• Are you obsessed with your weight and size?
• Are you constantly frightened of eating too much?
• Do you have periods where you try not to eat at all?
• Do you try to stick to rigid eating regimes?
• Do you go on eating binges?
• Do you put your life on hold while waiting to reach your ideal weight or size?
• Do you throw up after eating?
• Do you abuse laxatives?
• Do you engage in excessive exercise?
• Do you eat in secret?
• Do you comfort eat?
• Do you have feelings of guilt and remorse after eating?
• Do you suffer from food cravings?
• Despite many failures do you continue to believe that you will change your shape or size by controlling your eating?
• Do you think your life will be better if your weight and size changes?
• Do you constantly plan to eat less?
• Do the weighing scales dictate your mood?
• Do you find yourself eating again when you are planned not to?
• Despite well-intentioned advice, do you still find yourself unable to diet?

• 1.  We admitted we were powerless over our obsession with weight,
•       size and eating - that our lives had become unmanageable.
• 2.  Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore
•       us to sanity.
• 3.  Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of
•       God as we understood God.
• 4.  Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
• 5.  Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being,
•       the exact nature of our wrongs.
• 6.  Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
• 7.  Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
• 8.  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to
•       make amends to them all.
• 9.  Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when
•       to do so would injure them or others.
• 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong,
•        promptly admitted it.
• 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious
•        contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge
•        of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.
• 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we
•        tried to carry this message to fellow sufferers, and to practise these
•        principles in all our affairs.
• The Twelve Traditions of Obsessive Eaters Anonymous
• 1.  Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon
•      O.E.A unity.
• 2.  For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a loving God
•      as expressed in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants;
•      they do not govern.
• 3.  The only requirement for O.E.A. membership is a desire to stop the
•       obsession with weight,size and eating.
• 4.  Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other
•       groups or O.E.A. as a whole.
• 5.  Each group has but one primary purpose -- to carry its message to the
•      obsessive eater who still suffers.
• 6. An O.E.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the O.E.A.
•      name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of
•      money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
• 7.  Every O.E.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting,declining outside
•      contributions.
• 8.  Obsessive Eaters Anonymous should remain forever non-professional,
•       but our service centres may employ special workers.
• 9.  O.E.A., as such, ought never be organised; but we may create service
•       boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
• 10.Obsessive Eaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues;
•       hence the O.E.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
• 11.Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion;
•       we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press,
•       radio,film,television and other public media of communication.
• 12.Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these traditions, ever
•       reminding us to place principles before personalities.
• The 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous
• THE STEPS OF AA
• 1.  We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable
• 2.  Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
• 3.  Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him
• 4.  Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
• 5.  Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs
• 6.  Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
• 7.  Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings
• 8.  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
• 9.  Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
• 10 Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it
• 11.Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him,
•       praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out
• 12.Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to fellow alcoholicss,
•      and to practise these principles in all our affairs.
• THE TRADITIONS OF AA
• 1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on A.A unity.
• 2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a loving God as He may express himself in our group conscience.
•      Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
• 3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
• 4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
• 5. Each group has but one primary purpose -- to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
• 6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money,
•      property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
• 7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
• 8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
• 9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
• 10.Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
• 11.Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
• 12.Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
• The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous have been reprinted and adapted with the permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc. [“A.A.W.S.”].   Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions does not mean that A.A.W.S. is affiliated with this program.   A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism only – use of A.A..’s Steps and Traditions or an adapted version of its Steps and Traditions in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A. but which address other problems, or use in any other non-A.A. context, does not imply otherwise.
• How to Contact OEA
• By mail @    P.O. Box 7555
•                     Glenageary,
•                     Co. Dublin
•                     Ireland
• By email @    obsessiveeaters@hotmail.com
• By phone @   353-[0]1-289 1599 or mobile 087 2390595
•             OEA Scotland can be contacted as follows
•          By mail @    P.O. Box 28810
•                             Edinburgh EH14 9AH
•          By email @  oeascotland@gmail.com
•            OEA Germany can be contacted as follows
•          By email @  o-e-a@web.de
•            By phone @   0041-(0)1212-537152135
•    Meeting information
•    [The meeting information below is correct as at  09 Jun 2009]
• Ireland
• Dublin
• Monday - 10.30am - Templeogue - Dublin 6w
• St Jude's Pastoral Centre
• [adjacent to St Judes Church
• beside Orwell Shopping Centre]
• Tuesday - 7.15pm - Ranelagh - Dublin 6
• Beechwood Community Centre
• Mountainview Road
• [Turn off Ranelagh Road up Beechwood Avenue Lower – Ulster Bank and Coffee Society are on
• either side of the corner – then turn left along Beechwood Road and right  up Mountain View Road
• – the community centre is the last building on your right-hand-side.  Some Buses which pass along
• Ranelagh Road are 44, 44C,48A and 11].
• Limerick
• Wednesday -  7.00pm
• Please call 087 2390595for the meeting location
•    United Kingdom
•    Edinburgh
• Tuesday - 4.00 - 5.00pm
• St Catherine's Convent
• 4 Lauriston Gardens
• Edinburgh
• Contact Eleanor on 0044-131-449-3823
• Saturday - 11.00am
• St Catherine's Convent
• 4 Lauriston Gardens
• Edinburgh
• Contact Mary on 0044-131-441-3771
•    Fareham
• phone for information 0044-[0]2392 751518
• Glasgow
• Tuesday - 7.30pm
• Anderson Kelvingrove Church
• 759 Argyle Street
• off Elderslies Street
• Glasgow
• Scotland
• Leamington Spa
• Wednesday  -  8-9.30pm
• St Marys Church
• St Marys Road
• Leamington Spa
• CV31 1JW
• Contact Jane 075116 52593
• or Andrea  07891 451935
•    Manchester
• phone - 0044-[0]161 881 3426
• email OEA@ukgateway.net
•    North of England contact number
• Call 0044-[0]1609-776013
•    Literature
• You may print some of our literature here - the leaflets are in PDF format
• Just click on the item and it should appear on screen ....
• OEA Factsheet
•     OEA on Sponsorship
•     OEA Welcome
•    'Stepping Ahead' - our magazine for members
• 'Stepping Ahead’ is our quarterly magazine which we intend to produce in March,June, September and December. Each issue mailed directly to you costs £1.50.
• If you would like to order ‘Stepping Ahead’ please contact us at PO Box 7555, Glenageary, Co. Dublin.
• Here is a sample article from our latest issue of the magazine
• "MY STORY BY A MEMBER OF OBSESSIVE EATERS ANONYMOUS
• I don’t know whether I was born an obsessive eater or simply became one, but I most definitely was a child with an eating disorder. I have very few memories of childhood and most of them involve food. In one I was sick with the measles ,and as a result had to miss my primary school Christmas party. I was terribly disappointed and my mother offered to make me anything I wanted to eat. I chose chips and they were very comforting. Another memory is of being 8 yrs old and it was a Saturday morning and my mother was having a lie-in in the double bed with my younger brother and sister. She wouldn’t let me join them in the bed, she said I was too big, probably meaning that she needed space  for herself, but my reaction, if I knew it ,was to feel frightened. Looking back I can’t say that I remember any feeling except for the immediate comfort of food, but I would guess today that I might have been eating to avoid feelings of rejection and exclusion. I went straight from the uncomfortable situation to the food, without identifying any feelings. I offered to make breakfast and I ate as I cooked and I remember not being able to wait for the bacon to be fully cooked and eating it half raw. So at a young age I was seeking comfort in food for reasons unknown to myself. It was quite simply a coping mechanism and I never questioned my need for food. I also remember that all spare money that I had was always spent on food for myself and I dreaded having to share any of my treats with anyone else.
•   I have memories of my mother’s frustration with me when she would go shopping and try to get clothes to fit me. At this stage I knew that I was a nuisance and that in some strange way I was on my own. No one wanted to take responsibility or care for me exactly as I was. So in my thinking I became convinced that there was something very wrong with me. I continued to grow up in a neglectful environment. Secondary school was very difficult for 5 years. I desperately wanted friends and to be liked and loved, and the harder I tried to fit in, the more alone I felt. I believed deep down that I would never be liked for myself. So I kept trying to find ways to make people like me. If I only discovered what it was that people wanted me to be then I believed that I had the power to  become that person. I also believed that losing weight would allow me to take my rightful place in the world. I saw myself in all things in comparison to everyone else that I knew, and I always came bottom of the ladder in my own eyes. In many ways this was an intensely difficult time as my coping mechanism of food no longer shielded me from pain. The results of my obsessive behaviour with food showed in my weight and size and this caused me more emotional pain. I spent a lot of time trying to avoid being criticised for my size and also avoid those who would try to help me and suggest that I lose weight. When people who were well intended would take me aside and offer helpful advice - all I felt was a sense of foreboding, that what was happening was that someone else was pointing out my deficiencies to me and confirming what I had already suspected. that I was unloved and unlovable.
•   Adolescence brought the difficulties of relationships with boys and sexuality. My belief that I would only be acceptable and likeable if I made the other person like me got me into an emotionally painful sexual situation. I had experienced rejection before, but nothing prepared me for being used sexually and then rejected and scorned. At this stage my low self esteem and self will had brought me to the brink of despair. I decided that no one would ever get near enough to hurt me in this way again. I felt as though I was building big brick walls all around me in my head. I got a short term sense of security from convincing myself that I was safe.  I would keep the world at distance and never be hurt again. I had one firm friend that never deserted me - food, and food was all I needed. I could and would manage to live with no dependency or trust in others.
•   With this need to control came the dieting days. I loved the sense of power I felt at the first signs of weight loss on a diet. I felt so superior - now I would show the world. I had arrived. The diets were always of my own creation, as any sensible diet with it’s suggestion that I might try to change my long-term eating habits was a prospect I could not bear to think about.
• I had no wish to give up food forever. I just wanted to be thin for long enough to make things alright, and attract the people who would make me feel alright about myself. The diets, sometimes aided by slimming pills, were always successful in the short term. I would follow a rigid regime for a while , and then the bubble would burst, and I would begin to eat differently. In no time at
• all I would regain the weight I had lost, plus a stone or two more. When my eating would move from control to bingeing I would have no consciousness as to how or when the change had happened. I would all of a sudden realise that I had regained a lot of weight and the thoughts of trying to control would surface again. I never seemed to learn from my own dieting and regaining history.
•   Finding clothes was a nightmare, and I never felt able to dress like others of my own age. I could never fit into jeans for long, and often wore maternity dresses , as they were all  I could find in my size. During this time I went to university, and spent most of my time believing that all would be well if I just lost the weight. I completely ignored people who were interested in me because I suspected that if they liked me, they were unworthy in some way. I missed out on a lot of fun and love in those days. I also hated having to share accommodation and food. I always felt deprived and hungry even when I was overeating.
• After university my career progressed quite well, but I was always reaching out, striving to attain the next thing that was going to make me feel alright. I would have dieted and regained weight several times , without seeing any pattern to my behaviour. The weight gain was always the fault of some other person, place or situation. I needed to blame others because I could not cope with my own feelings of failure. I deeply resented myself and my life, but kept seeking the elusive fix which would cure all of this. I had a comfortable home, a good job, no major worries, and yet I wanted to die. I saw no point in living. At this time, someone I knew gave me a leaflet about a 12 Step fellowship. Somewhere in that darkness I knew I needed help. There were questions on that leaflet that helped me to identify that I might have a problem, and at my first meeting the sharing of one member really helped me to identify my feelings. The conversational tone in which I heard feelings described was like learning that there actually was a language to give expression to what was going on inside my head. Eventually I felt safe and at home, amongst fellow human beings at last. Sponsorship came soon in my first year of recovery. However I still needed to rely on my own will, and saw no need for me to make any amends whatsoever, despite coming away from steps 4 and 5 with a clear list of people that I had harmed.
•   For a year or two in recovery. I was trying to do it my own way, and not the way that is suggested in the Big Book[Alcoholics Anonymous], and at the same time I was of course expecting to gain full recovery immediately !!! It wasn’t long before I found myself back in despair again, and this time the pain was excruciating because I was fully aware of what was going on. I finally hit my rock bottom and saw that the only way out was through the steps, and this time it would be all the steps. I completed my amends in the next 6 months and finally came to the point of feeling recovered. I finally listened and heard the message - the wonderful, simple miraculous message of the 12 steps  and I got on with living.
• Step 3 is a decision that I acted upon together with God in steps 4-9 and we continue this action in steps 10 and 11. He always shows up for duty - I am a little less than perfect, but I plod away and do my best and try to be always open to progress. The result of this has been that I have developed a relationship with the God of my understanding, and I have finally found a source of strength, love, care, hope and understanding that makes everything and everybody, including little old me, more than just alright. It makes me all that I can be for today. I feel that I have become the person I always wanted to be, but that I could never have known ,prior to recovery, that it was possible for me to be the person I am today. I know that I am a miracle and that all around me I see and know other miracles in recovery.
• In 1999, after 10 years of recovery I became a member of Obsessive Eaters Anonymous. My years in recovery have given me deep understanding of what my illness really is. I fully identify with the first step of O.E.A. I am powerless over my obsession with weight, size and eating. For many years I have had been blessed with recovery with respect to my obsession with eating, but what I discovered in my recovery journey was that my obsession with eating was partnered by an obsession with my weight and size. Whilst eating is not a problem today I can still use my obsession with weight and size as a coping mechanism to get me out of emotionally difficult and confusing situations. It is occasionally a reflex reaction to my own feelings of fear and low-self esteem - it’s much easier for me to say that things would be better if I lost weight, rather than look my fears about myself in the eye, in an open an honest and caring manner. I am as powerless over this reaction today as I was when I was 8 years old, the difference today is that the 12 steps give me a process that short-circuits the reaction and restores me to sane thinking about myself and life and others. I don’t need to continue punishing myself today. In the 12 steps I have a coping mechanism that really works all of the time and which has transformed my life into one which is more happy, joyful and free that I would ever have dreamed possible."  From "Stepping Ahead", Dec 2000
•    Forthcoming Fellowship Events
• Fellowship events are held for the benefit of our members. Membership of OEA means that a person has a desire to stop their obsession with weight,size and eating.
• The events so far arranged  for 2009 are as follows

• For further details please contact us by mail or email or  call or text  +353 (0)87 2390595
• Copyright - Obsessive Eaters Anonymous 2000-2009