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The 12 Steps of Overeater's Anonymous*

1. We admitted that we were powerless over food - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked him to remover our shortcomings.
8. Make a list of all persons we have harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improver 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.
12. 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.

*Adapted from the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous®
The Twelve Steps of AA are reprinted and adapted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Steps does not mean that AA has reviewed or approved the contents of this publication, nor that AA agrees with the views expressed herein. AA is a program of recovery from alcoholism only - use of the Twelve Steps in connection with programs and activities that are patterned after AA, but that address other problems, does not imply otherwise.

THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people where ever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought thorough 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.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Dave's quick take on the Steps
Updated, 2005

1. We admitted that we were powerless over food - that our lives had become unmanageable.
 Admit to my deepest self that I cannot control my eating on my own. I can’t fix a problem without naming it or understanding how deep it goes.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
 Become open to the possibility that there is someone or something outside of myself that may be able to help me heal. I sure haven’t had much luck doing it alone. I need help.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.
 Decided to trust that outside source of help and become willing to follow their guidance. This could be a support group plus recovery literature and a doctor; who's to say but me.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
 Through introspection and writing tried to figure out just how my eating disorder has affected me and those around me. I don’t want to keep repeating the same patterns that always ended up triggering a binge. It's also a good time to identify any assets I have for my recovery. Tools and skills that will help me to continue to make healthy food choices and heal.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
 Shared the insights I found in the previous step with another human being who will help me forgive myself and offer insights from their own experience. They say we are only as sick as our secrets.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character.
 Became willing to let go of the old ways of thinking and doing things I wrote about in Step 4, they didn’t work anyway.
7. Humbly asked him to remover our shortcomings.
 Asked for more help now that I have identified some specific areas to work on. I can learn new coping skills.
8. Make a list of all persons we have harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
 From what I’ve learned so far, made a list of people who may have been harmed in some way due to my disordered eating and became willing to set things right. Life is about relationships and my connectedness with others. Don't forget to forgive myself too. It's an illness not a weakness.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
 Made amends with these people to patch up my relationships if possible. I don’t want to have a bunch of garbage from the past hanging over my head. I want to get rid of any guilt and resentments that are eating at me because those are some of the things that drove me to overeat.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
 Get in the habit of examining my own behavior and reactions to life on a consistent basis. It's ok to apologize when I have stepped on someone else’s toes. Practice identifying and rethinking self-defeating thoughts.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improver 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.
 Made a practice of doing whatever is needed to improve my conscious contact with my higher and/or helping powers. On a regular basis, quiet my mind and get in touch with my inner-self where my best wisdom is.
12. 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.
 Because my life has improved, I find that the best way to maintain my recovery is to help others to heal. Keep putting my recovery first by continuing to live the 12 Steps and grow as an individual.

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This information on the 12 Steps and the following articles designed to help explain the Steps,  was a project I started in 2001 for an online  e-mail support list. This page was updated 12/22/2004 to better reflect my current recovery and understanding of Binge Eating Disorder. It is still a work in progress.
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