TOOLS
As defined by Webster, a tool is “any person or thing used as a means to get something done.” We have many tools of the program that help us recover on a daily basis. Tools are essential to get the job done, and they work for us.
Here are a few:
HOW ABSTINENCE PLAN OF EATING
Three meals daily, weighed and measured, with nothing in between except sugar-free soda, no-calorie beverages, and diet gum. Food is written down, called in and committed, so we can get on with our recovery and “out” of the food. It is recommended that you obtain your physician’s approval before beginning your abstinence using the HOW food plan. Any recommendations your physician makes will be accepted.
LITERATURE AND WRITING
We use the “Alcoholics Anonymous” (Big Book) and the “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.” When we substitute the words “compulsive overeater” for “alcoholic” and “food” for “alcohol”, we feel we identify absolutely; our writing assignments for the first thirty days are taken from them. We use the “A.A. Big Book” and the “12 and 12” as a tool of examination and release. We also believe that negative thinking is a large part of our disease; so we are learning, one day at a time, to abstain from negative thinking.
ANONYMITY
Who you see here, what you hear here, when you leave here, let it stay here. When we meet another member in the outside world, we do not mention that they are members of OA-HOW.
TELEPHONE CALLS
We are required to make four calls a day – one to our sponsor and three to other OA-HOW members. The phone is like a lifeline; we need the contact; it can be like a mini-meeting.
MEETINGS
You must attend three meetings a week. It is recommended that each member commit to one specific meeting as his or her home group.
SERVICE
Service is abstinence – the greatest service to yourself. Service is coming to meetings on time; being a leader or speaker; volunteering to be a service person (such as a program chairperson, coffee person, treasurer, secretary, literature person, intergroup representative) etc. Service is OA-HOW. Service is putting away chairs when necessary, picking up after the meeting, being quiet when a member is sharing. Service is one way to get involved in the program. Service is needed at all levels and at every meeting. Service is giving of yourself to help OA-HOW continue to function. Let’s all get involved to help OA-HOW because we all know that “Service is freedom from the bondage of self.”
SPONSORSHIP
A sponsor will help the newcomer through their first thirty days. A sponsor is a compulsive overeater who initially completed 30 days of back-to-back HOW abstinence, completed thirty days of questions and took the first three steps. To take on new sponsorees (or lead a meeting) a sponsor MUST have at least fourteen days of current back-to-back HOW abstinence and be actively working the HOW program.
Will all OA-HOW Sponsors please stand now, introduce yourselves, qualify as to the length of your time in the HOW program, the amount of weight reduction, the kind of sponsor you are – Food, Inventory, Step, or Maintenance – and whether or not you are available. To save time, we ask that you hold all applause until the last sponsor has qualified.