I am thinking of going to some meetings. My only concern is Im not a religious person and do not beleive in organized religion. I do however have a spiritual side and some faith but I know part of the 12 step process has to do with god...and Im not sure how helpful it will really be to me.

Anybody have some insite? I know I need help. They have the list of 15 symptoms of food addiction and compusilve eating and I fit every single one of these. I need to make a change. Thanks for listening.

i was wondering about this too. is OA for other EDs as well? I thought i read something about anyone with any kind of ED going and it being helpful.

Im not sure about that but I dont see why if you do any kind of binging that it wouldnt be helpful. Ive been doing alot of reading on here today and its good to see so many others that are out there like me. Alot of people just dont understand the difference between people who just eat because they like to and people who are compulsive eaters.

Just the last hour that Ive been sitting here telling myself I have to make a complete change right now...Ive been getting these almost attacks in my head just thoughts of eating bad things and I must eat this and I cant live without this and thoughts of how impossible and its almost like an evil part of me inside is fighting back against my good intentions. Its insane!

I even told a nurse once at my doctors office what I have gone through with this and she said "oh i totally understand I really like cookies" and its just like...she doesnt get it. Most people must just think im a big fat lazy gluttonous pig. I want to change so bad.

I used to go to Al-Anon, which is a group for people with alcoholism in their families (in my case, my dad). It is part of all the "Anonymous" groups - such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anon, etc. They follow the same steps. Individual religions are not part of the groups at all. In fact, if I remember correctly, people aren't supposed to mention things like religious affiliations, politics, etc. and keep the focus on the problem at hand. Yes, there is a spiritual component, for lack of a better word - the idea is to let go of your problem and trust that there is a "higher power" (however you define that) who will help you fight your issue.

I hope this helps you a little bit. Good luck!!!

Hi Mstngfan :wave:
I've been going to OA (Overeaters Anonymous) for nearly 3 months now, and I cannot begin to express how my life has changed for the best. I'll go back a bit though to let you know a bit about what I was struggling with before going to OA. It was about a year ago that I started the road of bulimia. I've always been slightly obsessive about various things and a bit compulsive with 'indulgent foods', but this is when I got myself trapped in the binge/purge cycle. I would not throw up but would starve, exercise intensely and take laxatives. By last Christmas I was so depressed and I felt so out of control with my eating (because of the binging), that I decided I just had to get out. I bought two books on bulimia/compulsive eating, and started working on 'cognitive therapy techniques', establishing a meal plan, and trying to stick to it each day. Although I managed to stick to it most of the time, the 'every minute obsession' about food was still there, although gradually things were getting easier, it was very hard work, and I had to keep disciplined at writing down what I ate and how I felt, it was time consuming and depressing at times, but I can now see it was the only way forward to restore a normal eating pattern. I couldn’t hide my ED from my best friend as I live with her, she had obviously noticed and was always asking me questions. This made me feel angry at first, but opening up to her and actually talking about it was such a huge burden off my shoulders after keeping it secret for so long. I then talked to my sister about it as well and another close friend. The support and love of these 3 people has made a world of difference to my recovery. My sister mentioned OA to me, as she had a friend who used to suffer from anorexia and found OA saved her. I went to my first meeting feeling a bit apprehensive and not knowing hardly anything about the program. I was warmly welcomed and felt it was a safe place to talk. When I shared about my struggles, I didn’t really think about the people in the group, but noticing the nods helped me feel that they understood me. For the first time I was speaking to people who could identify with how I felt. They were all size, but they all suffered from an abnormal relationship with food, and that is what links us together. OA is not affiliated to any religion, Amy’s reply explains the concept of a ‘higher power’ very well; it is how you wish to interpret a ‘higher power’, it doesn’t have to be God. It’s hard to express what OA has done for me, because it is far more that just a freedom from food obsession, I am learning to be at peace with myself, to love myself, to connect with people in a loving way and be freed from anger resentment and fear. I would recommend OA to anyone suffering from an ED, it has changed and still is changing my life!

Thanks for sharing your story with me. :)

Last night I told my boyfriend about the OA and that I might go to a meeting, or do the meetings online. It was an important thing for me to tell him Im still having a problem because one of my main issues with this stuff is the dishonesty I have with people. I eat when Im alone and if people are around i try to do it discretely. I hate being dishonest with him. So it felt good to let him know yes Im still struggling with this, no im not doing what I should be but Im going to do whatever I have to do to get better.

I know us moving in together will help because I will be around him and that will keep me from binging at home. And he always makes me feel better about myself hes definately a strength in my life.

Its hard to imagine that this OA program, and these 12 steps can help fight this problem I havnt been able to fight off for more than a few months at a time for the last 10 years of my life. But it gives me hope to see you all speak so highly of it and that it helped you. Im glad its just a general higher power and not a god thing that will make it alot easier for me to be involved if I am not feeling religious pressure from anybody.

Im not sure about that but I dont see why if you do any kind of binging that it wouldnt be helpful. Ive been doing alot of reading on here today and its good to see so many others that are out there like me. Alot of people just dont understand the difference between people who just eat because they like to and people who are compulsive eaters.

Just the last hour that Ive been sitting here telling myself I have to make a complete change right now...Ive been getting these almost attacks in my head just thoughts of eating bad things and I must eat this and I cant live without this and thoughts of how impossible and its almost like an evil part of me inside is fighting back against my good intentions. Its insane!

I even told a nurse once at my doctors office what I have gone through with this and she said "oh i totally understand I really like cookies" and its just like...she doesnt get it. Most people must just think im a big fat lazy gluttonous pig. I want to change so bad.


I know exactly what you mean about wanting to change but still getting the negative thoughts. I have anorexia, and while I'm not skin and bones, I still have obsessive thoughts. I either starve myself or I eat too much and then want to (sometimes I still do anyway) throw up, etc. I'm tired of this thing running my life all the time. It's as though I have an angel and a devil inside my head playing tug-a-war. I'll think to myself, "I want to get better and not obsess so much about my body and just be happy" (angel). But then I start having thoughts of, "Well, if you get better, you know you're going to get fat again!" (devil). It's no wonder I suffer from headaches alot sometimes.