I put my hand in yours, and together we will do what we could never do alone.

Visit the Meeting Page for new meetings in Shirley and Riverhead

Overeaters Anonymous is a Fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience, strength and hope, are recovering from compulsive overeating. We welcome everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively.

There are no dues or fees for members; we are self-supporting through our own contributions, neither soliciting nor accepting outside donations. OA is not affiliated with any public or private organization, political movement, ideology or religious doctrine; we take no position on outside issues.

Our primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive overeating and to carry this message of recovery to those who still suffer.

What is the difference between an open and closed meeting?

Open Meeting: Open to OA members and non-OA visitors. All meetings are considered open unless otherwise indicated.  

Closed Meeting: Restricted to those who desire to stop eating compulsively (OA members and others who think they may have a problem with food). This type of meeting is not open to family, friends, visitors and nursing students. 

( This information is from the World Service Website, www.oa.org )

Who Belongs to OA?

In Overeaters Anonymous, you'll find members who are extremely overweight, even morbidly obese; moderately overweight; average weight; underweight; still maintaining periodic control over their eating behavior; or totally unable to control their compulsive eating.

OA members experience many different patterns of food behaviors. These "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 first bite
• fantasies about food
• vulnerability to quick-weight-loss schemes
• constant preoccupation with food
• using food as a reward or comfort

   

Our symptoms may vary, but we share a common bond: we are powerless over food and our lives are unmanageable. This common problem has led those in OA to seek and find a common solution in the Twelve Steps the Twelve Traditions, and eight tools of Overeaters Anonymous.