OA is NOT a Diet Club

OA is NOT a diet club

Many people come to OA expecting diets, weighins, and lectures on food and weight. To their surprise (and often relief), they find that OA offers none of these things.

Why?

Because food and weight are only symptoms of our problem. We use food as the alcoholic uses alcohol and the drug addict uses drugs. While a diet can help us lose weight, it often intensifies the compulsion to overeat.

The solution offered by Overeaters Anonymous does not include diet tips. Instead, because of our long experience of compulsive eating and recovery from compulsive eating, we are able to offer understanding and support for the compulsive eater and offer general guidance in developing a personal plan of eating (for more information see the pamphlets A Plan of Eating and Dignity of Choice). OA does not furnish counseling services, hospitalization or treatment; nor does OA participate in or conduct re-search and training in the field of eating disorders.

OA members who are interested in learning about nutrition or who seek professional advice are encouraged to consult qualified professionals. We may freely make use of  such help, with the assurance that OA supports each of us in our efforts to recover.

OA gives the compulsive overeater an opportunity to identify with others who have the  same problem. In OA, we share our experience of both the suffering of compulsive overeating and the joy of recovery.

What does OA offer?

We offer unconditional acceptance and support toone another through OA meetings which are readily available and self-supporting through our voluntary contributions. The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.

We in OA believe we have a threefold illness— physical, emotional, and spiritual. Tens of thousands of us have found that the twelve-step program offered by Overeaters Anonymous effects recovery on all three levels.

The Twelve Steps embody a set of principles which, when followed, promote inner change. Sponsors help us understand and apply these principles. As old attitudes are
discarded, we often find there is no longer a need for excess food.

Recovery for each OA member is highly personal. There are no rules, just suggestions. Those of us who choose to recover one day at a time practice the Twelve Steps. In so doing, we achieve lasting freedom from our food obsession and a new way of life.

Copyright Overeaters Anonymous, Inc.