[Are You a Compulsive Overeater?]  [What OA Offers You]

[Our Invitation to You]  [Welcome Home]

Have I every wished I could lose ten pounds, twenty, forty or a hundred pounds or more?  Have I ever wished that once I got it off I could keep it off?Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever felt out of step with the world, like a homeless orphan without a place where I really belong?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever wished my family would get to work or school so that I could get busy eating?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever awakened first thing in the morning and felt happy because I remembered that my favorite goodies were waiting for me in the fridge or in the cupboard?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever looked up at the stars and wondered what an insignificant person like me was doing in the world anyway?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever cooked, bought, or baked for my family and then eaten everything myself so that I wouldn’t have to share?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever wanted to hide in the house without getting cleaned up or getting dressed, without seeing anyone, and without letting anyone see me?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever hidden food under the bed, under the pillow, in a drawer, in the bathroom, in the wastebasket,  the cupboard, the clothes hamper, the closet or in the car so that I could eat without letting anyone see me?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever been angry, resentful, defiant – against God, my mate, my doctor, my mother, my father, my friends, my children, the salesperson in the store whose look spoke a thousand words as I tried on clothes – because I believed they were thin, because I believed they wanted me to be thin, and because I believed I was forced to diet to please them, to shut them up or to make them eat their words and their looks?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever sobbed out my misery on a dark night because no one loved or understood me?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever felt that God (if he existed at all) made His biggest mistake when He created me?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever wanted to get on a bus and just keep going without ever once looking back?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever thought the whole world was a mess and if they would just think and act like me, the world would be a lot better off?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever thought that O.A. people must be a bit nuts?  That they might be compulsive overeaters, but I just have a weight problem which I can take care of beginning tomorrow.  Have I thought they might be one bite from insane eating, but I am just a little or a lot overweight?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever told anyone who would listen how great I am, how talented, how intelligent, how powerful – all the time knowing they would never believe it – because I didn’t believe it?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home.

Have I ever lost all my weight and found that I was thin-unhappy instead of fat-unhappy?  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Have I ever worn a mask, or hundreds of masks, because I was sure that if I shared the person I really am, no one could ever love me or accept me?   I am accepted in O.A.  They offered me a home.  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Overeaters Anonymous extends to all the gift of acceptance.  No matter who I am, where I am coming from or where I am heading, I am welcome and accepted here.  No matter what I have done or failed to do, no matter what I have felt, or haven’t felt, no matter where I have slept or with whom, who I have loved or hated -- I am sure of my acceptance.  I am accepted as I am today, not as I may be tomorrow.  I am accepted as I am, not as I would be if I could melt myself and mold myself and shape myself into what I believe others think I should be.  Only I can decide what I want to be.  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

O.A. will help me to work towards the goals I set, and when I am successful I will rejoice with fellow OA’ers.   I hold out my arms in love and stand beside others as I pull myself back up and walk on again to where I was heading.  I will never have to cry alone again, unless I choose to.  Welcome to O.A.  Welcome Home. 

Sometimes I may fail to be all that I should be and sometimes I am not there to give others what they need from me.  Accepting imperfections, I will love, accept and help others who have a need. That’s what OA is:  progress, not perfection.  I rejoice in this effort and in the assurance that I can have a home if I want one.  An O.A. home.  Welcome to it.

[Are You a Compulsive Overeater?]  [What OA Offers You]

[[Our Invitation to You]  [Welcome Home}