Mill Creek OA 100 Pounder Speaker Meeting

Come along with Broscilla (A.K.A. “Cooky”) as she takes you on her journey from being 342 pounds overweight before OA to maintaining a 130 pound weight loss today. She describes her first short visit to OA 21 years ago when she heard the word God mentioned and thought OA was a cult. Later she realized something had changed inside her and her higher power was in her heart watching over her, especially during the hardest time of her life when she got sick and had 19 surgeries. Cooky we’ll tell you how she changed from being a loner to being part of a happy family even though she is divorced. She describes how she broke a cycle of food binging--eating on her bed watching TV--causing “sugar comas”, and throwing expensive food out due to guilt. You may relate to her story of her family food dysfunction, including how her brother died young at 300 pounds, how she carried around a bag of candy which she refilled by stealing money, and her fear of a domineering family in which she could never be herself. She describes the cycle of gaining and losing weight at a facility that gave her amphetamines. She relates the message of hope, where she learned to let go of the past, and how to deal with family stress better. She says she doesn’t understand OA completely, but she knows it works because better things are happening now than she ever thought would.

Craig shares with us his story of recovery and how no weight was ever good enough for him. Even at his length of abstinence, he still has to work the program. He emphasizes the need to have someone to confide in that will not cosign the crazy thinking that we all go through. Enjoy!

Roz shared her 25th OA birthday with us tonight. Her story is amazing. She came in at around 390 pounds hating herself and has progressed to loving herself after working the program, working through the anger, and getting to know herself. She emphasizes the point of progress not perfection in this program and it has obviously worked for her!

Mixing humor with wisdom, Annette will have you laughing as you learn from her challenging story. You will learn about her secret to maintaining a 140 pound weight loss for the past 16 years, in which she said she broke all the rules except her number one rule which is to keep coming back to OA. She shares how she used food and drugs as coping mechanisms, how she “discovered” bulimia as her magic answer to eating compulsively, how she found herself in a $140 per day food hell that consumed her life--even smoking joints to get hungry when she was full! Her story about a gun and a low rider is both funny and thought-provoking. Don’t miss it.

Marci tells her story of hope, starting her journey as a young 250 pound woman who stole food, ate anything and in any quantity, swept her feelings and bad relationships "under the rug", had no boundaries, and had an attitude of "mind your own business". After her doctor said she had to lose weight, she eventually realized that she couldn't use force of will. She tells the story of a major binge at Las Vegas buffets where she met sober alcoholics who taught her the reward of the 12 steps, eventually leading to her to be a grateful hundred pounder. She describes how she changed from being unable to reach her goals to being able to achieve 10 years of abstinence by being a "Big Book Fundamentalist". She explains what she means by "you can't stay clean in yesterday's shower", and what she does as a daily ritual to stay sane, maintain her weight loss, and see physical miracles.

Gaddy's heartfelt story starts as a skinny kid with a distorted relationship with food, giving an example of his morbidly obese mom's emotional attachment: he discovered he could hurt and manipulate his mother by rejecting her food. He describes how dealt with being unpopular by using food, drugs, and alcohol to become involved with others. After becoming sober in 1983 he replaced alcohol with compulsive eating, and talks about his motto "Being full was just the beginning" since there was never enough to satisfy him because his emotional void was so great. He details the two parts of his compulsive overeating: voluntarily choosing to overeat, as compared to involuntarily overeating. He describes how a lifestyle change was required for his long-term success, so he learned how to start over by self-dieting. He relates how he stole food in many ways, such as eating in the grocers. He explains how people can be in denial when they enter OA: thinking that they're not so bad and thinking that they're helpless. He describes the difference between eating "appropriately" and "abstinently", giving him greater connection to his higher power.

Ali articulates beautifully a message of hope as she guides you on her path from pain to freedom, starting as 200 pound elementary student with no relationships who used stolen food to numb her feelings, who believed "if I can cover my body you won't see my body" and who made her own clothes so that they would fit her. She will tell you how she felt as a 400 pound teen when she almost died because of blood clots caused by self-medicating, and how the lap band she got in Mexico did not help. Discover her transformation from writing a letter to a God she didn't believe in to developing a relationship with a God that she can turn to by "letting go, letting God". She will disclose how she deals with stress, how she gained the ability to exercise, how she conquered false expectations, and how she learned to live among others.

Lessie will inspire you as she tells how OA helped her escape from her "personal version of hell", where at an early age of 3 her father died and she began to use food to capture a feeling of family and escape a feeling of being "fat, fearful, lonely, and never enough". In her atheistic viewpoint she tried to fill her life using food, then later drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. When a psychologist introduced her to OA, she found a spiritual path and eventually succeeded in maintaining a 210 pound loss.

Howard shares with us his 25 year journey in recovery. He got to this program after venturing into other 12 step fellowships and has remained abstinent ever since. He came in close to 400 pounds and has maintained his weight loss. He felt like he never belonged anywhere his whole life, but this program has provided him the means to attain a recovery that enables him to laugh, have fun and enjoy abstinence.

Edith Rae came to the program at 51 and now has solid recovery. She loves life and herself now, which is a great change from the negativity she thought of herself when she first came in. Her story is inspiring for all of us.

Helen, who celebrated 13 years tonight, came into the program when she was young. She encountered some struggles in her recovery over the years, but her recovery is strong. She made it clear that we all have character defects and that we work on them the best we can. The program isn't just a diet for Helen, she lives and works the 12 steps.

Gail shares with us her story of recovery from compulsive overeating as well as anorexia. There have been ups and downs in her recovery, but she got the willingness this time around to work the program and has acheived great results.

Maricela shared with us her story of recovery from compulsive overeating. She explained how the physical isn't all that needed to change, she needed to change the spiritual and emotional components as well. She has a fire for life today as a result of working the program.

You'll be inspired by Don's story of how OA helped him overcome his compulsive eating, starting with his childhood as a country boy who got into trouble and dropped out of high school, how he joined the Marines and was the only survivor of 20 men sent to "Ground Recon" in Vietnam, his first encounter with a 12 step program when his daughter attempted suicide, the beginnings of his compulsive eating as a newly married man and a high school teacher, the reason his first attempt at joining OA failed and why his second attempt has succeeded for so many years.

Helen tell you her heartfelt story, starting with her childhood memories (which revolve about food), her progressively-worse obsession of eating sugar until she became ill, her attempt to analyze her pervasive fears, attempting to use food and alcohol to deal with the discomfort of "being in her own skin", being a young bride with a weight-obsessed husband trying to fix her, her struggle with many diets (including a very unusual one!), joining OA in 1994 but taking a few years to finally be willing to do what her sponsor told her, how her struggle to understand God lead to a spiritual awakening, her realization that everything that works in her life is a result of this program, why the problems she thinks she has are made up and don't matter, and how she deals with sugar temptations today.

Tarl gives one of the boldest and encouraging stories you'll ever hear about his path to 33 years of abstinence, starting as a small child who ate an unusual food compulsively, discovering that he couldn't choose what feelings were deadened by compulsively eating, overcoming the fantasy of being rescued from his eating compulsion, compulsively over-exercising, discovering OA at 17, discovering how to test whether an overweight person is a compulsive eater, finding how coming out of the closet interacted with compulsively eating, finding that nothing external would stop him from compulsively eating except blindness, and how OA led him to 33 years of abstinence.

Justin shares his journey as a 300 pounder at age 16 growing up on diets and binging while he played football, his realization that relapse is a process as he struggled to admit he had a spiritual problem, eating his way to diabetes and 500 pounds, finding a "safe fifth step space", and how he succeeds at his current abstinance today.

Spencer shared with us his inspirational story of long term recovery. His gratitude and joy really shined through and helps us to remain hopeful in our own recoveries.

Rich shares with us his inspirational journey in recovery over the past 19 years.

Nathan shared with us how his obsession with food led him to some successes in life, but ultimately left him at a bottom until he met his eskimo. He has 3 years of abstinence today and his recovery has been great despite the fine tuning we all make as our time in program progresses. He is more comfortable with himself, he is working a program, and he stays connected through meetings, service, and phone calls to make sure that he continues to stick around.

Adam shares his story of coming in over 300 pounds and how he is now maintaining a normal bodyweight. His recovery in the spiritual, physical and emotional realm has enabled him to have a great life with family, friends and the fellowship of OA.

Jon shared with us tonight about how compulsive overeating affected his life, even as a very young child. When he came to OA, he got the weight loss, but still went back out for research. He is now back in the program with 2 years and is at his lightest weight since 19. He has an inspirational story to open the new year with. Enjoy!

Merry Belated Christmas! Doug shared with us his story of recovery as a young person. He hit his first bottom young at 16 and now has a little under 2.5 years of abstinence with about 150 pound weight loss at 24 years old. There were many struggles, but Doug is recovering and learning how to live life while finding out who he is.

Victor describes to us how from the very first time he had real food, he knew he was a compulsive oereater. Food was always readily available and it wasn't frowned upon. When he hit his bottom and finally came to OA, he realized that he needed to let go of his punishing Higher Power and find one that worked for him if he was to find recovery. He did find that power greater than himself and has found spiritual, physical and emotional recovery. Even with long term abstinence, he still has to work the program just as hard if not harder than when he first came in, but he is willing and does it on a daily basis.

Marla shares with us her story of recovery over the past two years. She realized she had a problem with food from a young age and has finally found her solution.

Ken shares with us his story of recovery over the past 30 years. He came in at over 300 pounds and is now maintaining around a 170 pound weight today. His story is one of isolation, depression and anger, which he says depression is anger without enthusiasm. He was very ambivalent about working the program and only worked it so he could prove it didn't work and move on with his life. The program worked, however, and it got him through some very tough times in his life. He is proof that we can stay in recovery and keep coming back no matter what!

Daniel shares with us his story of long term recovery as a 100 pounder. His humor and wit, combined with the devastating nature of the disease before program puts a nice twist on his message of recovery. Without surrendering completely to step one, he would not be where he is today.

Michael shares his experience with the steps and breaks them down with a fervor and excitement for the way they were outlined by our mother program's founders-Bill and Bob. He struggled with all forms of compulsive eating and finally came to the program after reaching over 300 pounds. He gets to practice these principles in all his affairs, especially work life, and continues to carry the message.

Violet shares with us her journey of recovery through the program. With the help of the fellowship, she has been able to admit powerlessness over the food and has attained long-term abstinence and weigh-loss as a result. She emphasizes that it's not all about the weight, however, and she has been shown how to apply the principles of the steps in her daily affairs.

Robin shares with us his journey in OA as a long-term abstinence maintaining 100 pounder. He has had ups and downs, but with the program he has become spiritually connected and has been able to share that with others.

Bob came into the program after a run in with some other 12 step programs. His sponsor told him that he needed to make amends to himself for the weight he carried his whole life. He came into OA at 340 pounds, and over the years his recovery hasn't been perfect, but he's kept coming back to carry the message and is now maintaining close to a normal body weight.

Elle shared with us her story of recovery. Since she has been abstinent, she has lost 80 pounds and came in willing to work the program as suggested because she had nowhere else to turn for recovery from compulsive overeating. She had ran out of options. Growing up, she used outside issues instead of food, and was even able to keep the weight off due to her active lifestyle after giving up those outside issues. Eventually, she started justifying excess food and couldn't keep up anymore. Her higher power intervened and brought her to program instead of having her get a gastric bypass. She resented being powerless, but kept coming back, and eventually the program worked for her.

Sharon celebrated 4 years of rededicated abstinence with us tonight. She has been around the program for over 35 years which shows her persistence and intent to recover in this program. She struggled with her weight since she was about 5 years old and started going to diet doctors and taking diet pills at a fairly young age. After the diet pills stopped working as a barrier between the food, she tried commercial weight loss programs for many years and never found much success. She always struggled with self-esteem and wanted to be something that she wasn't. Eventually, she came to the program and has not left, even among moving to 3 different states. Over the course of her recovery, she has realized that she has something valuable to offer those around her. In addition, she now knows that the program is about the physical, emotional and spiritual recovery. To this day, she keeps at the forefront of her mind that her 4 priorities are Abstinence, Fellowship, Service, and Faith in her Higher Power.

This past Sunday was really a treat from Nancy J. As of October 5th, she has 38 years abstinent and had a lot of recovery to share with us as a result of that. When she got to program, she weighed 325 pounds and today she is at a normal bodyweight. After growing up in an abusive home where food was her comfort, and after surrendering to her drug and alcohol addiction, she made it to OA. In OA, she became aware that nothing could ever satisfy her and that she had a distorted self perception. After 4 months of coming in and out of program, she finally let go of the punitive God she grew up with and found a Higher Power that worked for her. This concept blossomed out of the simple fact that God existed and she wasn't it. Gradually, by taking the hand of those who came before her in the fellowship, she found her voice and a strong recovery.

Ron shares his journey over the course of the past 9 years of abstinence and his 97 pound weight loss. He had struggled with drugs and compulsive exercise before he came to OA, but once he put both of those down, with some help from another fellowship, he delved really heavily into the food. He now knows that certain foods, like white flour and sugar, cause an allergic reaction in him, and when he starts eating those foods, he cannot stop. When he finally surrendered in OA, his Higher Power put a sponsor in his life and gave him a regimented way of living, so that he could not find the loopholes at first. He reads from the big book, does the steps, and stays committed to the program. Along the road of abstinence, he has had to fine tune his food plan to keep his maintenance, but as long as he is spiritually connected, the physical aspect always seems to work itself out.

Ira shares the recovery he has experienced as a result of his 28 years of abstinence and 140-144 pound weight loss. He tells the group to take what we like and file the rest away for later use, because we will never know when it will come in handy. He struggled with weight his whole life, and knew that he was hurting himself, but continued eating until the pain endured was great enough to spark willingness in him to work the program. In OA, he has never been without a sponsor, and has received a spiritual experience that changed his personality so that he could refrain from compulsive overeating, make amends to those around him, and live a happier life.

Jim shares how the disease crippled his body to the point of heart issues and Type II Diabetes as an adult. He had experience with other programs and luckily his doctor (also his sponsor) encouraged him to come to OA. After 13 years of abstinence, he doesn't struggle with the food like its a tiger 3 times a day. He developed a relationship with his Higher Power and grew to be able to leave the weight in his Higher Power's hands. OA Overhauled Jim's Attitude, and as long as he does the footwork, his Higher Power takes care of the rest of his life.

Steve came from Long Beach tonight to share his story of honesty and self-discovery. His top weight was 335 pounds and in 2.5 years of abstinence, he has lost 115 pounds from that top weight. As a child, he knew he was different from his fellows and had resigned himself to a compulsive overeating death after he got out of high school. His Higher Power stepped in, however, and brought him around Overeaters Anonymous until Steve finally took hold of the program. His abstinence is not strict like a lot of other 100 pounders, but he knows today what does and doesn't work. In addition, the way he works his program helps him to stay out comparison with others and allows him to focus on his program and his spiritual growth.

Domingo has wrestled with Compulsive Overeating since childhood but it wasn't until he joined OA and threw 'all in' that he became a winner in recovery

Long term sobtriety, more than 2 years abstinant, more than 100 lbs down and super grateful. This is a great pitch.

Gary, with 23 months abstinent and 106 pounds of weight loss, shares his lifelong struggle with compulsive overeating, exercise builimia and weight loss and the success he has obtained as a result of working the program. He came to OA many times in the past, but pride and ego led him back out. His final wakeup call before his current abstinence was triggered by the death of his father, kidney cancer, and atrial fibrillation. He recovered from all of these complications and knew that it was only by God that he was still alive. In his current abstinence, he focuses on his spiritual connection and on being of service to others.

Justin, from Santa Monica, CA, shares with us his story of recovery. He first came around in 2006 and is now 13 months abstinent and 140 pounds down from his top weight. He knew that his behavior around food was not normal from the time he was 5 years old. He felt like no one could relate to the experiences he was having, so he hid the behaviors so common among compulsive overeaters and got really active in sports. Eventually, he came into the program and lost weight, but did not focus enough on the spirituality and ended up relapsing. This time around, he worked the program and has been able to build genuine relationships with family and friends while maintaining a sense of sanity around the food.

Thier individual recovery stories are inspiring on their own. Together theyare revealing 'How it works.' A relationship in the program brings a whole new dimension. Tom and Stephanie reveal their personal stories of how they got from Compusive Overeating to a working marriage as they share a life beyond their imagination.

Evelyn came down all the way from the San Fernando Valley to share with us her story of recovery. She is 24 years abstinent and has been maintaining a 115 pound weight loss for 23 of those years. Her story shows the process she went through to learn how to enjoy the world and the relationships around her without being obsessed about the food. She wanted happiness and was determined to work the program and follow direction (out of spite, if necessary) in order to achieve that goal. Today, she is happy and she is comfortable in her own skin.

Joe shares his amazing story of how he got out of the isolation and self-destruction of compulsive overeating. He knew that he was different from his peers with regards to food at an early age and turned to food as comfort. His top weight was 550 pounds and he has an abstinence date of 2/14/2009. Through his recovery, he has given away 225 pounds. He finally found the willingness to embrace OA and follow a sponsor's direction. Although there have been many painful moments, he persevered with the help of the fellowship and his Higher Power.

Alma shares with us her journey of spiritual growth in recovery. 20 years ago, she came in, but her busy life led her back out and the shame kept her from coming back. Today, she is stronger than ever in her recovery, and she is letting her Higher Power lead the way.

Cindy's recovery from the lifelong devesation imposed by her disease has brought a hightened self esteem, a true sense of purpose and a 237 pound weight loss. This is what OA is all about!

Loni G from LA had a deep understanding of HER diesease that allows her to share her very serious commitment to her recovery and OA in a lighthearted and heartfelt manner which touches everone who hears this pitch

Tony P From LA - 24 Years abstinent - wears his recovery like a loose garment. With humor and humility, well actually more humor, he shares his experience so you can believe that the program can work for anyone.

Icomprehensible demoralization to unbeleiveable joy in 24 short years. A heartfelt story of love and recovery which is possible for all of us.