Other LAIG Speakers Links
  L.A. Event Speakers   Classic Virtual Speakers
Other OA Speakers Links
  Boston Speakers   Kansas Speakers
  Mill Creek (Orange County, CA) Speakers   Region 7 Speakers
  Omaha Speakers   Inland Empire Speakers
  Sacramento Valley Speakers   Northern Virginia Speakers
Mill Creek OA 100 Pounder Speaker Meeting
Speakers who have lost 100 pounds tell their stories.

This relapse survivor has been in OA for 8 years and abstinent for 6 months. 

Direct download: JodiG_2013_12_29.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

9 years abstinent, lost 240 pounds and found peace and recovery in OA

Direct download: ChristianR__2013_12_22.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Amazing story of recovery of a women who found God through working the steps and has maintained a 240 pound weight loss for over 20 years.

Direct download: RozB_2013_12_08.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Join JJ as he inspires you with his personal story leading from 375 pounds of food insanity to 14 years of sanity in OA. His story includes:

His wonderful definition of happiness and abstinence.

A great expression his sponsor shared that has to do with flat tires, and how it helps him with abstinence.

How having to walk an extra block led to a profound realization that helped him with abstinence.

How he deals with people who insist on giving him non-abstinent foods.

A scale that drove him crazy, made him do math, and help him realize his insanity.

The ailments related to compulsive eating that he used to have but are mostly now gone.

What he did when his doctor told him he was a heart attack waiting to happen

How he set himself up to fail and how OA helped him overcome.

How he was committing slow-motion suicide, and the very dangerous things his food insanity caused him to do.

The contradictory things he believed about God, and how it led to hope.

How wild weight swings in another program led him to OA.

The thing he refused to buy when instructed by his sponsor, and how it related to his childhood.

A step he does every day even though he doesn’t like it.

Direct download: JJR_2013_12_01.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Janis B tells her very inspirational story of how she dropped from 365 pounds to maintain almost a 100 pound weight loss and over a year and a half of abstinence. Her share includes:

Wonderful blessings she has received from OA, including one that has to do with her steering wheel, one having to do with “taking selfies” at a lake, and one having to do with stepping out of a dressing room.

How a Catholic school nun devastated her relationship with God, how this related to the Charlie Brown character Pig Pen, and how OA eventually helped her to come close to a loving God.

How being molested by a family member affected her view of her body and men, her tragic view of being a victim, and how she healed.

What horrific thing she used to do, especially in front of an audience of people without them knowing.

Why Hawaii was a very difficult place to keep off weight, and what Hawaiian tradition she enjoyed doing that was unusual for someone her weight.

Her binge habits, including what she did at fairs and an odd thing she prayed just before she binged.

What she doesn’t mind occasional food inconveniences anymore.

Why she never tried diets at all.

What powerful thing a room full of ladies told her when she first walked into OA.

How a farmer analogy helps her deal with stress.

 

Direct download: JanisB_2013_11_24.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Debbie S. has a wonderful story of hope that led to a 110 pound weight loss from 271 pounds. Sit back enjoy her fascinating life and useful ideas, including:

Her morning ritual and how it allows her to have a wonderful life that’s really big [this is VERY useful—take notes!]. Example: how she uses the powerful acronym AEIOU

The special kind of people who help keep her program strong, and why

Whose business it is how much she weighs, and why it prevents her from sabotaging herself

What her dysfunctional family did to her and what lifestyle it led to

Why she can be grateful to Google

What made her stop from sneaking out of her first OA meeting

What she means by “a God thing”, and how it made her realize she needed OA

What scared her away from a lap band

How she defines her special kind of abstinence

Direct download: DebbieS_2013_11_17.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

You’ll enjoy Mickey B’s entertaining story of hope, stretching a lifetime of compulsive eating from his childhood in Ireland to his adulthood in America. Mickey shares a number of interesting things that occurred in his life that led from food insanity to his current abstinence and maintaining 60 pounds of weight loss:

What it was like to grow up in the middle of the Irish war

What terrible thing was communicated to him in boarding school, why it affected him for many years, and the unusual thing he did after it happened

His extreme patterns of eating, occasionally over 12,000 calories is sitting

What his emotional state was like after he binged

Other types of compulsive behavior he used to deal with binging

Crazy things he believed

How he “audited the class” at his first attempt in OA

What it took for him to rejoin OA

Something he had to learn that most people know how to do already

Why he jumped into a trash bin for “legitimate purposes”

The expression he used to hate that he uses all the time now

Direct download: MickeyB_2013_11_10.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience when Cindy W. told us her amazing story of hope through 13 years in OA, dropping from a high of 479 pounds to normal weight and eating sanely today:

Her very first memories in her life and how they related to food.

What it was like to be 225 pounds 11 years and 440 pounds at 15 years, and how it affected where she went to school.

How two mean old ladies got her to go to OA age 12, and what happened there that made her want to return to OA years later when she was ready.

Why an application for work shocked her and gave her self-realization.

How she dealt with an abusive husband.

Was she tells herself if she is tempted to take a compulsive byte.

How she views her weight loss scars.

 

Direct download: CynthiaW_2013_11_03.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30am PDT

Kia M. has a wonderful story of hope, sharing with you her long road to abstinence since May 2011 and maintaining well over 100 pounds weight loss to normal weight, down from 280 pounds. She shares many events in her life and the wisdom she has gained from OA, including:

What it was like to feel so overweight that she refused to be photographed.

What she always wore to prevent her from feeling weight gain, and what revealed her weight gain.

What epiphany she realized that made her give up sugar.

What she believes is the difference between abstaining and abstinent.

What she craved eating after giving birth, what crazy thing it drove her to do that endanger her babies, and what she realized that helped her be a better mom.

How her relationship with food improved.

What happened to her finances since she has been abstinent.

Her ideas on the psychology of losing weight.

What is happened to her compulsion to overeat.

One of her quotes: “don’t let your fear rob you of the best life you have”

Direct download: KiaM_2013_10_27.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Enjoy Nancy J's 40th OA anniversary celebration! You will feel her joy as she tells what it has taken to maintain a 150 pound weight loss, including:

The three most important words in OA

What embarrassing thing happened when she needed to be weighed for a checkup

What it was like to be over 200 pounds in junior high, and what she did to eat faster

What unusual thing her sponsor asked her to do when Nancy could not define her higher power

Which she means by compulsive eaters being great compensators

Why she joined OA even though she thought it was a cult

What she thinks all sponsors should try to do

What it takes for recovery to set in and free you

The greatest things that OA gave her

What we have to accept in order to deal with compulsive overeating

Why service is slimming

 

Direct download: NancyJ_2013_10_20.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Get out your pencil and notepad as Heather O. shares the wisdom she has gained in OA that has allowed her to maintain a 110 pound weight loss since. She discusses her belief that it was okay for her to be overweight, even when she stole food and money. She talks about what it took to overcome shake diets and exercise bulimia.

Some of the interesting and useful topics she covers are:

One word that described her inability to deal with fear, pain, and anxiety.

The thing that it is okay for her not to know.

The ways of being connected that maintain her abstinence.

A hopeful thought on how to deal with a rough life.

What promise is the greatest to her.

Visualizations that helped her maintain abstinence.

 

As a special treat, she will walk you through a simple eleventh-step visualization exercise that will help you hold onto serenity.

 

Direct download: HeatherO_2013_10_13.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Loni G. shares her story of hope as a recovering compulsive overeater, telling how overeaters anonymous helped her drop from 340 pounds to normal weight. As a bonus, she shares great quotes you will want to make note of. Some of the things she talks about are:

·         What wonderful thing she does in front of a mirror before she leaves that she never did before.

·         What important thing she remembers when she wakes up each morning, and what she does after that.

·         The special prayer she uses to ask God to stand between her and fear and food.

·         Why terror after her big binge at Christmas of 1985 drove her to join Overeaters Anonymous in January of 1986.

·         The only thing she took away from her first meeting, and why losing her nerve prevented her from leaving her first Overeaters Anonymous meetings.

·         Why her horror and fascination with a rowdy OA group in LA was inspirational to her.

·         What she does instead of a fourth step checklist.

·         What she remembered that helped her get through her step work.

·         A great quote about ranting.

·         What three things she finds effective in reporting to her sponsor about her food.

 

Direct download: LoniG_2013_10_06.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Ira shares his story of hope.

Direct download: IRA_2013_09_29.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Ashton shares her story of hope

Direct download: AshtonC_2013_09_15.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

When Ron replaced his other addictions with food, he had NO IDEA that eating compulsively was a disease.  He thought nothing of the fact that he was overeating.  Doesn’t everyone do that? 

He discovered OA through a friend from another 12 step program.  When he found that the program did, indeed, work and that he was still losing weight without exercising, he was surprised.  He then began to exercise, not to lose weight, but for his health.  The combination of doing what his sponsor told him to do, i.e. calling his food in daily (even though his food choices never changed), working the steps, making amends, and being of service, he has been able to remain abstinent for eleven years.  He still  prays and meditates daily and is now able to handle difficult situations by putting time between his actions and his reactions.

Ron said he has had a spiritual awakening, not a spiritual experience.  He wakes up in the morning with no fear, is a positive thinker, and is working the steps for the 3rd or 4th time.  Learning to surrender is one of the best things he has gotten from this program. He said  “As long as I surrender and follow direction with my sponsor, life’s going to stay good.”

 

Direct download: Ron_H_2013_09_08_.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 11:02pm PDT

When Rich wanted his problems to disappear he “pigged out to pass out”.  He calls the disease of overeating the “disease of numbing”.  He learned about OA at an Orange County Fair OA booth. When he attended  his 1st meeting he connected with the people but didn’t feel comfortable with reading  “The Big Book,” so at this point he decided not to come back.  However,  a few years later he did come back to meetings and worked the 12 steps in earnest .  He is an agnostic and chose his HP to be the group.  He found that reading chapter 4, “To The Agnostic” was very helpful for him.  He said “this program saved my life”.  He talks about resentments, sponsoring others and the gifts of the program.  He uses the tool of prayer daily and gratitude is the foundation of his recovery. 

Direct download: RichH_2013_09_01_.mp3_final.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 5:38pm PDT

Holly shares a heartfelt story with a great ending.   She is a single parent who spent most of her time working.  Her relationship with her daughter was strained, to say the least.  Her weight was over 445 pounds and she was miserable.  Her therapist suggested she try OA and to her surprise she realized that she was not the only person on earth who felt worthless. She never met anyone who understood what she was going through before she attended OA meetings.

The promises of the program are coming true for Holly.  Being a sponsor and working with others has changed her life.  She loves the fellowship and working with others.

Direct download: HollyC_2013_08_25.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 11:17am PDT

Marci always felt she had a love/hate relationship with food, mainly sugar. When she was young she would sneak food or steal money to buy food.  Because she was an active child, she didn’t show a weight gain until she was in her late teens. When she got older she wasn’t honest with anyone, including herself, about what, and how much she ate.  When she gained 150 pounds during her pregnancy she knew she had a serious problem with food.  Even though she had a sincere desire to stop compulsively overeating she wasn’t able to stop.

Being obese started to seriously impact her health and that is what brought her into these rooms.  In the past, fad diets and taking prescription diet pills were her temporary fix.  These fixes never lasted very long and the weight would always come right back on, plus more. 

Since joining OA, Marci has given away over 100 pounds and has been abstinent for over 11 years.   Her abstinence is saying no to compulsive overeating and saying no to her “red flag” foods.  To Marci this means that overeating brown rice and vegetables while abstaining from her “red flag” foods is not abstinence.  For Marci, abstinence is NO COMPULSIVE OVEREATING at all.

Today Marci is a very peaceful and serene person who is working her 12 steps over and over again, and she truly believes if you work the program it will work for you.

 

 

Direct download: MarciM_2013_08_18_.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 2:50pm PDT

In these rooms Chaya learned how to do the little things in life so that when major things in life happened,  eating food was not an option.  Chaya plans what she is going to eat and eats what she plans…NO MATTER WHAT.  No substitutions.  To her,  substituting food is compulsive over eating.

Chaya believes that serenity is knowing she is powerless over people, places, or

things and that everything in her life is exactly the way God wants it to be.  Because

her focus is not on food anymore she is now able to enjoy her family. Also, now she has a positive point of view and she only talks about the foods she CAN eat rather than what she can’t eat.

She says that dwelling on what she can’t eat sets her up to feel deprived.  Today it is Chaya’s  CHOICE to eat the foods on her food plan. When she is offered food that isn’t on her plan she politely says “ thank you, I appreciate your hard work and thoughtfulness”.  To feel comfortable saying these words she found she really had to practice a lot. 

Chaya knows she never again has to go through things alone because she always has the people in these rooms to turn to.   She has also learned that she can choose how to react to events, good or bad, and that she doesn’t have to act on every thought. 

 

Direct download: ChayaB_2013_08_11_.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 12:12am PDT

Sit back and be inspired by Victoria's message of hope and recovery. She tells how being in another 12 step group helped her realize she was a compulsive eater, what was blocking her spiritual growth, what tools helped her deal with her “crud”, what risky behavior she did that saved her life, her halfhearted suicide attempts, what she means by “weeds still coming up”,  what she does in the morning and is so enjoyable spiritually, what her “safety latch” is, which is her most important tool, whether she or God "leaves first", what happens when she acknowledges character defects, and what her vital “baby steps” are. We know you will be blessed by Victoria’s honest share.

Direct download: VictoriaH_2013_08_04.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

If you want to work a successful spiritual program and are not sure how to do it, you will really enjoy Jim’s pitch.  He talks about how his doctor friend suggested the OA program and how he originally resisted it. He talks about getting a sponsor and following directions, his first spiritual experience, doing the 11th step during his daily exercise program, and much, much more. Jim believes that a food plan is a critical part of the program and that compulsive overeating is a spiritual disease and there is nothing a doctor can do to fix it.  He says that he needed to get a food plan that set up a spiritual boundary between eating and compulsive over eating.  He daily commits his food to both his higher power and his sponsor.  He uses the 12 steps to address the chemical reaction in his brain toward food.  There are no foods that he is addicted to, only foods that are triggers and he eliminates them or reduces them at once after a discussion with his sponsor. Jim has his own contract with his Higher Power and shares each and every meal with Him.   He stresses how this time with his Higher Power is very important and how safe, serene, and enjoyable it is. Today is Jim’s 15th birthday in OA and he stresses that a food plan has to have spiritual content or it isn’t going to work.  Happy Birthday, Jim.

Direct download: Jim_F_2013_07_28.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Kari is and has always been a very athletic person and didn’t start gaining eight until she moved far away from home to go to college.  She found that in college her mom wasn’t monitoring her weight weekly and she could eat as much food as she wanted whenever she wanted it and with no punishment.  She chose not to go home during school breaks for fear people would notice her weight gain.  Kari liked to travel and found that being an obese person in Europe was a very humiliating experience.  Apparently pointing and laughing is what they do.

Kari is quite the storyteller and you will be rooting for her as she tells of her journey from out of control eating and weight gain to the peace and serenity she has found by following the tools of recovery in OA.

Direct download: KariB_2013_07_21.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Kelly shares her inspiring story of how she went from eating sugar, flower, and grease all day to maintaining a weight loss of 75 pounds. She tells what it was like to be a compulsive overeater since she was five years old, how she felt as the only chubby sibling, and what it was like when her mother tried to get her to lose weight. She shares what it was like being without hope and disgusted with herself as she unsuccessfully tried every diet she ran across, and why her goal is no longer just about losing weight. She describes the key reason why her first encounter with OA in 1990 failed, and what it took for her to get OA to work for her. Kelly also recounts what it took for her to” get busy” with the OA program, who she thinks God is and how she discovered this, what she things regarding OA versus AA, what she continually asks God, what happened when she tried to make amends to people she had offended, and what spiritual conditioning requires from her. Come and let Kelly share her life with you. 

Direct download: KellyH_2013_07_14.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30am PDT

Tony talks about and names specific foods so he will not forget the compulsion he had for those foods for so many years.  At age 7 he started to gain weight very rapidly.   His parents created an abstinent household but when they would go out he would steal their money and go to the local market.  When he didn’t have money he would go to the same market to steal whatever he fancied.  Whatever it took to get his fix!  He liked sweets because of the effect the sugar produced, even though it only lasted a few minutes.  In those few minutes he felt as though all of his troubles were gone.    At age 11 he went to his first OA meeting but felt uncomfortable around all of the adults.  He didn’t return to meetings until he was 21. When he began to sponsor other people he found that the people he sponsored gave him exactly what he needed to look at in himself.  Today, going to meetings, the tools, prayer, meditation and sponsorship are a very big part of his life. He realized that through the years he has been able to get through so much and has been given so much thanks to the OA program.  He is a very grateful, and very happy recovering compulsive overeater.

Direct download: TonyP_2013_06_30.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 11:30am PDT

Bob H. will give you a smile and some things to think about as he shares with his folksy, open, and practical style about his struggle and success with compulsive eating. He talks about what he used to eat in gallon cans, and the unpleasant kind of chocolate he ate before he went to Hometown Buffet. Bob tells how a non-OA 12-step group member offered to sponsor him, even though he didn’t like Bob at the time! Bob shares his wisdom on the 12 steps, such as why a diet isn’t enough for us, an unusual analogy of what it is like if we don’t follow the steps will following a food plan (hint: it has to do with apes), what he uses to follow the steps, why many people in 12 step don’t talk about their higher power, why following the steps is the most loving thing you can do for yourself, what happens to your issues if you don’t follow the steps, and how he develops the discipline to follow the steps and tools. Finally, he shares what he believes character defects are, and the wonderful benefits you will receive by being willing to have them removed.

Direct download: BobH_2013_07_07.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Alice gives us hope that it can be done, and that one can stay abstinent no matter what.  She shares her experience, strength, and hope and takes us way back... 

Direct download: AliceC_2013_06_23.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Raised in a Catholic church, Annette shares with us how she did not believe in a god for the better part of her life because if there was one, he would have made her thin like she prayed for time & again. She emphasizes that she is brought up by a “pack of wolves”.  During the course of her eating career, she goes to Winchell’s and orders from a staff that does not even speak English, but still is able to get across to them that she needs enough doughnuts for a work party, when it is really just for her consumption and she would have it devoured within two days. She comes to OA in 1985, mainly because it is free and her mother always had to pay lots of money for weight loss programs. She takes on service commitments early on in her recovery. She discusses her unmanageability with smoking cigarettes and how her doc diagnoses her with emphysema and chronic bronchitis at thirty years old. Annette talks about what she has to go through to become abstinent from them, and how it leads her back to consuming sugary snacks, and furthermore, to a new acting out behavior of binging & purging. She almost dies from this newfound hobby. Ultimately, she comes to believe in a God of her understanding, and that this Power is truly in control. If this Power could help her to stop smoking, then it can help her become abstinent from compulsive overeating.  Having seventeen years of abstinence currently, she has maintained a ninety-five pound weight loss coming from a top weight of 250 pounds.  Join us on the journey that is the experience, strength, and hope of Annette L…

Direct download: Annette_L_2013_06_16.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Nancy B’s story is that of a woman who has gone to the bitter ends with her compulsive overeating habits. She is captivating as she shares her experiences of what it was like for her within the depths of this cunning & baffling disease. She tells of how she wouldn’t shower for weeks at a time as a consequence of it, and paints a clear picture of the demoralizing nature of the disease for us. She reveals how she is physically & sexually abused as a kid, and exposes some of the pain & suffering that would lead up to her ultimate acting out behavior involving food. Nothing seems to work for her—not food, not romantic relationships, not drugs. In the end, the one thing that has proven to do good in her life is the fellowship of OA, and she powerfully conveys the ways in which it does…   

Direct download: NancyB_2013_06_09.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

You will be inspired by Michael N.’s story of how he lost 400 pounds over 12 years in OA. He tells how he first was exposed to OA in high school, but didn’t get serious about dealing with his compulsive eating until he reached a point of desperation and the feeling of being isolated from everyone else, at which time he was reintroduced to OA when he called in to live radio program! The producer told him that he never had to suffer alone again when he was a member of the OA family. This turned out to be very true, because Michael was warmly welcomed in the OA. His sponsor, who had also lost 400 pounds, helped him reach a spiritual solution to deal with his eating obsession. Michael talks about how he learned that pain is an opportunity for spiritual growth. Today, Michael is now able to help OA people with spiritual issues. An important message he has is to keep coming back.

Direct download: MichaelN_2013_06_02.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Iola was so uncomfortable in her skin that she couldn’t even say her name when she first arrived to the rooms of OA. She shares with us that it stems from her childhood growing up with an alcoholic father and going on diets as a young girl. Her eating is so out of control that even working in a hospital around a bunch of medical professionals, she maintains her obesity problem. Even working at Winchell’s doughnuts doesn’t satiate her. She speaks of her scores and scores of attempts at controlling her eating, but would always find herself back in the rooms of OA as it is the only place that gives her hope. Listen in on Iola’s inspirational story of what it was like and how it is for her today…

Direct download: IolaB_2013_05_26.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Spencer shares with us some of his experiences with the food, such as when he eats a whole ex-lax bar as a young boy because he thought it was a regular chocolate bar, and he ends up hospitalized. He first comes to OA in 1978 at 318 pounds. He tries weight watchers and other weight loss programs. After exhausting himself with all of his self-willed solutions, he commits to the OA way of life, and as an added bonus, sheds 140 pounds. Though he has gained a few pounds back due to medical circumstances, he has maintained the overall weight loss to this day. Take advantage of the experience, strength, and hope that this kind and loving individual has to share with us…

Direct download: Spencer_2013_05_19.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

At seven years old, Tom joins weight watchers, loses seven pounds, and leaves after a week. His mother is into dieting and weight loss. He always feels separated because of his weight in school. While in his thirties, he bounces back and forth from 230 pounds to 300 pounds. He reaches 450 pounds and then goes down to 300 when he comes back to Orange County to live with his mom. He joins OA, and he relapses in 2005, leaves OA, gains 200 pounds, loses everything good in his life, and moves back in with his mom. One day, he finds himself laughing while in the shower, and realizes that he surrenders. He comes back to OA, and today has a life beyond anything he could have ever imagined.

Direct download: TomL_2013_05_05.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 10:09am PDT

Steve O has maintained 173 pound weight loss over the last two years, a day at a time, and a miracle for someone who was convinced that what was suggested would not work and was all nonsense. Today he realizes that, through the steps, the pain and guilt he experienced in active addiction has been experienced by countless others. He shares helpful tools with us.

Direct download: SteveO_2013_04_29.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 9:52am PDT

Leslie shares her experience, strength, and hope with us, including the tools that help her stay abstinent a day at a time.

Direct download: LeslieB_2013_05_12.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Nancy D comes into OA weighing in at 324 pounds and has gone down as far as 154 pounds in her recovery. She opens up with us about some of her insane behaviors while in active addiction, like how late one night a baking tray of cookies, a whole lemon meringue pie, and a batch of fudge was not even enough to help her “feel better”. She eats out of her trash can on different occasions. Even though she was diagnosed as morbidly obese by a medical professional, she could not stop. She shares with us that she had some “serious” binge foods, and did not “mess around” as she was not a “Twinkie girl”. Ultimately, only the fellowship of OA is what helps her abstain from compulsive overeating. Today she explains how she is able to apply the principles of the program to her recovery from a massive brain aneurism. This amazingly strong woman who has been in the program twenty-six years shares many of her helpful tools with us.

Direct download: NancyD_2013_04_14.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:39am PDT

Zeta shares her experience, strength, and hope with us.....

Direct download: Zeta_H_2013_04_21.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Having had over two years of abstinence at one point and then going into a severe relapse, Stephanie shares her story with us fifty-nine days after her last day of compulsive eating. Today she can safely say she is totally free of her obsession from the food. She brings up some of her insane behaviors with us, and how she got married to her sweetheart, got her dream job, and how recovery became obsolete in her life, causing her relapse. She has many struggles in her current recovery, and opens up to us about her experience with the twelve steps.

Direct download: StephanieL_2013_04_07.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

As a kid diagnosed with clinical anxiety, Robin steals food from convenient stores. He uses amphetamines around 17 years old. He finds that it works so well at getting thin. Over time, however, he realizes that there seems to never be enough weight loss to satisfy him. He comes to OA in 1983 and leaves in 1990, gaining 100 lbs and developing a nasty case of acid reflux. He is around 300 lbs when he gets back to OA in 2000. Today he holds a much more normal weight. He is a firm believer in reading the literature and working the steps. For him, making amends has been central in his recovery, and he holds the belief that God works through the wisdom of the group in meetings. Service is extremely important, whether it’s at home or in a meeting.

Direct download: RobinT_2013_03_24.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Milly grows up in a fearful home where mom teaches the kids to never trust anyone. Dad is in the military for thirty years, and home life is very dysfunctional. She is sexually and physically abused by one of her brothers. At sixteen, she gets into a bad accident reaching for a candy bar that she dropped and had to have. At seventeen, she gets into abusing heavy drugs, and gets arrested twice. She is hospitalized for a bad LSD trip. She becomes an IV drug user too. At twenty-six, she joins weight watchers and loses 100 pounds. She gets pregnant, and has an abortion. At thirty, she comes to an OA meeting. She loses weight and then leaves. At thirty-five, she has a baby. Things change. She vows to never use drugs or alcohol again; however this does not apply to her compulsive overeating. At forty-six, she loses ninety pounds. At fifty-two, she finds out that she has uterine cancer. In January 2002, she goes back to OA, and sticks with the program. She finds it was a piece of cake to put down the drugs and alcohol, in comparison to abstaining from the food. She has to end her consumption of sugar completely after being in OA for six weeks, and then finds she has to start working a program if she is to stay abstinent. Today she works a very service oriented program of recovery. She has a solid food plan. She has a social life she never thought possible, knows great people, and has lots of fun in recovery. Although she was never religious, her main focus today is her relationship with her higher power, whom she believes has a great plan for her life. She has had some major life events happen while in recovery, and OA has been of immense help during these times, providing her the opportunity to stay abstinent time and again. Furthermore, she is able to set a great example for her son because of the program. She shares some very useful tools and a lot of great experience, strength, and hope with the group. Her abstinence date is February 21st, 2002 with a maintained weight loss of 100 pounds.

Direct download: MillyD_2013_03_17.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Adam, at a weight of over 300 pounds prior to recovery, spends a lot of time & effort making sure people’s attention isn’t on his weight, through making them laugh or sounding good. He has a “master of the universe” mentality, and tries other methods of recovery. He becomes beaten down, sick, tired, and desperate for help as he wants to stop with the out of control eating, but can’t. Two years later, he comes to an OA meeting. He fights aspects of the OA program for years, and questions everything about it. His abstinence date is 11/30/1998, and he has a weight loss of 135 pounds in recovery. Today he calls himself an asset in the workplace, a decent father, and a good husband in a working marriage.  

Direct download: AdamS_2013_03_03.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 10:51pm PDT

Evelyn, from the San Fernando Valley, has maintained a weight loss of 115 pounds for 24 years, and has been abstinent from compulsive overeating for 26 years. She shares how she had lost 100 pounds just for spite towards others in recovery that claimed time and again that she would never make it. Evelyn gives us insight into the tools she has used over the years to help keep her abstinence, such as waiting 26 minutes after each meal (the time it takes for the brain to process that the body has been fed) through keeping herself busy walking, calling others, reading, or writing. Evelyn risks losing so much without working her program, including her 22 year marriage to her husband, her repaired relationship with her daughter, opportunities from her returning back to college, and all of the integrity, self-esteem, and well-being that has come along with working a solid program of recovery. She also risks continued opportunities to be a strong example of how the program works for her daughter, who is 200 pounds overweight and does not believe the program is for her.

Direct download: EvelynR_2013_03_10.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Carrie N is raised with nutritious meals, yet she always feels overweight. She tries weight watchers and goes from a top weight of 305 lbs to 250 lbs. In 2010, a doctor highly suggests she get on medication for her high cholesterol of 230. Instead, she decides she will simply change her eating habits and foods, no meds though, and has a successful weight loss down to 170 lbs. Victorious with the drop in weight but still sick, she remembers the OA meetings she had attended twenty years ago, when she had gone for about a year & a half, and then just stopped. She decides to go to another meeting, and it is the same speaker that was speaking at the very last meeting she had attended twenty years ago! Willing to work a program, she gets a sponsor, sets up her food plan, and reads a few pages out of the Big Book daily. She goes to three or four meetings a week. She is astonished that after a week in recovery, thoughts of compulsive overeating dissipate. She loses weight and works an honest program. At a party one day, she is serving the cake and is later surprised to find that she had avoided licking the frosting off of her fingers this time. All of these things bring her to believe in a higher power. Overall, she feels good about her life today, and this keeps her coming back.

Direct download: CarrieN_2013_02_24.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Victor says that he began his overeating career within seconds after being born. He eats, sleeps, and breathes food growing up. His relationship with food takes him to the point of eating out of trash cans, some not even his own. He comes to OA in 1969 for the first time, and in two years, goes from 350 lbs to 189 lbs, decides he has the problem licked, and does not make it back to the program for another 14 years, when he weighs 450 lbs this time. Beaten down from the disease and desperate for a new way of life, he gets abstinent.  This is a recovering compulsive overeater that learns to really work a rigorous program. He has some interesting tools, including a unique formula for one to develop an idea of what one’s higher power is to them. He shares a lot of his experience, strength, and hope with us.

Direct download: VictorS_2013_02_17.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Justin grows up with a mother that is firm in her practice of good eating behaviors and having healthy foods in the home. However, this does not prevent compulsive overeating habits and binge eating from entering his life, and in fact it becomes established in his life at a young age. His top weight in his eating career is over 500 lbs. Justin first comes to OA in 2006, however he has not had enough yet and continues in the sickness with a relapse.  He ends up in the hospital with a blood sugar level of 989 and a case of diabetic ketoacidosis. Surprisingly, he gets out alive and without having gone into a diabetic coma, as his higher power sees fit. He feels that he has hit his rock bottom, and claims that the sick lifestyle must cease. However, the insanity still continues for another 2 ½ years as he goes on to live a life consuming 10,000-14,000 calories a day regularly…….until July 2nd 2010, his current abstinence date. He has maintained 170 lb weight loss over the last 18 months.

Direct download: JustinA_2013_02_10.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Rich H shares his story of what it was like, and how it is for him today in recovery.

Direct download: RichH_2013_02_03.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 10:29pm PDT

In a very animated way, Helen discusses the origins of the insanity of her disease, and what lengths she went to trying to conrol the problem herself. She talks about the profound positive changes that have happened in her life due to the program.   

Direct download: Helen_2013_01_27.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Roz shares her passion for OA and her program which is stronger than ever after almost 26 years. As life has thrown her curve balls she has used the program to hit home runs with ther family, those she has helped and those who have helped her. She is inspiring in her loving resiliance.

Direct download: RozB_2013-01-20.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT

Just celebrating 3 years and 190 lb weight loss, Jon reveals the challenges he faced in his disease and the promises coming true in his rcovery.

Direct download: JonE_20130106.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:30pm PDT