The Oprah's OWN channel has a new tv show called "ADDICTED TO FOOD" that seems to be based on the 12 steps. I watched the second one today and it is quite an eyeopener as it has impulsive, overeaters, & bulimics sharing their journey together. Make sure to catch it!

I did watch it and I just kept feeling bad for some of the overeaters. I wish they could have the sleeve...

Hi, my name is Cindy, 15 years clean and sober. Sleeved 3/3/11 and feel fantastic. I reguarlly go to meetings and sponsor women in recovery. We read literature and study the 12 steps. This program is theraputic in nature - different than meetings - but it appears they use the same tools when talking about recovery. I really like watching it.

From thier perspective it does not matter what the addiction is (overeating, bulimia, anerexia, etc...) the problem is the same. Also the solution is the same.

I'm also touched by another common theme - people in addiction appear to have childhood trauma. Interesting.

Hi Cindy, I'm also in recovery ~ 10 years clean and sober. I have did the Overeater's Anonymous steps several years back and was very enlightened to find some of my core eating problems/solutions thru them. Even tho I was sleeved on 12-9-10, I still have those behaviours so I believe I will go over my OA 12 Steps again. It's like peeling an onion: layer after layer = never done! Lu

Hi, my name is Cindy, 15 years clean and sober. Sleeved 3/3/11 and feel fantastic. I reguarlly go to meetings and sponsor women in recovery. We read literature and study the 12 steps. This program is theraputic in nature - different than meetings - but it appears they use the same tools when talking about recovery. I really like watching it.

From thier perspective it does not matter what the addiction is (overeating, bulimia, anerexia, etc...) the problem is the same. Also the solution is the same.

I'm also touched by another common theme - people in addiction appear to have childhood trauma. Interesting.

Hi, my name is Cindy, 15 years clean and sober. Sleeved 3/3/11 and feel fantastic. I reguarlly go to meetings and sponsor women in recovery. We read literature and study the 12 steps. This program is theraputic in nature - different than meetings - but it appears they use the same tools when talking about recovery. I really like watching it.

From thier perspective it does not matter what the addiction is (overeating, bulimia, anerexia, etc...) the problem is the same. Also the solution is the same.

I'm also touched by another common theme - people in addiction appear to have childhood trauma. Interesting.

The childhood trauma your speaking of is usually sexual abuse. People overeat so that ppl will not find them attractive as to not be touched etc... a barrier of fat...so to speak. I wish that Ruby on the style network would get the sleeve....along with her therapy.

I had been recording this on my DVR but due to other shows I'm watching I hadn't begun to watch this. I just started to within the last few days and WOW... this show is really deep. I like it. It has already made me cry several times.

It is so true that an eating disorder is an eating disorder. I've had all types my whole life, they have all just manifested themselves differently over the years. I am working on them daily and likely will for the rest of my life. It sucks, but I know no one is going to fix me but me. I can get help, but *I* have to tackle the demons in order to get rid of them.

hi everyone- i'm jennifer- alcoholic/addict with 20 years sobriety looking to start the oa program- will be sleeved 7/20/11! i've heard there may be some prejudice in oa meetings when it comes to us wls folks. any wisdom/experience with this?

Hi Jennifer, every one's program is their own & I feel that even though we have the WLS, I know for myself that I still have those behaviours & addictive personality. Take what you want & leave the rest in OA recovery. No matter, YOU'll be bringing something to "the table" thru your 20 years of sobriety! Working the steps are working the steps. Good luck on all.

hi everyone- i'm jennifer- alcoholic/addict with 20 years sobriety looking to start the oa program- will be sleeved 7/20/11! i've heard there may be some prejudice in oa meetings when it comes to us wls folks. any wisdom/experience with this?

Hi Everyone,

I was sleeved just under a year ago (6/30/10). My top weight was about 205 (it was 210 but I was dressed and wearing shoes), my low weight (in Feb) was 120 and I think I'm about 125 now. A few months ago I started going to OA. I had been to OA several times over the years but never went faithfully until now. Here is my experience of OA after WLS. Some people do judge me which I find very odd. OK, it's their crap. I find that the WLS has given me clarity about my overeating. For years I thought it might be a physical problem, maybe I was just hungrier than other people. Now I don' have that excuse. Also since surgery I have developed intermittent bulimia. Sometimes I eat too much, feel terrible and purge. Now that's been a real eye opener. When you find yourself doing that every week or two, you definitely know there is a problem. Also, now that I don't have a weight problem I can see that the obsession with food is an independent problem. Even if I don't gain weight, it's still miserable to eat too much and worse yet to purge. So, in some ways I feel like my sleeve has made me more ready and willing to work an OA program.

Today after a meeting, someone asked me if I had ever had a weight problem. I laughed and told her my story. I'm passing as a thin person but I know I'm really a compulsive eater in a thin person's body. I will start talking about my WLS in meetings more. People need to know. I believe that may be part of my OA service.

Glad this forum exists.

Lisalu, reading yourpost made me think i was almost reading my own! I was sleeved july 15,2010. My pre wt was 215 lbs and within the year I reached 127 lbs. Since the winter I have gained 13 lbs and i can only say it is due to my compulsive eating. I knew that being sleeved would not cure the reason why i overate, my head hunger games or my reaction to stress and turning to food but i feel very disheartened on how hard every day still is. Once again(just like before my sleeve), I wake up having the best intentions to make the right food choices but keep on failing. My father warned me for years that having a biological mother and 2 grandfathers with alchoholism put me at a huge risk for becoming an alchoholic so i was always aware of it. Now i've come to realize addiction is addiction and i will forever have a fight with food. My issue is that i find the oa book hard to wrap my head around the steps...is it just me or does anyone else feel this way?