I'm so happy to see that there are more people on the board that are doing OA or have some history with OA.

I have a new sponsor that is in AA and I have been going to all AA meetings. With my fast lately, I have been very sporatic on what I'm eating, so my food has really been iffy. I'm pretty sure I'm not losing and I haven't been going to any OA meetings nor have I been committing my food.

Ugh!!!

Just for Today....I will follow a plan of eating and not eat stuff that I know is bad for me..no matter what.

Hi there everyone,
I've actually just got involved in OA myself. its been around my family for awhile along with AA. My only problem with it is that i want to lose weight (about 75lbs) and the program teaches you not to consintrate on it too much. i have a food plan that is very similar to the grey sheet. I am just wondering if i will still be able to lose weight using it. I know alot of people in the program that just maintain and i dont want to. What do u guys think?

Although I didn't mention this in my initial post. the speaker who claimed to have written the Greysheet diet acknowledged that he cribbed from the Goldsheet diet.

BTW -- "blebono" was the speaker's term to describe himself at his highest weight.

HI Everyone - thanks for everyone's posts - especially about sugar - something I have been addicted to since I was a kid -

I am going to HOW online mostly now because I just can't do this on my own and I did not go to Easter because I am chubbier than ever and I did not want to see my family. I hate structure - but need it. Thanks for all of the shared experiences, feelings, and triumphs here.

...For me , the Atkins wol is mearlya food plan in a much more complexe healing process. My disease hits me on three levels, physical, mental and spiritual. Atkins helps me with the physical part, such as cravings and it also allows me to have structure and discipline with the food I can or cannot eat. Trust me, I can use all the discipline I can get my hands on!

But for the most part, I still need OA and the OA lifstyle is still a big part of my life. Atkins cannot help me with the emotional and spiritual aspects of my disease, which also needs treatment. I openly chat about OA thoughout the boards, simply because I can feel so much suffering from others that could be helped through OA. ALso, because a lot of compulsive overeaters (COE) out there do not even know that OA exists. After all, I am responsible for reaching out to COE who need help and is this not the 12th step?

~Patricia

I know what you mean. Often times I see people at meetings that say they are in maintenance and still look very overweight to me. I guess it's personal decision and in regular OA since you can pick and choose your own plan I guess that's what happens.

I however, don't look to those people as role models. I was told to stick with the winners and to me...this is only MY persoanl opinion, that usually means someone who has acheived and maintained a NORMAL weight. Not some rationalization of where they are comfortable. But I am a lil extreme and therefore, I may have extreme ideas.

I am back on my OA food plan...the whole fasting thing wasn't working at all.

I have 3 days today..I agree I have a 3 fold illness and I need to treat all 3 aspects of my disease.

I'm so happy to see others here as well.

ms twacky-your right about that...i want to stick with the winners too...i'm still trying to find some people i trust. u have lost weight since being involved with OA right? I'm not suppose to weight myself for a month, so i'm not sure. I also am alittle unsure about the program i was given. i am not really sure if its grey sheet or not, but i'm suppose to eat three fruits a day and 2 cups of cearel with no sugar or flour.

being in "low carb mode" almost condradicts everything i'm trying to do now. i feel weird eating a cup of cearel or a peice of fruit. i feel like i wont lose unless its meat or fat or whatever. when i know that fruit and grains arnt suppose to be the enemy...their healthy! also My calories tend to be pretty low even though i eat everything on the plan...

Despite that, at the end of the day i feel good about what i ate and what i'm doing...i just have to learn how to let go and let my weight take care of itself.

Bumping up this thread...any OA'ers or Greysheeters out there?

I have to admit...I've been just recently reading about Greysheets. There are no groups in Indy just now, but very interested. The OA groups in the area are meeting either too far away or they're at a time when I have to be elsewhere. I've gone online before but have since lost the website, we changed ISPs and all my favorites did not get transferred over like it should have.

Yeah. I've done greysheets. I was on it for a while. But I have to say, I did not like it. I thought it taught me how to obsess more than anything else. I thought that it was weird that a cup of tea with some milk or cream was "a character deficit" but diet soda and sugarless gum was okay. So I drank a lot of diet soda and became bloated. My skin broke out, and i didn't really lose any weight. I was hungry constantly. It's not supposed to be a diet. But it definitely is. One where you're shamed if you slip up. I didn't like it.

I've been eating off the Greysheet since 1-26-08 and have 22 days official abstinence due to a hitch in sponsors. I have to say, I really like the 'line in the sand' about what I can and cannot eat. I need the structure, lest my compulsive overeating mind continue to run things.

I have to admit, I feel rebellious off and on about calling my food into my sponsor every day and weighing/measuring everything, but as I experience the mental clarity of abstinence, the weight loss, and the freedom from my COE, the rebelliousness is slowly quieting. It hasn't been this quiet in my head since I was 8 years old (now 44) - the addict voice is mostly quiet most days.

It's worth it.

http://www.shutitdown.net/text/oab.html
The greyshhet plan, as described on this website does seem awfully restrictive -I think I would starve on it!
As a 13YO anorexic, I went to OA, because it was the closest thing I could find to an eating disorders support group, in my small home town. I met some wonderful people and it really did help. 3 people in particular were the epiomy of loving and caring and even though I haven't seen them in years, I still hold them very dear in my heart.
9 years later, I was battling with bulimia and went to 1 OA meeting. I didn't like it at all. I had an aversion to anything so formal, at that stage of my life, so I never went back. No such caring people to turn to either. I could certainly have used a sponsor, but no such thing was ever offrered me. I guess it all depends on the group. Never was any particular eating plan endorsed, in fact they were against it. Rather it was reccomended to have 3 moderate meals or 6 mini meals/day.
During my 1st short stint in drug rehab (always got kicked out over problems of an "interpersonal" nature") we discussed the 12 steps. As many members are atheist/agnostic, it was explained that GOD could stand for "group of drunks/druggies". What could it stand for in OA? "Group of dieters" doesn't sit too well with me.

I am actually joing a local OA this Sunday. I realize I need support, but WW is stupid, their counselors do not address any of the issues that got me fat to begin with, so I think this will help me with the psychological side of things, which I'll need to deal with if I"m ever going to stop sabatoging my efforts, I tried doing it on my own, obviously I can't, since I've tried and failed at LC for close to 3 years now....maybe that's why it's different this time, I'm admitting I have a problem, and I think that's where OA will help me...

I read elsewhere that that quote was bogus and that it had never been said by the real author

WHAT quote?