IE combined with OA

[Guest guest]

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

[Guest guest]

I think the addictive part would

apply. There are a lot of people in oa who use the abstinence part for

restricting sugar or some specific type of food. I don’t agree with

that – I’ve done that in the past and as most of you have

experienced, it backfires bigtime. I think that it could apply to

abstaining from eating when a person is not hungry, abstaining from eating past

the full feeling, that sort of thing. My brother’s life has changed

because of AA and he has been able to change his life while still holding his

own beliefs. I thought I would explore OA.

I have noticed a HUGE difference in the

posting from this group and the ones on the oa loop. I’ve seen a

lot of comments here about how relieved we all are (myself included) to not

have to worry about what is being served because we can eat anything. On

the other list, people are talking about taking their own food, being scared

and worried about the day, how they are going to cope. However, putting

my own needs into place with OA just might work. It deals with the stuff

behind the scenes, behind the feelings.

Any feedback is certainly appreciated.

Kate

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

Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011

7:19 PM

To: IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

Re: IE combined with OA

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

>

[Guest guest]

I think the addictive part would

apply. There are a lot of people in oa who use the abstinence part for

restricting sugar or some specific type of food. I don’t agree with

that – I’ve done that in the past and as most of you have

experienced, it backfires bigtime. I think that it could apply to

abstaining from eating when a person is not hungry, abstaining from eating past

the full feeling, that sort of thing. My brother’s life has changed

because of AA and he has been able to change his life while still holding his

own beliefs. I thought I would explore OA.

I have noticed a HUGE difference in the

posting from this group and the ones on the oa loop. I’ve seen a

lot of comments here about how relieved we all are (myself included) to not

have to worry about what is being served because we can eat anything. On

the other list, people are talking about taking their own food, being scared

and worried about the day, how they are going to cope. However, putting

my own needs into place with OA just might work. It deals with the stuff

behind the scenes, behind the feelings.

Any feedback is certainly appreciated.

Kate

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

Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011

7:19 PM

To: IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

Re: IE combined with OA

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

>

[Guest guest]

I think the addictive part would

apply. There are a lot of people in oa who use the abstinence part for

restricting sugar or some specific type of food. I don’t agree with

that – I’ve done that in the past and as most of you have

experienced, it backfires bigtime. I think that it could apply to

abstaining from eating when a person is not hungry, abstaining from eating past

the full feeling, that sort of thing. My brother’s life has changed

because of AA and he has been able to change his life while still holding his

own beliefs. I thought I would explore OA.

I have noticed a HUGE difference in the

posting from this group and the ones on the oa loop. I’ve seen a

lot of comments here about how relieved we all are (myself included) to not

have to worry about what is being served because we can eat anything. On

the other list, people are talking about taking their own food, being scared

and worried about the day, how they are going to cope. However, putting

my own needs into place with OA just might work. It deals with the stuff

behind the scenes, behind the feelings.

Any feedback is certainly appreciated.

Kate

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

Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011

7:19 PM

To: IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

Re: IE combined with OA

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

>

[Guest guest]

IE also includes delving into 'behind the scenes' stuff like emotions and old

learned behaviors. I have participated and benefited from '12 step' type groups

(Al-Anon and adult children of dysfunctional families) but I eventually found

the same steps that were initially comforting (known/directional) later

constricting and not encouraging of me to go 'beyond' them.

Do give this a try for your own self! We all have different ways of learning and

you could end up expanding our horizons too!

Best to you, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

> OA just might

> work. It deals with the stuff behind the scenes, behind the feelings.

>

> Any feedback is certainly appreciated.

>

> Kate

[Guest guest]

IE also includes delving into 'behind the scenes' stuff like emotions and old

learned behaviors. I have participated and benefited from '12 step' type groups

(Al-Anon and adult children of dysfunctional families) but I eventually found

the same steps that were initially comforting (known/directional) later

constricting and not encouraging of me to go 'beyond' them.

Do give this a try for your own self! We all have different ways of learning and

you could end up expanding our horizons too!

Best to you, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

> OA just might

> work. It deals with the stuff behind the scenes, behind the feelings.

>

> Any feedback is certainly appreciated.

>

> Kate

[Guest guest]

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

> >

>