4th OA meeting

Last night was my 4th OA meeting.  I have been abstinent (no binging, eating 3 meals a day, sometimes with an afternoon snack if lunch is early and dinner will be late) going on 7 days.

The meetings are wonderful.  The woman I know picked me up yesterday & we drove together so we could talk before and after.  Everyone there is amazingly supportive and welcoming, like they have this big gift they want to give every newcomer. 

"Keep coming back" everyone says.  It's really cool.

I'm reading OA and AA material.  The key to long term success, it seems to me from reading, is to work EVERY SINGLE STEP.  You don't get to lose weight, get to step 4 or 5, and then quit, thinking you've beaten the disease.

The people who succeed with long term weight loss and disease management work every step at least once, and continue to work certain steps for the rest of their lives.

The people who succeed also know that they are still addicted to food, are powerless over food, surrender themselves daily to their higher power (their food and their lives), and come to meetings at least once a week.  Many go to 2 or 3 meetings a week.

I am on step one.  Admitting I am powerless over food and my life has become unmanageable.

At my next meeting, I'm going to accept the "desire" chip.  You've heard about AA chips, right?  A chip for 30 days abstinent, 60 days, 1 year, etc. 

The first chip is the desire chip.  It took me this long to make up my mind that YES I have a disease, I am not like other people, and I have the desire to surrender to the Steps & the OA process.

I will also be asking an OA veteran (18 years of abstinence) to be my sponsor soon.  That is a very, very big step.  I'm scared, but I know it is the only way to move forward.