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Mill Creek OA 100 Pounder Speaker Meeting
Speakers who have lost 100 pounds tell their stories.

Sit back, relax and listen to how Ron H. has achieved 10 years of abstinence and maintained over 100 pounds of weight loss. He tells details of his journey of compulsive behavior, starting with compulsive drug addiction at age 14 by using marijuana and then speed, continuing with compulsive eating when he quit speed and gained 85 pounds, followed by compulsively exercising hours per day while fruitlessly trying to lose weight. He tells how diet plans only led to wild swings in his weight. He shares how his journey of hope from compulsive eating began when he joined OA and got serious about following the 12 steps. With good humor, Ron shares insights he learned as he went through the 12 steps, including the catchy phrase his sponsor used to get him back on track, how he dealt with being a sponsor after only a month of abstinence, what his successful food plan is, what he means by “that’s a God shot”, how he changed from having a bad temper to “spreading cheer everywhere”, and much more.

Direct download: RonH_2012_07_29.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 11:43pm PDT

You’ll want to keep your notepad handy when you listen to Jim share a wealth of wisdom on how to be successful in OA. He tells you how he avoided an early death due to eating normally during the day but compulsively eating all evening. You’ll enjoy how he shares things such as his definition of abstinence, how he communicates with his higher power and deals with spirituality (which he didn’t originally want to believe in!), why he believes compulsive eaters are not addicted to food nor have an eating disorder nor a psychological problem, what vital thing you are missing without a food plan, why a gaining weight doesn’t cause the medical problem anymore than losing weight removes it, and you will laugh when you learn what word  he uses as a substitute for “exercise”. You’ll likely relate to his denial about being a compulsive eater, which was so deep he would eat things like a huge bag of M&Ms with a Diet Coke thinking that they would cancel. He explains how he didn’t know he had a disease, so he tried endless diets and exercise, leading into the demoralizing realization that he had no power of choice. He’ll tell you details of how his sponsor in another 12 step group, who was an M.D., became alarmed as he watched Jim in endure heart operations and onset diabetes, eventually referring Jim to OA. Jim will tell you the things that his sponsor said he needed to do to be successful in OA, one of which Jim was sure would not work but was absolutely amazed to find out was a key to successfully being absent and normal weight for the past 14 years. Don’t miss Jim’s share!

Direct download: JimF_2012_07_22.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 11:48am PDT

Kelly shares a treasure trove of wisdom that she has learned from OA, which she says has given her life real meaning and purpose. She shares with you her long path from being an overweight child compulsively eating sweets to the sane woman of normal weight she is today. Kelly tells how her mother tried and failed to control Kelly's weight, even as Kelly stole money to buy donuts and sweets. Kelly relates how she went through years of diets as her weight swung up and down. She explains why her perfectionism caused her to fail as a "brat" in her first attempt to join AA and OA in 1990. She explains why the belief in God she received from her family did not allow her to rely on God for eating sanely, what it took for her to overcome her pain, what decisions she makes at the beginning of each day, and how she knows when she is "playing God". Kelly's story will encourage you as you hear what it took for her to break with her insane patterns of thinking, and how it changed her from being a woman headed for death into a being tool for God.

Direct download: KellyN_2012_07_15.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 11:15pm PDT

Chris D. shares her heart and her story about being born a compulsive overeater, becoming very overweight by the time she was 11 years old--so much so that her parents bought her less clothing because it was much more expensive than her siblings. She describes how she stuffed her feelings by compulsively eating potato chips and soda at her parent's grocery store, eventually reaching 308 pounds. She shares how she discovered OA about that time but didn't work the program, despite her fear of dying of diabetes like her mom. She shares her joy as she describes rediscovering OA in 2010, which allowed her to lose 101 pounds by really following the OA program, giving her a reason to get out of bed-to help others-and to live a life she never thought she could live, such as being able to dance with her three-year-old grandson at her son's wedding. [note--the noise in the background is a fan]

Direct download: ChrisD_2012_07_08.mp3
Category:speaker -- posted at: 12:05am PDT

Elle tells you in her honest, humorous style of her path from 260 pounds as a compulsive eater to eventually find peace in abstinence and a healthy weight. Her inspiring story begins growing up a restless, discontent kid in a spiritual family. She discovered alcohol and drugs at a young age, preferring "speed" to lose her appetite, and at age 15 committing arson and joining AA.  You'll be entertained by her stories of entering beauty pageants thinking that it would keep her from over eating (which of course ended up badly), trying various crazy diets, letting go of a job she loved as personal trainer because she gained weight, and eventually scheduling a gastric bypass but having to join OA instead because she ran out of money. She finally realized our job is to stop trying to paddle upstream, and not to postpone enjoying life just because we aren't perfect.

Direct download: ElleL_2012_07_01.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:18am PDT