I am an overeater and thinking about going to an oa meeting. Is there a certain diet you are on or that I should follow? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

hi evandrewsmom

welcome! I am new to OA too (I've been going to meetings for 4 weeks). Go to oa.org, the website for OA. There is a lot of useful info there. Try to find a meeting in your area and just go! There are 8 tools we use to work the program. The first is a Plan of Eating:

A Plan of Eating

As a tool, a plan of eating helps us to abstain from eating compulsively. Having a personal plan of eating guides us in our dietary decisions, as well as defines what, when, how, where and why we eat. It is our experience that sharing this plan with a sponsor or another OA member is important.

There are no specific requirements for a plan of eating; OA does not endorse or recommend any specific plan of eating, nor does it exclude the personal use of one. (See the pamphlets Dignity of Choice and A Plan of Eating for more information.) For specific dietary or nutritional guidance, OA suggests consulting a qualified health care professional, such as a physician or dietician. Each of us develops a personal plan of eating based on an honest appraisal of his or her own past experience; we also have come to identify our current individual needs, as well as those things which we should avoid.

Although individual plans of eating are as varied as our members, most OA members agree that some plan — no matter how flexible or structured — is necessary.

This tool helps us deal with the physical aspects of our disease and helps us achieve physical recovery. From this vantage point, we can more effectively follow OA's Twelve-Step program of recovery and move beyond the food to a happier, healthier and more spiritual living experience.

Hope this info answers some of your questions. Keep posting...this is a great group. Everyone here is very helpful and supportive.

Thank you so much for responding! You gave me quite a bit of great information regarding OA. I did find a meeting near my home and it is on a sunday so my husband can watch the kids since he has the day off. I read a book called "Why can't I stop eating?" I cried through a lot of it because it described my eating behaviors to a tee. I see a therapist and she has suggested I try OA. Looking forward to it but I have to admit, I am so scared about saying good bye to my food. Thanks again for responding and I hope to hear from you again.

Hi Evansdrewmom,
To develop an initial plan of eating write down 3 columns and list them as:
Red Foods, Yellow Foods, Green Foods. This will start you off on your plan of eating very quickly.
Red Foods are your binge foods. They are the foods that you are very sensitive to. These are most often the sweet, high fat, salty, crunchy foods. Removing those from your food plan will begin your abstinence from overeating.
Yellow foods are those foods you don't have so much trouble with but they bear watching. You want to be sure to weigh and measure your yellow foods.
Green foods are foods you enjoy in one serving and you don't crave more of them once you've eaten them.
Under your list of red, yellow and green foods list. Write down your meal times:
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. 2 snacks are ok as long as they are planned.
One day at a time write down:
For today I will have the following foods at B, L and D and 2 snacks.
Many of us have also seen a Nutritionist or Dr. to determine how much and what kinds of foods we need. If we knew how much and what we should eat we would not be in this situation.
Also remember OA is more than a food plan. All the tools are important esp. working the Steps.
Keep us up to date on how you are doing.
Bumps

That sounds like a great idea! My red list will be pretty big. Anything with white flour is a trigger for me. How long have you been abstinant? I am looking forward to attending this meeting. I feel like it will be a weight lifted off of me no pun intended!

Hi and welcome to OA! I'm kinda new to this also. I've been going for about 6 weeks now. My trigger foods are sugar, fast foods, pizza, etc. It's been 6weeks now I haven't had any sugar. Sugar as in pastry, pie cake candy, cola. I feel so much better my arthritis is a lot better.
I tend to get excited talking about OA and how it's benefited me, so I'll try not to talk in circles!
First go to a meeting and pick out a sponsor, if this is what you think you want or need to do. They will guide you through it.

Good Luck and keep it up, you'll see and feel so much better.

Take Care MiddleSister

I just came back to this site after several years of being away. I came right to the OA section because I know that compulsive eating is a big part of my problem. I've read the last few messages and I'm grateful just to be here. I need the information and encouragement! I've always liked the concepts of the program--and they apply to people of all ages and stages of life!

LizMC

I finally went to a meeting. It was great! Everyone was so nice and welcoming. I was abstinant for 4 dAYS UNTIL TODAY.I am not so upset though I will wake up tomorrow and try again and this time I will talk to the higher power. It has been awhile since we had a chat!

Alright! your first meeting! Good job.