about Overeater’s Anonymous was a hazy memory of a commercial from the late ’70’s showing a person opening and closing a refrigerator door over and over again, and a voice-over asking me if I ate when I wasn’t hungry, or …Continue reading →

What is a “sponsor” and how do I get one?

A “sponsor” is a person you call and meet with for support.  You choose a sponsor based upon hearing them speak at meetings and seeing something in that person that you would like to have for yourself.  For example, potential sponsors may have lost and kept-off a large amount of weight, or maybe they have conquered an …Continue reading →

What is “abstinence?”

You probably already know that when alcoholics in recovery say they are “sober,” it means that they are not drinking any alcohol.  But when food addicts in recovery say they are “abstinent,” does this mean that they are not eating any food?  Of course not.  In OA, “abstinence” is the word used to describe freedom from eating compulsively.  What does that …Continue reading →

May The Force Be With You!

One of my favorite tricks that just “came to me” one day is the idea of picturing a force field around myself that protects me from grabbing extra food.  (I put the words came to me in quotes because I know I didn’t come up with this on my own – – I really believe …Continue reading →

Find Your Passion Through Healthy Distractions

One of the greatest gifts I have received as a result of doing the 12 Steps is the gift of a clear mind.  This has enabled me to finally be able to just “be,” at least most of the times.  There are still moments when I have that feeling that I am “supposed” to be …Continue reading →