Normal weight up till 11 when my Dad died.

In HS I was 4'9" and 250.

My mom put me on every diet available and none worked.

1st time in OA I  lost over 100 Lbs but it brought up issues I was unwilling to deal with.  OA works if you work it. I didn't.

Came back with a clearer understanding my step one.

I lived with the paradox of the my weight saying 'Notice me' and also wanting to be invisible.

My 2nd time in ended with one bite of See's candy.

I came back a 3rd time with a commitment not to leave, no matter what.

Today I am comfortable in my body, I am healthy and happy. 

I know OA saved my life, gave me self-esteem. I exercise regularly, talk with my sponsor and more. 

My food plan varies based on an honest evaluation of my relationship with particular foods at particular times.

I have had all the promises come true and can still be a jerk.

I came into program 40 years ago. 

Living in Woodland hills drove to LA to meeting. the obsession hit and I bought food on the way home but was to sick to eat it. 

GOD = Gift of Desperation.

I came in angry at everybody and everything. Today I am a safe person.

Find someone you trust and can really talk to.

Happy joyous and free is feel safe and secure in yourself.

At the end of one successful diet I gained 17 lbs in one week.

I still report my food in every day. It is what works for me. 

Never a time when food wasn't the most important thing to me.

First OA Meeting when I was 12.

At 23 I was my top weight 423 but because I was young the physical damage was not that bad yet.

I broke toilets, lived through surgical complications and more all because of my weight without any change.

My body was killing me and I couldn't do anything. It was the only body I knew

When I fanallly return to OA that meeting was about death and I felt at home.

For the first year I  sponsored myself rigorously and had some results until I hit my own plateau several times.

Regardless of where I was food wise I never left the program.

I am two different people. My life in the food and my life in recovery.

Today I have a life where I am trusted, I experience love in both directions and I have self esteem.

100 Pounder multiple times.

I lost the weight but i was still me and my best friend was food.

I am a survivor of abuse as a child. As an adult I addressed my part and moving from victim to survivor.

I was always my own worst critic and I was brutal.

When I found my first OA Meeting I was broken and hopeless. They welcomed me. 

Current weight loss is about 155 lbs.

Service has saved my life. I recommend it.

I continue to connect the dots from my past to adjust my future.

My disease wants me dead. Today I want to live.

Top weight over 500 lbs in high school. Now around 195. 

I flucuated between 350 and 500 many times.

Coming into OA I had a food plan AND I restricted. I started lying, the food and weight was coming back and I acknowledged I was in relapse.

I eventually ended up praying, had a spiritual experience and the journey to recovery started for real.

Rigorous honesty became a way of life as I made my amends.

I still want more - That is my disease.  But I don't act on it - That is my recovery.

Cannot remember a time when I was not obsessed with food.

Major disappointment when I realized my size was related to my food and thought it was my fault.

Going away to college opened up all the doors.

Top recorded weight was 236. now about 135.

On my own I lost weight but was super unhealthy and the stress was still terrible. Why can't I control this?

Came into OA realizing I was an alcoholic with food. Crazy for the first few moths, Then settled down as I did the steps.

Some of the tools every day.

No matter how long I have been in the program I need to be accountable for my food.

I gained 110 Lbs in my last relapse which brought on a host of physical problems

When I took my 1st compulsive bite 4 years ago it did not occur to me downhill path I would go down.

I never stopped going to meetings or the OA birthday event.

In a moment without my intention I jumped back in. got a sponsor and took direction against my will.

Day by day I developed and improved a relationship with a higher power. . for REAL.

Now I have 2 years.

A ropes course became the metaphor for my not having and then reconnecting with my higher power.

Joined OA In San Fernando Valley for a year.

The premise ' I can do it in my own' did not work. My intellectual armor was the wall I kept banging into.

Coming back to OA it was a spiritual focus on the steps and tools which  relieved me of the bondage of self and made the difference for the long term.

Our food plan is personal based on our PARTICULAR way of eating compulsively.

I was packing food. Loved being full.

Day after day - "I'll never do this again."

I married the first guy who asked and had 2 kids by 21.

I believed I was a victim . . .of my husband, of my disease of everything.

It was always a diet, Goal weight and immediately 'game on'

I got caught eating a spoiled sandwich for the first time I was outed for a particular behavior.

When I admitted I was  a compulsive over-eater I had my own identity for the first time.

I embraced the concept of 'No Matter What' from the beginning.

I feel anxiety over any change in my food plan.

I avoided the God stuff in the beginning. then it changed.

When I ate I got things done.

I was choosing food over shelter.

A 300 lbs I felt small.

I went to OA, got embraced, hooked and started my recovery. I get an apartment and a job the first week.

The foundation of my recovery is honesty. That creates the space for God to come in.

My recovery is not a return but a discovery and becoming who I am.

I am in multiple 12 steps programs and I need to be. but OA is my home base.

I have been through a lot of emotional events and stayed abstinent.

Question begin @ 26 minutes.

Thin to normal until late teens.

by 24 years old I added 3 kids and 125 pounds.

Tried to manage my weight myself with little results

Came to OA 2 years ago, Had 1 short slip after 6 months and now a back on track.

I have medical issue and medicine that affects my weight.

At one point I would try to make my husband responsible for what I ate.