I fixated and obsessed about foods more than I ever did in my life.
I attended many Overeaters Anonymous meetings for a few months.
I never felt like it was appropriate for me, but I gave it a solid effort.
Here are some reasons why Overeaters Anonymous is not appropriate for everyone:
1.
The group setting is female dominant.
During sharing time, most stories revolve around binge foods and binge episodes.
Certain foods are not to be spoken of by their names.
However, it’s acceptable to describe the food in detail.
I once listened to a lady describe her doughnuts as circular sweet things with a hole in the middle.
OA members label themselves as compulsive overeaters or food addicts.
It takes away a lot of personal power and responsibility of the individual.
They continue to tell you in OA that the plan works if you work the plan.
They have a lot of mantras like this.
And it’s true most things will work if you put in the effort.
It’s not specifically a weight-loss program.
OA strongly encourages its members to abstain from sugar or any food that cause cravings and binges.
The problem with this is the abstinence from sugar can manifest into another form of eating disorder.
The reason I personally ended up with a food addiction was because of this.
During my weight-loss journey, I labeled a lot of foods completely off-limits.
Anything that looked like dessert was not allowed in my mouth.
Therefore, it became all I thought about.
The bottom line.
While Overeaters Anonymous certainly can work for many, it wasn’t right for me.
