The Twelve Steps are the heart of the OA recovery program. They offer a new way of life that enables the compulsive overeater to live without the need for excess food.

The ideas expressed in the Twelve Steps, which originated in Alcoholics Anonymous, reflect practical experience and application of spiritual insights recorded by thinkers throughout the ages. Their greatest importance lies in the fact that they work! They enable compulsive overeaters and millions of other Twelve-Steppers to lead happy, productive lives. They represent the foundation upon which OA is built.

The Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous

1. We admitted we were powerless over food — that our lives had become unmanageable.
   
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
   
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
   
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
   
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
   
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
   
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
   
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
   
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
   
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
    
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
    
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

H i Friends,

my name is Heidi and I was banded in Mexico 10/16/09.

I have a food addiction, and I need support, learning to channel my emotional eating into a more productive way of relieving stress.

So far the healing process has gone well, but I have had a heap of stress lately and I feel this intense drive to eat, eat, eat.

ugh. :drool:

I ind that when I wake up every day and sau the serenity prayer I do much better and am able to stik to healthy clean NON sugar #oods...

Sorry my FFF key dosn't work sometimes:biggrin:

Hi there, well I'm here again tonight... sorry about my typos earlier I was on a laptop that is wonky.

I am home now, had my 3 meals for today and have 1 planned snack for later.

Even though there isn't anyone else here tonight... I'll post some stuff and you can all read (or not) at your leasure..

We can even discuss topics of the "day" if you like... I'll start....

A little OA book called "FOR TODAY" I've had for many years, but I put it aside when I think I can handle this food addiction BY MYSELF.... ha. dosn't that last statement sound like a willfull child? hummmmm????

here goes. page 309 Nov 4th

He is not poor that hath not much, but he that craves much. Thomas Fuller

" You can't be too rich or too thin." I've said this in jest, but how far is it, really, from what I believe? WHy do I always want more? More things, more gadgets, more clothes, more money, more weight loss.

The truth is I have what I need. I am grateful for my abstinence and the weight loss that goes with it. Having turned my will and my life over to GOD as I undertand GOD, I no longer need to agonize over what I eat and how much I weigh. In this, as in every area of my life, GOD is doing for me what I cannot do for myself.

FOR TODAY: I accept with gratitude the many blessings that are mine thanks to the OA program.

so what do you think about the statement?

I know for me I do always want MORE... I want more jewellry (Xmas gifts:smile2:) I want a tummy tuck when I get the rest of my weight off

The truth is I have what I need.... yes ! I have my health, I have my lapband which has helped me to not only lose some deadly weight, but has really helped me keep it off... Its a tool, much like literature, meetings, phone calls etc...

I have a wonderful husband who I know loves me and he dosn't need to give me jewellry to show it...

I have enough food to live, I have enough for tomorrow. I have a warm and comfortable home...

What do YOU need that you do not have????:drool:

I love this idea!!! I am currently have great success with my band! I am almost 18 months post op and I have lost 150 pounds!! food is still a struggle and prob always will be!!! Does this program work like AA and have sponsors and such? I have mastered the lap band aspect of this whole journey, but I still feel like I am a food addict even tho I dont eat like I once use to!! I guess that just doesnt go away just because you lose the weight! I have always considered myself a "spiritual" person, but not always religous! I am going to have to do some more research on this, but I would welcome any thoughts, advice and knowledge on this! Thanks!!! : ) Much love and success to everyone!!!

Thanks!

Chris

HEY CHRIS,

OA IS AN INCREDIBLE PROGRAM. IT FOLLOWS THE BIG BOOK OF AA AND FOLLOWS THE SAME PREMISE TO OBSTAIN FROM THE THINGS THAT CREATE THE SAME PHYSICAL CRAVING AND MENTAL OBSESSION TO US AS ALCHOHOL DOES TO THE ALCHOHOLIC. IT IS A STRINGENT PROGRAM BUT IT IS BASED ON SAVING LIVES, NOT CONVENIENCE. THE COMBINATION OF OA AND MY BAND HAVE BEEN A WINNING COMBINATION AFTER A LIFE LONG STRUGGLE WITH WEIGHT. IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP OR ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE LET ME KNOW! bEST OF LUCK, SHEILA

The basic principles of OA are like AA and include the 12 step approach. I prefer the OA's that stick to the steps and principles and that don't add a lot of other restrictive rules. They work much better for me. You have to find what's right for you. And at all meetings and with everything posted here and elsewhere, take what you like and what works for you, and leave the rest.

Cheri

I am 6 weeks with the band now and it has changed alot for me.. I have been in OA for about 2 years now, up tiill I got the band i felt like it was helping some what.. But know I feel I do not belong.. Has anyone felt that way?

Edited March 16, 201016 yr by Tweety39

I am 6 weeks with the band now and it has changed alot for me.. I have been in OA for about 2 years now, up tiill I got the band i felt like it was helping some what.. But know I feel I do not belong.. Has anyone felt that way?

i DONT think you should worry about being bnded and attending OA... after all you will always be a food addict... the band dosn`t change that.... it is a tool that will make is easier to adhere to abstinance but lets face it you will still have HEAD issues to deal with from time to time...

They didn`t put the band around your head sweetie

Good luck

Thank you !

I have been in OA for 9 months now and have finally found a place where I really belong and don't feel total anxiety about going like I did when I was in WW or other formal organizations. I have to say that I have done a lot of emotional work but not as much of the physical work as I know I need to do. No excuses, I just chose food over "the next right thing" over the last 9 months at certain times. It is not something I am proud of but my addiction, my "high" medicated me. The down side is that the scale doesn't reflect the amount of mental work I have done these past several months but the upside is that I am now using my tools more and more each day to make better choices. It is a process and for every set back, I have a success too.

Right now I am having a problem where I can't lose any weight otherwise I won't meet the BMI criteria for insurance to pay for this surgery. I have to maintain where I am for at least a month or two which, for me, is a real challenge. I plan on keep going to my meetings, talk to my sponsor, write down my foods, and pray for peace.

Has anyone else been in this situation?

Thanks, Katie

I had to lose some weight and then maintain. It doesn't have to be a lot of weight. I went high Protein low carb which is what I did with the band also. Most docs recommend that as it works best with the band.

Think about your goal of getting the band. Think about the improved health. Grit your teeth and do it. It'll be worth it. I've taken off 75 lbs altogether and kept it off. 15 to 20 lbs came off before the band with the insurance requirements and with the pre-band diet. My bp, sugar, and cholesterol are all normal now. I look 100% better. I feel much better also. I look good in my clothes. I can play with my grandchildren so much better.

Cheri

i have many issues with over eating, and i think it could be an addictive behaviour (i have other addictions but have now moved through them). is there some look at eating as an addiction without neccesarily using god or religion as a path?

I feel these answers may help others but are unhelpful to me.

thanks, Illi

In 12 step we refer to "A Power Greater Than Ourselves", or a HP Higher Power.

Some name this as God, god, a group,a religion, a particular spiritual path, a piece of literature,a person/mentor...whatever or whomever you believe to be greater than yourself and can help in overcoming the addiction, habit,behavior.It is an individual choice and some of the choices of HP can seem unusual,but genuine to the person who chooses.

At www.therecoverygroup.org you can join the weight loss surgery list group for OA participants who have had or or thinking of having weight loss surgery. We have 3 weekly online meetings dedicated to OA just for weight loss surgery patients. They are 9 am Thursdays EST Sat 12 noon EST and Sundays 5 pm EST. Please join us and join our list to get weekly emails of love and support. As an individual who has been in OA for years before being banded it is a joy to find a safe and loving support group. The online meetings can be logged into at http://www.starchat.net/chat/?chan=RecoverySF

Please join us- together we can do what we cannot do alone :biggrin:

I think thats the part that doesnt feel right for me "A Power Greater Than Ourselves". I really do want aid from likeminded individuals and support, but i dont think anything or anyone is greater than the other. I would like to own the issues in my life, and realise that many of them are habits formed out of tough years, but also that i as a person created them, and that only i as a person can change them. i dont think palming these issues off on some higher power is useful, nor im sure do any of the people that go to these things really ever able to get "someone else to do the work' kinda thing. i think it takes perserverance, will and determination, and a few very helpful supportive people....am i alone in this thinking?

Those few helpful people could be your higher power to whom you turn for inspiration and advice.

Part of the reason the 12 step program is so successful is because people come to the point where they realize they can't do it themselves. They've done everything they can and failed. Willpower and determination failed them over and over because this is an addiction. By ourselves we couldn't and can't do it. Having the humility to admit that is the first step to restoring our sanity. Ironically, its submission of our will, not willpower, that leads to freedom. Freedom from self, freedom from out pasts, freedom from our issues, freedom from our cravings. That doesn't absolve us from responsibility. We do the footwork, we leave the results in our higher power's hands. We trust that by working the steps, change will come. The steps are work. We have to come to believe that a higher power can restore us to sanity. We have to become ready to let our Higher Power restore us to sanity. We clean house, admitting to our Higher Power and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Admitting it only to ourselves doesn't get rid of it. You have to have the vulnerability to open up.

If that's not for you, then you're right. OA will not work for you. However, scientists have been working on creating drugs that target the addiction center of the brain. That may become a tool, which, like the band, can help us in that battle. I choose to believe that humankind, created in the image of God and inspired by him, come up with tools that can help free us from addiction. The 12 steps are some of the best, most proven tools God ever inspired men to create.