The 12 steps of Overeaters Anonymous, as well as other 12 step programs, are adaptations of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The substance that the person is addicted to is food instead of alcohol. A lot of medical research has shown significant benefit in using 12 Step Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous. E.g. These articles from the American Academy of Family Physicians recommends it (see resources section below ). In my own medical practice, I combine a 12 Step Program with the most cutting edge medical research and guidelines to treat patients who are overweight or obese.
The Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous
- We admitted we were powerless over food — that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
- Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Source: Overeaters Annonymous.
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous is another Twelve Step Program that uses the same exact 12 Step program as Overeaters Anonymous, which is also adapted from Alcoholic’s Anonymous.
Resources
Am Fam Physician. 2016 Mar 15;93(6):457-465. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2016/0315/p457.html
Am Fam Physician. 2009 Jul 1;80(1):44-50. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2009/0701/p44.html
