The following are 'shares', or personal stories, from members of OA sharing their experience, strength and hope. We hope you find them helpful. For more stories, see our Audio Shares page.
I'm a compulsive overeater and bulimic. At the time of writing this, I've been in OA for two years. I've lost three stone, I'm a healthy body weight, I love myself and I haven't binged and purged for two years. It has been nearly two years since I last ate my main trigger foods, which are sugar and cheese. I can't touch those foods because there is no such thing as 'enough' for me. I don't know when to stop or HOW to stop. I have an illness and that illness is called compulsive eating.
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The girl who never learned her lesson
As a child, I was virtually raised by my grandmother. My parents worked, my Dad was a functioning alcoholic, my two elder sisters were 9 and 12 years my senior and, despite sharing a bedroom, didn't really want to be bothered with a little kid kicking around their heels. Gran and I were ‘besties’ and she made everything just so for me- my school uniform was warming on the radiator when I got up in the morning, she knew exactly what I wanted to eat at each meal time and I had routine in my life. I never had to make any kind of decision for myself. This all came crashing to a halt when she had a massive stroke and in time had to go and live in a nursing home.
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Attending my first meeting was the best thing I've ever done
One of my earliest memories was getting a chocolate dispenser for Christmas – you’ve probably seen them – red with about 10 tiny little bars of chocolate in – each one released by a 2p coin. My parents indulged me with coins until the chocolate was all eaten. I thought the coins and the chocolate were never-ending and remember being shocked and sad when it was over. I was just over two years old. I was probably a compulsive overeater back then, but the disease was held in check because my dad was addicted to chocolate, so my mum only bought sweet things in small amounts.
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