The membership of OA is varied, both in its makeup and in the eating behaviors and experiences that brought each individual to OA.
In OA you’ll find members who are or were:
• extremely overweight, even morbidly obese
• only moderately overweight
• average weight
• underweight
• still maintaining periodic control of their eating behavior
• totally unable to control their compulsive eating OA members have experienced many different patterns of eating.

These symptoms are as varied as our membership.
They include:
• obsession with body weight, size and shape
• eating binges
• grazing
• preoccupation with weight reduction diets
• starving
• inducing vomiting after eating
• Laxative or diuretic abuse
• constant preoccupation with food
• inability to stop eating after taking the first bite
• excessive-exercising
• Chewing and spitting out food
• Use of diet pills, shots and other medical interventions to control weight
• Fantasies about food
• Vulnerability to quick-weight-loss schemes
• 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. If you feel you are one of us, WE WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS.