How OA Works

How OA Works

How OA works: OA is a Twelve-Step Fellowship much like Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s our one-day-at-a-time approach plus the members that make us different from other solutions you may have tried. You may not be familiar with a twelve-step program—and that’s okay, we’re here to help!

This is how OA works

What exactly is an OA meeting like?

First of all: deep breath. There’s nothing to be nervous about. You will be welcome. You’ll find you are not alone anymore. Everyone at the meeting knows where you’re coming from about food. Here’s what happens at a typical meeting, but all meetings are a little different.

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What is OA About?

Overeaters Anonymous is a Fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience, strength, and hope, are recovering from compulsive overeating. We welcome everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively. There are no dues or fees for members; we are self-supporting through our own contributions, neither soliciting nor accepting outside donations. OA is not affiliated with any public or private organization, political movement, ideology, or religious doctrine; we take no position on outside issues. Our primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors and to carry the message of recovery through the Twelve Steps of OA to those who still suffer.

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Overeaters Anonymous Food Plans

Many of us came to Overeaters Anonymous expecting to find the perfect diet and get our food problem under control. What we found instead was a Twelve Step program that provides a foundation for living a balanced and healthy life. We learned that OA does not have a specific diet. 

We came to understand that the basis for stopping our compulsive food behaviors—and staying stopped—is personal, inner change. Yes, we had to decide—with help—the appropriate plan of eating for ourselves, but the power to follow that plan comes from emotional and spiritual change. 

We achieve this inner change by working the Twelve
Steps and learning to live according to the Principles underlying the Steps. As a result of working the Twelve Steps, our obsession with food is lifted. 

For the Healthcare Professional

Curious how Overeaters Anonymous (OA) can support your work to help your patients who are compulsive eaters? You’re in the right place. We work alongside many like you. OA complements your recommendations. OA offers an ongoing support system for members and encourages them to help one another–thereby weakening their isolation and loneliness. OA claims no medical, nutritional, or psychological expertise. We recommend members contact qualified professionals for help in these areas.

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© 2021 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A handy guide to terms and concepts

Abstinence:

The action of refraining from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors while working towards or maintaining a healthy body weight

Recovery:

Spiritual, emotional, and physical recovery is the result of living and working the Overeaters Anonymous Twelve Step program on a daily basis.

Tools:

We have nine Tools that help focus us while we work our program of recovery, including:

  • A Plan of Eating
  • Sponsorship
  • Meetings
  • Communication (telephone, writing, and reading our literature)
  • Action Plan
  • Anonymity
  • Service

Plan of Eating:

This gives us a daily guide to avoid trigger foods and any destructive eating behaviors.

Sponsorship:

Sponsors have been working the program to the best of their ability and walk you through the Twelve Steps. They help you understand each step and how to work the program in the best way for you.

Meetings:

We offer over 6,000 face-to-face and virtual meetings worldwide, and in languages other than English. Find a meeting that will work for you and your schedule. Meetings help us learn about the Tools and Steps, and also provide fellowship, which is critical to our recovery. We have discovered we need each other to get well.

Telephone:

We reach out to one another between meetings, for support for ourselves and to offer help to others.

Writing:

Some call it journaling. When we put our difficulties down on paper, it becomes easier to see situations more clearly and determine any necessary action.

Literature:

OA has excellent books, and pamphlets–that help us understand how to “work the Twelve Steps” and give us examples of what life in recovery looks like.

Action Plan:

This Tool helps incorporate the use of all the other OA Tools to bring structure, balance, and manageability into our lives and helps us work our program consistently.

Anonymity:

Anonymity gives OA members freedom of expression and safeguards us from gossip. A deeper understanding of this Tool is that it assures that we each are one among many. OA has no stars.

Service:

You will hear a lot about service in OA. This Tool is addressed in greater detail deeper in our website. But, for now, please know that any form of service – no matter how small – helps reach a fellow sufferer while adding to the quality of our recovery.

Now that we’ve covered key parts of the program, let’s see what it might look like to work the program on a daily basis.

Your day starts with reading some program literature or taking time to pray and meditate on what you have read or on something about the day ahead. You might phone, text, or email a program friend or your sponsor to go over your Plan of Eating for the day. You might even get to a meeting. At the end of your day, you may reflect on what happened and what you learned. This simple routine keeps us on track.

© 2021 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

More on How OA Works

Newcomers First 12 Days

The Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous

The Twelve Traditions of OA

The Spiritual Principles

The Tools of OA

Twelve Stepping a Problem

The Simplicity Project