Hi everyone,

We are a group of people from Overeaters Anonymous, an international Fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience, strength and hope, are recovering from compulsive overeating and problems with food.

We are starting a group in Penang and we are looking for other people to join us to support each other.

This series of questions may help you determine if you are a compulsive overeater and if you can join us:

- Do I eat when I’m not hungry, or not eat when my body needs nourishment?
- Do I go on eating binges for no apparent reason, sometimes eating until I’m stuffed or even feel sick?
- Do I have feelings of guilt, shame or embarrassment about my weight or the way I eat?
- Do I eat sensibly in front of others and then make up for it when I am alone?
- Is my eating affecting my health or the way I live my life?
- When my emotions are intense—whether positive or negative—do I find myself reaching for food?
- Do my eating behaviors make me or others unhappy?
- Have I ever used laxatives, vomiting, diuretics, excessive exercise, diet pills, shots or other medical interventions (including surgery) to try to control my weight?
- Do I fast or severely restrict my food intake to control my weight?
- Do I fantasize about how much better life would be if I were a different size or weight?
- Do I need to chew or have something in my mouth all the time: food, gum, mints, candies or beverages?
- Have I ever eaten food that is burned, frozen or spoiled; from containers in the grocery store; or out of the garbage?
- Are there certain foods I can’t stop eating after having the first bite?
- Have I lost weight with a diet or “period of control” only to be followed by bouts of uncontrolled eating and/or weight gain?
- Do I spend too much time thinking about food, arguing with myself about whether or what to eat, planning the next diet or exercise cure, or counting calories?

Have you answered yes to three or more of these questions? If so, it is probable that you have or are well on your way to having a compulsive overeating problem. We have found that the way to arrest this progressive disease is to practice the Twelve-Step recovery program of Overeaters Anonymous.

Is OA for You?

Only you can decide that question. No one else can make this decision for you. We who are now in OA have found a way of life which enables us to live without the need for excess food. We believe that compulsive overeating is a progressive illness, one that, like alcoholism and some other illnesses, can be arrested. Remember, there is no shame in admitting you have a problem; the most important thing is to do something about it.

If you are also suffering because of your unhealthy relationship, please contact us, and we'll send you more details.

oapenang [AT] gmail [DOT] com


Thank you.


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Even without the questions I know I'm a compulsive overeater. Who else can gain 12 kilos in mere 2 months

Well managed to lose all the 12 kilos already after strict diet. But the question sounds fun so decided to answer them for the hell of it.

- Do I eat when I’m not hungry, or not eat when my body needs nourishment?
Yep

- Do I go on eating binges for no apparent reason, sometimes eating until I’m stuffed or even feel sick?
Yep

- Do I have feelings of guilt, shame or embarrassment about my weight or the way I eat?
All the time

- Do I eat sensibly in front of others and then make up for it when I am alone?
Nope. big eater all the time

- Is my eating affecting my health or the way I live my life?
Yep

- When my emotions are intense—whether positive or negative—do I find myself reaching for food?
Yes

- Do my eating behaviors make me or others unhappy?
They seem to like seeing me eat though

- Have I ever used laxatives, vomiting, diuretics, excessive exercise, diet pills, shots or other medical interventions (including surgery) to try to control my weight?
Yes

- Do I fast or severely restrict my food intake to control my weight?
Yes

- Do I fantasize about how much better life would be if I were a different size or weight?
All the time

- Do I need to chew or have something in my mouth all the time: food, gum, mints, candies or beverages?
No

- Have I ever eaten food that is burned, frozen or spoiled; from containers in the grocery store; or out of the garbage?
No. thankfully

- Are there certain foods I can’t stop eating after having the first bite?
Pretty much all the food. no such thing as moderation

- Have I lost weight with a diet or “period of control” only to be followed by bouts of uncontrolled eating and/or weight gain?
Yes

- Do I spend too much time thinking about food, arguing with myself about whether or what to eat, planning the next diet or exercise cure, or counting calories?
All the time


lmao scored 13 out of 15.

This post has been edited by axtray: Oct 16 2018, 09:23 PM

Hi axtray,

Thank you for your answer, I completely understand you I was in the same situation as you. But don't worry, there's a solution, I could manage my bad relationship with food and have a much balanced and happier life. After thousands of diets, visiting specialists, sport, etc., anything worked for me, except the approach, help and support I found in Anonymous Overeaters. I encourage you to give it a try.

Where are you located?

Best.

I am from Penang and would like to take part as well

Hi ChipZ, great! You are more than welcome. I’ve just sent you a pm

I'm not sure if I'm OE, because sometimes I eat alot and sometimes I don't. I used to eat alot during my SPM and I mean non-stop eating even when I'm full until wanna vomit. I gained 8kg during that period. Then I start to go to the gym and eat healthy but I never success to maintain for more than 3 months. I realised I would overeat during exam period, after that I will go back to normal for awhile.
Now I started working d, and I'm OE again! I eat almost every hour, I just can't stop. Oh ya, I have more than 3 yes for your questions.

Hi liuyin,

Thanks for replying, it helps to see that we are not the only ones suffering because of food and that we can help each other.

For me, the most difficult part was admitting that I needed help and that the food was overwhelming me, I always tried to convince myself that I could manage it and that I was OK, that it was just something temporary because of this bad situation, or because I was more stressed... there were always justifications, and in the meantime it became worse and worse. I gained weight, then diet for a period, lose everything and start binging again and ending with even more weight than I was at the beginning... I compensated with exercising but this wasn't enough...

What Overeaters Anonymous (OA) tries to do is helping anyone that suffers or has suffered because of food. I feel that now I'm OK, I've lost all the weight I gained, I'm not obsessed any more but I know that crossing the line is very easy and that I can start binging again unless I follow carefully the instructions of the program. OA gave me guidelines to follow (it's not about special diets, nor medical prescription, but some exercises that help), a community that supports me, and thanks to that I could fill better and my obsession with food and body weight has disappeared, something I hadn't experienced before, and as a result, I lose all the extra weight I was carrying.

Everyone knows his/her reality but the questionnaire can help you to see if you feel identified. Don't tag yourself if this hurts, I took me years to admit I was a compulsive eater, but when I stopped hiding this to myself I could seek for help. There are periods where the "illness" becomes worse and others that it seems it has disappeared, but in my case, it always appeared again sooner or later. Also, and a very important aspect, is that you don't need to be overweight to be a compulsive overeater, in fact, there are many people that are not obessed at all, as they overexercise, fast, use pills, or other techniques to compensate, but what matters here is not the weight but how much you are suffering because of the food.

Here (www.oa.org) you can find lots of information, and documents, videos, audios, testimonials, maybe this can help you to see if you can benefit from OA

I copy and paste a fragment that I found: OA members experience many dierent patterns of food behaviors. ese “symptoms” are as varied as our membership. Among them are:
• Obsession with body weight, size and shape
• Eating binges or grazing
• Preoccupation with reducing diets
• Starving
• Laxative or diuretic abuse
• Excessive exercise
• Inducing vomiting after eating
• Chewing and spitting out food
• Use of diet pills, shots and other medical
interventions to control weight
• Inability to stop eating certain foods after
taking the rst bite
• Fantasies about food
• Vulnerability to quick-weight-loss schemes
• Constant preoccupation with food
• Using food as a reward or comfort

I hope it helps!

This post has been edited by Frutty91: Oct 18 2018, 06:45 PM