IE combined with OA

November 20, 2011

I was looking through the archives and

found a discussion about overeaters anonymous that took place last July. I

think that with the right support of like-minded IE people, these two combined

could work for me. I read there was a yahoo group that focused on the

combination. Does anyone know how to find it? I’ve looked at the yahoo site

but couldn’t find it.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Kate in Spokane

November 22, 2011

Thanks, Katcha. I’ll go back

and read more. I did read quite a bit, but maybe there’ll be more.

I contacted the person who mentioned it, but haven’t heard back.

A lot of OA’ers use the abstinence

part for sugar or flour, etc., but I feel abstinence could be abstaining from

overeating or abstaining from eating when I’m not hungry. There are

a lot of things people are doing that I have done in the past and it just didn’t

work for me. I definitely would not let go of IE but I think dealing with

the addictive part might help me.

Thanks for responding.

Kate

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of jain_daugh

Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011

7:55 AM

To: IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

Re: IE combined with OA

Kate, did you follow the discussion all the way thru?

You can do that at the group Yahoo site by scrolling down to the thread outline

for any post. I remember that discussion happening, but I don't remember if the

members who appreciated OA remained active here. Sorry but I never heard of

such a 'blended' group, but with IE each person finds and uses whatever works

for them so maybe there are those who do.

To me the idea of a list of undesirable foods (don't know OA term) is way too

diet-ish and would definitely trigger my diet rebel. But really how different

is that from knowing that there are foods I don't enjoy eating and that my body

doesn't appreciate? Guess its the source of the 'list'?!? As long as its of

my/your choosing, if it works - use it!

Best wishes, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I was looking through the archives and found a discussion about overeaters

> anonymous that took place last July. I think that with the right support

of

> like-minded IE people, these two combined could work for me. I read there

> was a yahoo group that focused on the combination. Does anyone know how to

> find it? I've looked at the yahoo site but couldn't find it.

>

> Any help is greatly appreciated!

>

> Kate in Spokane

>

November 22, 2011

Thanks, Katcha. I’ll go back

and read more. I did read quite a bit, but maybe there’ll be more.

I contacted the person who mentioned it, but haven’t heard back.

A lot of OA’ers use the abstinence

part for sugar or flour, etc., but I feel abstinence could be abstaining from

overeating or abstaining from eating when I’m not hungry. There are

a lot of things people are doing that I have done in the past and it just didn’t

work for me. I definitely would not let go of IE but I think dealing with

the addictive part might help me.

Thanks for responding.

Kate

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of jain_daugh

Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011

7:55 AM

To: IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

Re: IE combined with OA

Kate, did you follow the discussion all the way thru?

You can do that at the group Yahoo site by scrolling down to the thread outline

for any post. I remember that discussion happening, but I don't remember if the

members who appreciated OA remained active here. Sorry but I never heard of

such a 'blended' group, but with IE each person finds and uses whatever works

for them so maybe there are those who do.

To me the idea of a list of undesirable foods (don't know OA term) is way too

diet-ish and would definitely trigger my diet rebel. But really how different

is that from knowing that there are foods I don't enjoy eating and that my body

doesn't appreciate? Guess its the source of the 'list'?!? As long as its of

my/your choosing, if it works - use it!

Best wishes, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I was looking through the archives and found a discussion about overeaters

> anonymous that took place last July. I think that with the right support

of

> like-minded IE people, these two combined could work for me. I read there

> was a yahoo group that focused on the combination. Does anyone know how to

> find it? I've looked at the yahoo site but couldn't find it.

>

> Any help is greatly appreciated!

>

> Kate in Spokane

>

November 22, 2011

What part of OA would combine with IE?

>

> I was looking through the archives and found a discussion about overeaters

> anonymous that took place last July. I think that with the right support of

> like-minded IE people, these two combined could work for me. I read there

> was a yahoo group that focused on the combination. Does anyone know how to

> find it? I've looked at the yahoo site but couldn't find it.

>

> Any help is greatly appreciated!

>

> Kate in Spokane

>

November 22, 2011

What part of OA would combine with IE?

>

> I was looking through the archives and found a discussion about overeaters

> anonymous that took place last July. I think that with the right support of

> like-minded IE people, these two combined could work for me. I read there

> was a yahoo group that focused on the combination. Does anyone know how to

> find it? I've looked at the yahoo site but couldn't find it.

>

> Any help is greatly appreciated!

>

> Kate in Spokane

>

November 22, 2011

What part of OA would combine with IE?

>

> I was looking through the archives and found a discussion about overeaters

> anonymous that took place last July. I think that with the right support of

> like-minded IE people, these two combined could work for me. I read there

> was a yahoo group that focused on the combination. Does anyone know how to

> find it? I've looked at the yahoo site but couldn't find it.

>

> Any help is greatly appreciated!

>

> Kate in Spokane

>

November 23, 2011

I cycled between diets (bingeing) and OA for probably thirty plus years. I look

back at joining OA as the final nail in the coffin of any normalcy I might have

had around eating up to that time.

Convincing myself that I was " a compulsive overeater " meant that I no longer had

control over my eating (whatever you want to term it) and therefore I became

more out of control than ever. It was a self-fulfilling prophesy. And I became

afraid of food and that fear started to rule me.

On top of which, I almost never saw anything resembling recovery in OA. Mostly

meetings seemed like a great big old whine fest, when people weren't busy

pouring over the steps as if they would somehow fix them if you read them often

enough.

(Another rant here.)

AA was established by and for alcoholics and trying to make the steps and the

philosophy fit eating disorders (again, whatever) just doesn't seem to result in

recovery. At least so very little that I've ever seen. Plus their definition

of recovery is - what? It's like fog, hard to ascertain.

OA HOW focusses on restriction make a little more sense as they do deal with

abstinence. Which is what AA is about. Abstinence. " Came, came to, came to

believe " - and so on.

So, yes I had great success on OA HOW - that's when I got to watch my thighs

disappear. And then feel the sense of sheer terror after that one waffle and

that major fall from grace, from which I never fully returned. It just wasn't

the same after the first three rounds of reporting my step writings to my

sponsor every day. Not to mention calling in my food during my backslide into

all of the food I'd restricted for six months.... Not fun. Brrrr. That was the

greatest high and the greatest fall of my diet history.

The thing about IE that works over time - to me - is that I am learning to live

without a net. There is no program, there is no set of rules, there is no plan,

there's nothing to make amends for. I do not have an external set of rules that

tells me when I'm right and when I'm wrong. It's all neutral. That creates

room for learning.

Initially, there was only some fumbling, falling down, getting up, and

eventually learning to walk, one meal, one " slip " , one " I get it " at a time.

The intuitive was always there, it just got silenced by " coming to believe " I

needed someone else tell me what to eat.

Day in and day out - my food choices and my hunger became the enemy and I was

fighting mightily to learn how to eat differently than I was inclined to do.

The biggest evidence that I was a hopeless weight-losoer - those times when I

pudged up because I'd eaten emotionally. The horror!

If only I had those years back, I'd realize that sometimes I needed comfort and

that was the only way I knew how to get it. Then, I could have gone into

therapy - about whatever was bothering me, not about being a compulsive

overeater. It's within normal limits to overeat sometimes.

So, now instead of focussing on being a compulsive overeater who needs to work

on the 12 Steps (modified to fit OA) I'm finding my way in the dark and unknown

of trying to recognize and honor my body's needs. In doing so I find myself

stumbling over old beliefs, tripping on the rebellion that arises when I think I

should never have xxs again, and inching my way along the path of return to my

natural self. A self/psyche who is smarter than any diet or any plan ever

created.

Alcoholics (some, not all) can never have a drink again. I can have chocolate

without winding up in Detox on Monday (or three months hence) and because of

that I need to establish an entirely different response to chocolate than an

alcholic does to whiskey.

All of this is just my experience but it is based on thirty years of research

involving multiple OA meetings in small towns and most in major cities.

Good luck; I know the program is attractive. But then, it is a program.

Sandarah

> >

> > I was looking through the archives and found a discussion about overeaters

> > anonymous that took place last July. I think that with the right support

> of

> > like-minded IE people, these two combined could work for me. I read there

> > was a yahoo group that focused on the combination. Does anyone know how to

> > find it? I've looked at the yahoo site but couldn't find it.

> >

> > Any help is greatly appreciated!

> >

> > Kate in Spokane

> >

>

November 23, 2011

This is why I love this list. I

have no experience with OA so your viewpoint is very valuable to me.

I think that my experience with WW and

my other period of big loss and gain-back has enabled me to pick and choose

more wisely than I would have before. I do realize that I could face a

lot of whining if the meetings are like the oa list. I guess I was

attracted to having a sponsor to call, although I was worried about finding the

right one since I am not going the path of most of them. I really will

have to re-think this, you have given me a lot to think about. Thanks,

Sandarah.

Kate

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of sanamu1234

Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011

12:33 PM

To: IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

Re: IE combined with OA

I cycled between diets (bingeing) and OA for probably

thirty plus years. I look back at joining OA as the final nail in the coffin of

any normalcy I might have had around eating up to that time.

Convincing myself that I was " a compulsive overeater " meant that I no

longer had control over my eating (whatever you want to term it) and therefore

I became more out of control than ever. It was a self-fulfilling prophesy. And

I became afraid of food and that fear started to rule me.

On top of which, I almost never saw anything resembling recovery in OA. Mostly

meetings seemed like a great big old whine fest, when people weren't busy

pouring over the steps as if they would somehow fix them if you read them often

enough.

(Another rant here.)

AA was established by and for alcoholics and trying to make the steps and the

philosophy fit eating disorders (again, whatever) just doesn't seem to result

in recovery. At least so very little that I've ever seen. Plus their definition

of recovery is - what? It's like fog, hard to ascertain.

OA HOW focusses on restriction make a little more sense as they do deal with

abstinence. Which is what AA is about. Abstinence. " Came, came to, came to

believe " - and so on.

So, yes I had great success on OA HOW - that's when I got to watch my thighs

disappear. And then feel the sense of sheer terror after that one waffle and

that major fall from grace, from which I never fully returned. It just wasn't the

same after the first three rounds of reporting my step writings to my sponsor

every day. Not to mention calling in my food during my backslide into all of

the food I'd restricted for six months.... Not fun. Brrrr. That was the

greatest high and the greatest fall of my diet history.

The thing about IE that works over time - to me - is that I am learning to live

without a net. There is no program, there is no set of rules, there is no plan,

there's nothing to make amends for. I do not have an external set of rules that

tells me when I'm right and when I'm wrong. It's all neutral. That creates room

for learning.

Initially, there was only some fumbling, falling down, getting up, and

eventually learning to walk, one meal, one " slip " , one " I get

it " at a time. The intuitive was always there, it just got silenced by

" coming to believe " I needed someone else tell me what to eat.

Day in and day out - my food choices and my hunger became the enemy and I was

fighting mightily to learn how to eat differently than I was inclined to do.

The biggest evidence that I was a hopeless weight-losoer - those times when I

pudged up because I'd eaten emotionally. The horror!

If only I had those years back, I'd realize that sometimes I needed comfort and

that was the only way I knew how to get it. Then, I could have gone into

therapy - about whatever was bothering me, not about being a compulsive

overeater. It's within normal limits to overeat sometimes.

So, now instead of focussing on being a compulsive overeater who needs to work

on the 12 Steps (modified to fit OA) I'm finding my way in the dark and unknown

of trying to recognize and honor my body's needs. In doing so I find myself

stumbling over old beliefs, tripping on the rebellion that arises when I think

I should never have xxs again, and inching my way along the path of return to

my natural self. A self/psyche who is smarter than any diet or any plan ever

created.

Alcoholics (some, not all) can never have a drink again. I can have chocolate

without winding up in Detox on Monday (or three months hence) and because of

that I need to establish an entirely different response to chocolate than an

alcholic does to whiskey.

All of this is just my experience but it is based on thirty years of research

involving multiple OA meetings in small towns and most in major cities.

Good luck; I know the program is attractive. But then, it is a program.

Sandarah

> >

> > I was looking through the archives and found a discussion about

overeaters

> > anonymous that took place last July. I think that with the right

support

> of

> > like-minded IE people, these two combined could work for me. I read

there

> > was a yahoo group that focused on the combination. Does anyone know

how to

> > find it? I've looked at the yahoo site but couldn't find it.

> >

> > Any help is greatly appreciated!

> >

> > Kate in Spokane

November 23, 2011

This is why I love this list. I

have no experience with OA so your viewpoint is very valuable to me.

I think that my experience with WW and

my other period of big loss and gain-back has enabled me to pick and choose

more wisely than I would have before. I do realize that I could face a

lot of whining if the meetings are like the oa list. I guess I was

attracted to having a sponsor to call, although I was worried about finding the

right one since I am not going the path of most of them. I really will

have to re-think this, you have given me a lot to think about. Thanks,

Sandarah.

Kate

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of sanamu1234

Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011

12:33 PM

To: IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

Re: IE combined with OA

I cycled between diets (bingeing) and OA for probably

thirty plus years. I look back at joining OA as the final nail in the coffin of

any normalcy I might have had around eating up to that time.

Convincing myself that I was " a compulsive overeater " meant that I no

longer had control over my eating (whatever you want to term it) and therefore

I became more out of control than ever. It was a self-fulfilling prophesy. And

I became afraid of food and that fear started to rule me.

On top of which, I almost never saw anything resembling recovery in OA. Mostly

meetings seemed like a great big old whine fest, when people weren't busy

pouring over the steps as if they would somehow fix them if you read them often

enough.

(Another rant here.)

AA was established by and for alcoholics and trying to make the steps and the

philosophy fit eating disorders (again, whatever) just doesn't seem to result

in recovery. At least so very little that I've ever seen. Plus their definition

of recovery is - what? It's like fog, hard to ascertain.

OA HOW focusses on restriction make a little more sense as they do deal with

abstinence. Which is what AA is about. Abstinence. " Came, came to, came to

believe " - and so on.

So, yes I had great success on OA HOW - that's when I got to watch my thighs

disappear. And then feel the sense of sheer terror after that one waffle and

that major fall from grace, from which I never fully returned. It just wasn't the

same after the first three rounds of reporting my step writings to my sponsor

every day. Not to mention calling in my food during my backslide into all of

the food I'd restricted for six months.... Not fun. Brrrr. That was the

greatest high and the greatest fall of my diet history.

The thing about IE that works over time - to me - is that I am learning to live

without a net. There is no program, there is no set of rules, there is no plan,

there's nothing to make amends for. I do not have an external set of rules that

tells me when I'm right and when I'm wrong. It's all neutral. That creates room

for learning.

Initially, there was only some fumbling, falling down, getting up, and

eventually learning to walk, one meal, one " slip " , one " I get

it " at a time. The intuitive was always there, it just got silenced by

" coming to believe " I needed someone else tell me what to eat.

Day in and day out - my food choices and my hunger became the enemy and I was

fighting mightily to learn how to eat differently than I was inclined to do.

The biggest evidence that I was a hopeless weight-losoer - those times when I

pudged up because I'd eaten emotionally. The horror!

If only I had those years back, I'd realize that sometimes I needed comfort and

that was the only way I knew how to get it. Then, I could have gone into

therapy - about whatever was bothering me, not about being a compulsive

overeater. It's within normal limits to overeat sometimes.

So, now instead of focussing on being a compulsive overeater who needs to work

on the 12 Steps (modified to fit OA) I'm finding my way in the dark and unknown

of trying to recognize and honor my body's needs. In doing so I find myself

stumbling over old beliefs, tripping on the rebellion that arises when I think

I should never have xxs again, and inching my way along the path of return to

my natural self. A self/psyche who is smarter than any diet or any plan ever

created.

Alcoholics (some, not all) can never have a drink again. I can have chocolate

without winding up in Detox on Monday (or three months hence) and because of

that I need to establish an entirely different response to chocolate than an

alcholic does to whiskey.

All of this is just my experience but it is based on thirty years of research

involving multiple OA meetings in small towns and most in major cities.

Good luck; I know the program is attractive. But then, it is a program.

Sandarah

> >

> > I was looking through the archives and found a discussion about

overeaters

> > anonymous that took place last July. I think that with the right

support

> of

> > like-minded IE people, these two combined could work for me. I read

there

> > was a yahoo group that focused on the combination. Does anyone know

how to

> > find it? I've looked at the yahoo site but couldn't find it.

> >

> > Any help is greatly appreciated!

> >

> > Kate in Spokane

November 23, 2011

You're welcome; I'd hoped my rant wouldn't turn you off. I had a sponsor that I

could relate well to when I was doing OA HOW, but when I started slipping and

sliding it got to the point I just couldn't face her anymore. Then it was all

history.

I did have a friend who did the OA HOW program (ala the greysheet) and stuck to

it like glue. She carried her food with her everywhere she went, she never

slipped, she packed up her food and took it to family dinners on holidays; no

carbs, no grains, no fudging... She was totally into it like a new religion.

She ate the same meals, weighed and measured faithfully for 12 years. At that

point she said she finally felt she had recovery around eating; but she still

ate the same foods at the same meals. I could probably recite them.

I envied her to death - but could never find the wherewithal to be that rigid.

Alas. Or - maybe yay!

Fact is though, our long-term friendship ended eventually. We had nothing left

in common; our world views became totally opposite. Even then I was trying

intuitive eating via the Overcoming Overeating process and just couldn't face

the idea of weighing and measuring and restricting for the rest of my life. But

I knew that's what would be required if I were to ever hope for a diet to work.

Lifelong commitment, lifelong rigor - one day at a time.

She's the only person I've ever met who had long-term success with a diet and

with OA and I salute her for that. I just got sick of hearing about it and

seeing her in her size " 0 " clothes while I was trying sort of thinking that

giving myself permissison to eat was the real path to freedom.

No doubt on-line meetings are much different; I never tried them. And, then you

can't sit around a circle and judge others success or failure by their weight...

Know what I mean?

Best wishes.

Sandarah

> > >

> > > I was looking through the archives and found a discussion about

> overeaters

> > > anonymous that took place last July. I think that with the right support

> > of

> > > like-minded IE people, these two combined could work for me. I read

> there

> > > was a yahoo group that focused on the combination. Does anyone know how

> to

> > > find it? I've looked at the yahoo site but couldn't find it.

> > >

> > > Any help is greatly appreciated!

> > >

> > > Kate in Spokane

>

November 23, 2011