Guest guest Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 I really don't know much about OA. I'd really like to know how the philosophies differ. Regardless, welcome. You'll get a lot of essential non-diet support here!!! Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 I just heard about another 12-step group called Eating Disorders Anonymous. I haven't been to their meetings, but it looks like a combo of OA & IE. I spent 5 years in OA, and found much of value there. But I just couldn't get past seeing a plan of eating as a form of restriction. I lost 150 pounds, and then regained it. -----Original Message-----From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of bonniet@...Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 12:06 PMTo: IntuitiveEating_Support Subject: Stuck in the Middle Hi there...I read your posts almost every day with great interest. I've only posted myself a couple of times. You see I'm very, very confused right now. I have been reading IE material at the same time as I'm a newbie at Overeaters Anonymous. IE and OA are in many ways totally opposite in their philosophy around compulsive eating and in their approach to dealing with it. I find that the IE material "sings to me" whereas the OA way not so much but I do crave the physical meeting of others with a similar problem. Does anybody out there have any input on this? I feel really stuck right now. Many thanks. Bonnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 First in response to Harry's post, I am really glad to see that they now have an Eating Disorders Anonomous. When I last tried OA there were many bulemics and anorexics attending the meetings and to me it just was not the same issues. In my opinion, often times bulemics and anorexics need more professional psychological help and OA does not have that assistance. In my experience, I did OA when I was in high school 25 yrs ago. It was the thinnest I've ever been and I kept it off for 3 years until I went away to college. But I was obsessed with what I ate and with exercising. I can remember going to a movie with my friends and instead of eating popcorn, I was eating sunflower seeds. Afterwards we went to the local ice cream shop and I was eating salad with lemon juice while everyone else was eating hot fudge sundaes and banana splits! And I did intense aerobics for 1 1/2 hrs 5-7 days a week! I have tried OA twice now since before discovering IE. This is just my opinion, so I hope I do not offend anyone. I found OA to put people into little boxes. The people talked about planning out their weekly food and spending an entire day prepairing that food. And talked about abstaining from sugar and white flour. But they never 100% abstained from these foods. It was suggested to call 3 people a day including your sponsor. I had a lady call me while she was on vacation in Hawaii. She had rented a condo in Hawaii so she could prepare her own food. That was when I decided OA was not for me. I want to be able to live life! Planning my life around planning and preparing my food is not living. When I am on vacation, half the fun is eating local food and exploring restaraunts that you can never go to when you are at home and taking a break from the shopping and cooking. While I believe the 12 step programs can help many people, what I see and in my opinion, the 12 steps replace what ever addiction the person has and the 12 steps become the new addiction and that is all the person can talk about and focus on. It becomes their new obsession. The one aspect that has stuck with me from OA is the taking one-day-at-a-time philosphy and putting our faith into a higher power, no matter what that is for each individual person. Alana > > I just heard about another 12-step group called Eating Disorders Anonymous. > I haven't been to their meetings, but it looks like a combo of OA & IE. > I spent 5 years in OA, and found much of value there. But I just couldn't > get past seeing a plan of eating as a form of restriction. I lost 150 > pounds, and then regained it. > > > Stuck in the Middle > > > > > Hi there...I read your posts almost every day with great interest. I've > only posted myself a couple of times. You see I'm very, very confused right > now. I have been reading IE material at the same time as I'm a newbie at > Overeaters Anonymous. IE and OA are in many ways totally opposite in their > philosophy around compulsive eating and in their approach to dealing with > it. I find that the IE material " sings to me " whereas the OA way not so > much but I do crave the physical meeting of others with a similar problem. > Does anybody out there have any input on this? I feel really stuck right > now. Many thanks. Bonnie > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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