Newcomers to OA

[Done_With_It!]

http://www.therecoverygroup.org/newcomers/index.html





"In the deepest part of a compulsive eater's soul
is the realization that recovery begins when we find one another."


A Worldwide 12-Step Online Community Of Meetings, Support Groups,
Studies, Sponsors and Services For Members Of Overeaters Anonymous



TRG'S OA NEWCOMER PROGRAM
A 4-Part Intensive 12 Week Orientation To Overeaters Anonymous


PART ONE: OA NEWCOMERS ORIENTATION
PART TWO: OA NEWCOMER TALK
PART THREE: OA NEWCOMERS ONLINE MEETINGS
PART FOUR: OA NEWCOMERS SPONSORS


WELCOME HOME!

If you are on this web page, there is every possibility that you are struggling with food issues. There is the possibility that you are in pain because you're sick and tired of gaining weight and losing it only to gain it back again. There is the possibility that you are hurting so much that you are just about ready to give up. And so you've found yourself here.

Have you tried diet clubs, shots, pills, weight doctors, etc., only to achieve short-lived success followed by further failures-gaining and regaining weight each time? Have you known the despair of feeling fat? Are you thin now, but know you are on your way up? Is your eating out of control?

Many people want long-term freedom from their obsession with food and weight and often use extreme and unhealthy measures to achieve this including purging and starving. While some are able to achieve this freedom on their own, the majority struggle most of their lives with the problem.
Overeaters Anonymous (OA) is a program based upon the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Today, it is an organization that has meetings on every continent and is growing. The Recovery Group is not to replace face to face OA meetings ... but it is another resource for recovery. We treat the food and weight problem not as a lack of willpower or a moral defect, but as a disease that can be arrested.

This 12-step program offers a recovery program for the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of compulsive eating. OA is not a professional diet club. This organization does not endorse specific food plans or diets.

OA offers a message of hope and recovery from this serious problem. No matter what size you are when you come to OA, if you want to be free of the obsession with food, the OA program can work for you. If you want to learn how to live a life free of compulsive eating, OA and the Recovery Group can help.

ARE YOU A COMPULSIVE EATER?
OA's 15 Questions


Many of the members of our group have found recovery through their Overeaters Anonymous program. Only you can determine if you have an eating disorder ~ if you are a compulsive eater. Here are a few questions which might help you answer that question. Many members of Overeaters Anonymous and our group have found that they answered yes to many of these questions.

1. Do you eat when you're not hungry?
2. Do you go on eating binges for no apparent reason?
3. Do you have feelings of guilt and remorse after overeating?
4. Do you give too much time and thought to food?
5. Do you look forward with pleasure and anticipation to the time when you can eat alone?
6. Do you plan these secret binges ahead of time?
7. Do you eat sensibly before others and make up for it alone?
8. Is your weight affecting the way you live your life?
9. Have you tried to diet for a week (or longer), only to fall short of your goal?
10. Do you resent others telling you to "use a little willpower" to stop overeating?
11. Despite evidence to the contrary, have you continued to assert that you can diet "on your own" whenever you wish?
12. Do you crave to eat at a definite time, day or night, other than mealtime?
13. Do you eat to escape from worries or trouble?
14. Have you ever been treated for obesity or a food-related condition?
15. Does your eating behavior make you or others unhappy?

*Reprinted with permission from Overeaters Anonymous, Inc.







OUR FOUR PART PROGRAM FOR NEWCOMERS TRG's Newcomer Program is a four-part program offered four times each year on the first day of January, April, July and October. A large group of men and women new to the 12 Step Overeaters Anonymous program of compulsive eaters spend twelve weeks in an orientation group. These members gather in three places, each with a specific mission.

1. OA Newcomers is a structured and moderated support group designed to introduce newcomers to twelve important topics preparing them for their individual recovery program. This group is a moderated group and shares are on specific topics.

2. OA Newcomers Talk is an informal support group designed to encourage the sharing of the experience, strength and hope of one another in a safe and casual setting. This group is not moderated.

3. OA Newcomers Online Meetings are informal real time meetings in which newcomers can meet one another, ask questions and share just as they would in a face-to-face or OA Online meeting.

4. OA Newcomers Sponsor Program is utilized when a newcomer participates and does not have an individual Step and Food Sponsor. The Recovery Group's Sponsor Program works with the newcomers to make sure that each newcomer is guided by a sponsor as they begin their recovery journey. Newcomer participants without sponsors are shown several ways to choose their sponsor and learn about the different ways from the program and by reading the following:
www.therecoverygroup.org/sponsors.html.

Our newcomers convene informally year-round in OANewcomerTalk and on the first of each quarter also participate in OANewcomers. All members of OANewcomers are encouraged to also participate actively in both OANewcomerTalk and the OANewcomer Online Meetings. At the end of each quarter each "graduate" receives a virtual token and is transferred to their home loop, called OAOnline. With their sponsor as their guide, they are now ready to proceed with vigor in their lifelong OA program.