Introducing Overeaters Anonymous: Many Symptoms, One Solution

The membership of Overeaters Anonymous is varied, both in its makeup and in the eating behaviors and experience that brought each individual to OA. If you are a new to Overeaters Anonymous or have yet to hear a “story” that matches your own, keep going to meetings. We OA members may not be all alike but none of us is totally unique. Remember, the only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.

In Overeaters Anonymous, you’ll find members who are:

*Extremely over-weight even morbidly obese

*Only moderately over-weight

*Average weight

*Underweight

*Still maintaining periodic control over their eating behavior

*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 bingers

*Grazing

*Preoccupation with reducing diets

*Starving

*Excessive exercise

*Inducing vomiting after eating

*Inappropriate and/or excessive use of diuretics and laxatives

*Chewing and spitting out of 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

Our symptoms may vary but we share a common bond: We are powerless over food and our lives are unmanageable. This common problem has led those in OA to seek and find a common solution in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous. We find that no matter what our symptoms, we all suffer from the same disease-one that can be arrested by living this program one day at a time.

If you feel you are one of us, we welcome you with open arms. Welcome to Overeaters Anonymous-welcome home.

Overeaters Anonymous

World Service Office

6075 Zenith Court NE

Rio Rancho, NM  87144-6424 USA

Telephone: 1-505-891-2664

Fax: 1-505-891-4320

Email: info@oa.org

http://www.oa.org

Disclaimer: This information was taken directly from the OA pamphlet and I give them full credit for the information. Please call them directly for more information.