THE 9 TOOLS OF RECOVERY:
Many Overeater’s Anonymous (OA) groups define abstinence as “the action of refraining from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors while working towards or maintaining a healthy body weight.” The Tools of Recovery help us practice the Twelve Steps in order to achieve spiritual, emotional and physical recovery. The nine tools are: a plan of eating, sponsorship, meetings, telephone, writing, literature, action plan, anonymity and service.
Although OA has its own literature (the “Brown Book of OA” and the “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions” of OA), many individuals in OA also use the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA, the original 12-step program: the “Big Book of AA” and the “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of AA,” described below). Many find that when they substitute “food” or “eating” and “food addiction” or “compulsive overeating” for “alcohol” and “alcoholism,” they can identify closely.
“The Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous
The “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) provides the basic “textbook” for AA, the original 12-step program (and OA, which is based on AA). The “Big Book” of AA describes how AA and its 12 Steps came to be, and how they have been- and can be used to find recovery from alcoholism. The second half of the “Big Book” also provides personal stories of AA members who relate what their alcoholic life was like, what happened for them to find and gain recovery, and what their lives in recovery are like now. These stories are meant to provide experience, strength, and hope to their readers.
This is the Foreword as it appears in the first printing of the first edition of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939: “We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book. For them, we hope these pages will prove so convincing that no further authentication will be necessary. We think this account of our experiences will help everyone to better understand the alcoholic. Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick person. And besides, we are sure that our way of living has its advantages for all.”
Access the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous online here.
You may find resources to purchase The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous here
You may find resources to purchase the Brown Book of Overeaters Anonymous here.
“The Brown Book” of Overeaters Anonymous
The “Brown Book” of Overeaters Anonymous provides basic information on what OA is, how OA developed, and how OA has been and can be used to find recovery from compulsive overeating. The book includes information on OA’s perspective regarding “The Role of a Plan of Eating in Recovery from Compulsive Eating” and on compulsive overeating as “A Disease of the Mind.” The book also includes the personal stories of OA’s founder, Rozanne S., and 40 other OA members, who describe “what [their lives as compulsive overeaters were] like, what happened [for them to find and achieve recovery], and what [their lives in recovery are] like now.” The stories share experience, strength, and hope with readers.
The “Brown Book” of OA can be purchased in hard copy on OA’s website here.
A downloadable MP3 copy of the “Brown Book” of OA can be purchased on OA’s website here.
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (“12×12”) of AA:
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous (often referred to as the “12×12”) provides information on each of AA’s Twelve Steps. This book may be conceptualized as a “manual” for the 12-steps of the 12-step program.
The Forward to the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous states: “Alcoholics Anonymous is a worldwide fellowship of more than one hundred thousand* alcoholic men and women who are banded together to solve their common problems and to help fellow sufferers in recovery from that age-old, baffling malady, alcoholism.
“This book deals with the “Twelve Steps” and the “Twelve Traditions” of Alcoholics Anonymous. It presents an explicit view of the principles by which A.A. members recover and by which their Society functions. A.A.’s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole. A.A.’s Twelve Traditions apply to the life of the Fellowship itself. They outline the means by which A.A. maintains its unity and relates itself to the world about it, the way it lives and grows. Though the essays which follow were written mainly for members, it is thought by many of A.A.’s friends that these pieces might arouse interest and find application outside A.A. itself. Many people, nonalcoholics, report that as a result of the practice of A.A.’s Twelve Steps, they have been able to meet other difficulties of life. They think that the Twelve Steps can mean more than sobriety for problem drinkers. They see in them a way to happy and effective living for many, alcoholic or not.”
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous can be accessed free online here.
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous can be purchased here.
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous can be purchased here.
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (“12×12”) of Overeaters Anonymous
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous (often referred to as the “12×12”) provides information on each of OA’s Twelve Steps. This book may be conceptualized as a “manual” for the 12-steps of OA, and provides descriptions and language that are relatable to the compulsive overeater.
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OA can be purchased in hard copy on OA’s website here.
A workbook for the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OA can be purchased on OA’s website here.
