- Have you ever wished you could lose ten pounds, twenty, forty, or a hundred or more? Have you ever wished that once you got it off you could keep it off? Welcome to OA; welcome home!
- Have you ever wished your family would get to work or school so that you could get busy eating? Welcome to OA; welcome home!
- Have you ever awakened first thing in the morning and felt happy because you remembered that your favorite goodie was waiting for you in the fridge or in the cupboard? Welcome to OA; welcome home!
- Have you ever cooked, bought, or baked for your family and then eaten everything yourself so that you wouldn’t have to share? We know you in OA because we are you. Welcome to OA; welcome home!
- Have you ever wanted to hide in the house without going to work, without getting dressed, without seeing anyone or letting anyone see you? Welcome to OA; welcome home!
- Have you ever hidden food under the bed, under the pillow, in the drawer, in the bathroom, in the wastebasket, the cupboard, the clothes hamper, the closet or the car so that you could eat without anyone seeing you? Welcome to OA; welcome home!
- Have you ever been angry, resentful, defiant – against God, your mate, your doctor, your mother, your father, your friends, your children, the salesperson in the store whose look spoke a thousand words as you tried on clothes – because they were too thin, because they wanted you to be thin, and because you were forced to diet to please them or shut them up or make them eat their words and their looks? Welcome to OA; welcome home!
- Have you ever sobbed out your misery on a dark night because no one loved or understood you? Welcome to OA; welcome home!
- Have you ever lost all your weight and found that you were thin-unhappy instead of fat-unhappy? Welcome to OA; welcome home!
Excerpt from “Welcome Home,” Lifeline Sampler © 1995, 1985 by Overeaters Anonymous Inc.
