I did OA many many years ago, and I had trouble with the basic philosophy, that
Compulsive Overeating is a character defect/illness that you can only heal from if you admit that you are powerless over it, and that you believe that a higher power can "restore you to sanity." For me the answer was figuring out what my body needed to eat that restored me to sanity, so it was the types of foods (or nonfoods really) that made me eat compulsisvely. Once I figured out how to eat I was fine. The OA program is kind of
against this basic philosophy that you ARE in power and control of your eating, and that proper nutrition can solve the problem.

That being said, I think it's a very useful program for many people, especially those who like the support group format and who can "get spiritual" about it. It's good for people who still have the behavior even with the right nutrition, to work on the issues behind it. There's many participants who use the program AND tailor nutrition, i.e. people who will say they are "sugar addicts" instead of compulsive overeaters, or people
whose "food plan" eliminates grains or any other personal binge foods. Others cannot eliminate ANY foods because that alone will stimulate the binge behavior.

LP