Citation info: Goldberg, Lina. "Between the Sheets: The History of Overeaters Anonymous and its Food Plans" linagoldberg.com Dec. 03 linagoldberg.com/oa
by Lina Goldberg
In a society that uses "all you can eat" and "all you care to eat" interchangeably to describe its buffets, it is not surprising that 61 percent of American adults are overweight, and that nearly 50 million of them are obese. (1) American consumers apparently see no difference between all one wants to eat and all that one can physically hold. At a time when so many Americans are overweight and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration glibly refers to obesity as a "chronic, widespread disease,"(2) it was perhaps inevitable that a 12-step program would be created to help the sufferers of what the program calls "compulsive overeating."
The trend of Americans being overweight and obese is only getting worse. Each year, Americans spend more than $33 billion dollars on weight-reduction products, including diet foods and beverages. (3) More than 50 million Americans will go on a diet each year. (4) Despite this, there has been a dramatic increase in the rate of obesity in the last 20 years. (5)
This is not unexpected when one considers the fact that although many popular diets lead to short-term weight loss, few have proven effective for keeping weight off. (6) In fact, in one study, researchers found that 55 percent of ads for diet products made at least one false or unsubstantiated claim. (7) In most cases these claims were related to the amount of and speed of weight loss. In a world where the majority of adults are overweight, most diets offer little hope of long-term relief, and consumers are barraged by intentionally false claims about weight loss, it is no surprise that many Americans have given up on conventional dieting solutions and are turning to other sources for relief.
One alternative to conventional dieting (8) is the "fat acceptance" movement, which has been in existence since 1969. This grass-roots movement seeks to change societal attitudes about those who are overweight. A movement manifesto states: "Our culture's idealization of slenderness results in personal and cultural biases against fat people, and causes discrimination against those who are larger than average." (9) Rather than responding to this discrimination by trying to become thinner, movement members seek to positively and concretely change society's perception of those who are heavier than the social ideal.
One critic has written, "The more we valorize thinness, the fatter we actually become." (10) This observation appears to be supported by the fact that Americans are getting larger and larger, even while models, celebrities, and other representatives of ideal beauty get thinner and thinner. In that context, the fat acceptance movement's contention that "concentrating on personal fitness rather than thinness may be the healthiest way to deal with the propensity to be fat" seems all the more reasonable. (11) Yet while this method of harm reduction may seem to be a better way to help the chronically obese, the fact is that many people in the fat acceptance movement have died of obesity-related illnesses. Others have abandoned fat acceptance, deciding that "personal fitness" might not be enough to overcome the lower life expectancy that statistically afflicts those who are obese. (12)
A very different alternative to conventional dieting is offered by Overeaters Anonymous (OA). OA takes a dramatically different approach, using the same 12-step principles that Alcoholics Anonymous has been successfully using to treat alcoholism since 1939. (13) Alcoholics Anonymous is an anonymous, abstinence-based program that is founded on the tenets of the disease model-the belief that alcoholism is not merely a bad habit, but an incurable and potentially fatal physical illness that can be controlled only through total abstinence from alcohol. The group's literature states that no matter how long an alcoholic is abstinent, he or she will always be an alcoholic, and can at best hope only for remission. (14)
In the last 65 years, dozens of 12-step groups have been founded based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, including Debtors Anonymous, Emotions Anonymous, Clutterers Anonymous, Workaholics Anonymous, Sex Addicts Anonymous, Incest Survivors Anonymous, Parents Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Shoplifters Anonymous, Child Abusers Anonymous, and Nicotine Anonymous as well as Overeaters Anonymous. Though these programs vary widely in focus, they all use the disease model. They all advocate admitting that one is powerless over the problem at hand, be it nicotine, shoplifting, or household clutter, and believe that only through admitting this powerlessness and asking for the help of God or some version of a "higher power" can one get better.
The first Overeaters Anonymous was formed on January 19, 1960, in Los Angeles, California. Only three women attended the first meeting, but the group has since grown to nearly 9,000 meetings in 51 countries. (15) The group was the brainchild of Rozanne S. (16) In January of 1959 she took a friend who was struggling with a gambling problem to a meeting of Gamblers Anonymous in Los Angeles. As she listened to the gamblers' personal stories, she found that she could identify with their struggle. Only it was not gambling that she had a problem with: it was food. And just as the members of that group termed their gambling "compulsive," Rozanne S. later termed her eating patterns and those that Overeaters Anonymous would deal with "compulsive eating."
Rozanne S. left the meeting hoping that she could find a similar group for those who had problems overeating, but she could not find one. With the support of the founder of Gamblers Anonymous, Jim W., Rozanne S. started the first meeting of Overeaters Anonymous with one of her neighbors, Jo S., and Bernice K., the overweight wife of a G.A. member. Bernice dropped out of the group early on, stating, "My doctor says that dieting makes me nervous." (17) The other two original members, however, were losing weight rapidly-134 pounds between the pair in less than nine months.
Like many splinter groups from Alcoholics Anonymous, OA struggled with how much of the original text from the Alcoholics Anonymous "Big Book" (18) to retain for their purposes. They were especially torn over what portion of the 12 Steps to edit, or whether to keep them in their entirety. (Appendix A) Rozanne S. initially rewrote the steps, omitting any reference to God. In a program that was based on spirituality, this was a daunting task. Step three was changed from "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him," to advising consultation "with a physician of our own choosing." Rozanne S. admits that at this point no one in the group had actually been to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. Her sole participation in a sanctioned 12-step program (19) was her three-time attendance at Gamblers Anonymous, and she admits that her understanding of how A.A. functioned was tenuous at best.
O.A. experienced phenomenal success in the first year. In November of 1960, Paul Coates interviewed Rozanne S. and some of the other original members on his syndicated television talk show. This was an amazing accomplishment for a group so new and must have bolstered the confidence of the fledgling group. Coates' show, after all, was where Rozanne S. had originally heard of Gamblers Anonymous, her original inspiration for starting Overeaters Anonymous. The show, which ran in six cities, brought the group, which at that point consisted of a handful of members, more than 500 letters. O.A. grew by leaps and bounds after its first key piece of publicity.
In 1962, Overeaters Anonymous made its first major decision as a group. Rozanne S., who was a dietician's daughter, had previously subscribed to the belief that calories were the most important factor for weight loss and weight maintenance. She later wrote that during this time, she believed "It didn't matter how much I ate or how often, as long as my total food count remained within the limits I had set for myself." (20)
After attending an A.A. meeting that discussed the idea of abstinence, Rozanne decided that snacking between meals only reinforced her tendency to compulsively overeat. At the next meeting of Overeaters Anonymous, Rozanne introduced the idea of O.A.-sanctioned abstinence-three moderate meals with no snacking in between and only no-calorie beverages, such as black coffee and water. The new rules did make allowances for those whose doctors advised them to eat more frequently. This introduction of the first Overeaters Anonymous food plan sparked controversy that continues to roil the ranks of O.A. membership today.
In 1963, the first so-called "Gold Sheet" was distributed among O.A. members. It was a food plan that recommended a diet for its members that included no refined carbohydrates; it was named after the color of paper on which it was printed. Initially it was distributed informally and was not officially recognized by Overeaters Anonymous. The next year the same plan with slight variations was distributed on green paper and was thus referred to as the "Green Sheet."
In May of 1966, the group as a whole, at their national conference,
approved a pamphlet entitled, To the Newcomer. The pamphlet stated in
part,
Abstinence in Overeaters Anonymous means abstinence from compulsive overeating.
An eating plan is the method by which we abstain. The following is our
suggested method of abstinence from compulsive overeating:
(1) Three moderate meals a day with nothing in-between; and
(2) Avoidance of all individual binge foods.
Overeaters Anonymous does not endorse any particular eating plan.
This was Overeaters Anonymous first officially sanctioned food plan,
although many members lobbied the legislative body of O.A. to approve
more stringent diet plans, like the ones found on the Gold and Green Sheets.
In the late 1960s, the Gold and Green Sheets were superseded by a new
plan on the cheapest color to print on at the time, grey. The Grey Sheet
became one of the most popular and controversial of all food plans distributed
in Overeaters Anonymous. The plan called for complete abstinence from
man-made sugars and starches and from any foods with more than a 10-percent
carbohydrate content. (Appendix B)
In April of 1972, the founder of Overeaters Anonymous, Rozanne S., had gained back so much of the weight that she had lost in the program that she was fired from her position of O.A. National Secretary for not being a "physical example of recovery." The next month, O.A.'s National Conference approved three "disciplined" plans of eating-far stricter food plans than the previous three-meals-per-day plan. The first plan was the beloved "Grey Sheet," the no-refined-sugars, low-carbohydrates plan. It was once again printed on grey paper. Although each of the low-carbohydrate plans had slight variations, they were all variants of the original Gold Sheet published in 1963. The 1972 National Conference also approved a low-carbohydrates maintenance plan, as well as a second plan based on the four food groups helped developed by Marilyn Moore, a licensed nutritionist in East Los Angeles, California.
In 1977, Overeaters Anonymous dismissed all of the plans that had been distributed years earlier and released in their stead a blue sheet called "Suggested Abstinence Guide for Losing Weight." The Blue Sheet, as it came to be called, officially replaced the Grey Sheet, but many in the group were not happy with this change. With each successive change in food plan, Overeaters Anonymous lost members to splinter groups. Even today, almost 30 years after the Grey Sheet was replaced, a number of groups still exist that are now non-affiliated with O.A. and base themselves on the Grey Sheet. One is called "Food Addicts Anonymous" and requires that its members abstain from eating sugar, flour and wheat. (21) Another group, called GreySheeters Anonymous, has meetings in locals as far-reaching as London and Tel Aviv and religiously follows the O.A. Grey Sheet from 1972. (22)
By 1978, O.A. was starting to realize that the constant changes in food plans and lack of flexibility were costing it members. In 1979 the group released a book called The Dignity of Choice that was intended to bring the splinter groups back to the fold by including eight different food plans. The book did not succeed in its mission, however, and was discontinued. In 1986, not only did Overeaters Anonymous stop printing the book; the leadership requested that all groups return their unsold copies to the group's headquarters. Around this time, O.A.'s attorney also began sending cease and desist notices to groups that were distributing non-approved food plans using quotations from O.A. literature or printing the text of the 12 steps. These notices were sent primarily in reference to the "Grey Sheet."
At the same time that Overeaters Anonymous stopped using The Dignity of Choice, it decided as a body that to endorse any specific food plan would go against the aims of the group and that O.A. should instead focus on the 12 steps of recovery. This was seen as a great step towards ending the controversies that had so bitterly divided the O.A. membership. In 1997 O.A. clarified its point when it released this statement:
The OA 1997 World Service Business Conference, after careful consideration, believes that although many individual OA members choose to follow a plan of eating for their personal plan of recovery, offering food plans at OA meetings is a violation of Tradition 10. While each OA member is free to choose a personal plan of eating to achieve abstinence, OA as a whole cannot print, endorse or distribute food plan information to members. Nutrition is a most controversial outside issue; the hiring of professionals to produce food plans for use at meetings also violates the Eighth Tradition, as we need always remain non-professional. Groups endorsing any food plans by distributing them at their meetings affect OA as a whole. We ask all groups, Intergroups and Regions of OA to adhere to the above policy statement and discontinue use of food plan information at meetings. We ought best concern ourselves with our suggested program of recovery - the Twelve Steps.
For more than 15 years Overeaters Anonymous has not endorsed any specific food plan or diet, instead urging its members to create their own with the advice of their doctor. But the group never seemed the find the unity that it was searching for. Rozanne S., who had originally believed that O.A. should never officially support any specific food plan, has reversed her opinion and recently called for a re-publication of The Dignity of Choice. She has stated that "apathy abounds" in O.A. and that membership is "faltering." She made her appeal for the renewal of the food plans in the hopes that this change in direction would allow Overeaters Anonymous to "survive and flourish." (23)
Overeaters Anonymous, like many groups based on the 12 steps, is similar to but not exactly like Alcoholics Anonymous, which by all accounts has been the most successful--in terms of membership numbers--of all the 12-step programs. Although Overeaters Anonymous did eventually adopt the exact wording of the A.A. 12 steps (substituting the word "food" for "alcohol"), there are some differences between the programs that are perhaps reflected in O.A.'s declining membership. Although Alcoholics Anonymous requests abstinence of its members, it does not give a specific plan or diagram one must comply with to achieve that abstinence. In essence, nothing has changed in A.A. since it began in 1939, and its members unanimously approve of this. Overeaters Anonymous, on the other hand, seems to have had a difficult time in finding a party line to stick to. Even when the group had no sanctioned food plan, members were strongly divided on what "abstinence" means in their program.
Complete information on the history of Overeaters Anonymous is surprisingly hard to find. Because the group is based on volunteerism and anonymity, there are very few official historical records about the group. Much of what has been released officially has been later discontinued. Moreover, in what appears to be an effort to maintain their copyright and protect their interests, the group threatens anyone who uses quotations from their literature or reprints the 12 steps with legal action. As a consequence, a cloud of secrecy hangs over the group and the history of Overeaters Anonymous remains largely unknown, even to its own members.
In its 43-year history, Overeaters Anonymous has adopted numerous food plans for its members. The group has discontinued, replaced, and abolished food plans altogether on a fairly regular basis. With each change the group makes to its food plans--ostensibly to bring unity to the group--it loses many members to splinter groups that either find the old ideas more acceptable, or the new ones distasteful. Overeaters Anonymous is currently in the process of reissuing The Dignity of Choice with six new food plans, a step that has already provoked considerable in-fighting within the group's ranks. Perhaps because the group members are unfamiliar with their own history, they are doomed to repeat it.
The 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous
1. We admitted 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 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 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 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 compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous
1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority-a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3. The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or OA as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose-to carry its message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers.
6. An OA group ought never endorse, finance or lend the OA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7. Every OA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. Overeaters Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9. OA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the OA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television and other public media of communication.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
Text of the "Grey Sheet" of Overeaters Anonymous
PAGE ONE OF OA PAMPHLET
PLAN "A" -- LOW-CARBOHYDRATE
(Suggested for losing weight)
SAMPLE MENU
BREAKFAST
1 Protein
1 Fruit
Coffee
LUNCH
1 Protein
1 Vegetable
Finger Salad
(no dressing)
DINNER
1 Protein
1 Vegetable
Salad
For carbohydrate sensitive people, man-made sugars and starches create a craving for more of the same. Therefore these foods cannot be eater at all! This plan provides for complete abstinence from man-made sugars and starches and from any foods with more than 10% carbohydrate content.
We suggest three measured meals a day with nothing in between but black coffee, tea or no-calorie soft drinks.
Overeaters Anonymous offers a choice of three disciplined eating plans:
For losing weight ... Plan "A", low-carbohydrate (this pamphlet) or Plan "B", basic-four food groups. For maintaining normal weight ... low-carbohydrate maintenance plan. Before you choose any plan, see your doctor. If you have a medical problem, follow your doctor's plan. You will still be abstaining from compulsive overeating.
REMEMBER .... OURS IS A THREE-FOLD ILLNESS. THESE SUGGESTED EATING PLANS CAN GUIDE US ON THE PHYSICAL LEVEL BUT WE NEED THE 12 STEPS TO REMEMBER OUR RECOVERY ON THE SPIRITUAL AND EMOTIONAL LEVEL AS WELL.
PAGE TWO OF OA PAMPHLET
SUGGESTED GUIDES FOR PLAN "A" ABSTINENCE
Proteins may be mixed (i.e., chef's salad). Vegetables may be mixed. If a ½ cup vegetable is included, the whole portion may not exceed ½ cup.
Sugar must be listed 5th or below on ingredient labels: not among the first 4 items (Ex. Veg Oil, water, salt, spices, sugar.)
Check labels for sugar content: packaged meats, low-cal and regular dressings, mixed spices, vegetables in cans and jars.
Dextrose, lactose and corn syrup are forms of sugar. Must be listed 5th or below on labels.
Mix family salads, then measure two 8 ounce cups for your own, using up to 2 tbs dressing without sugar.
A finger salad is three small, raw vegetables or green salad without dressing.
When eating out, if cooked vegetable in not available have a 4th raw vegetable.
If fresh fruits are unavailable, use fresh frozen not packed in sugar or syrup, fruits packed in water, or their own juice, not sugar added. Mixing of fruits except the ½ cup fruits to total 1 cup.
Use real mayonnaise only, not whipped dressing.
Watch out for high carbohydrate artificial sweeteners. If you are concerned about artificial sweeteners, see your doctor.
1, Use diet catsup and regular mustards on your meats and fish.
2. 3-tsp. lemon juice daily may be used in tea or finger salad. If milk is used as a protein, some of that milk may be used ...
PAGE THREE OF OA PAMPHLET
FOOD PORTIONS SHEET
PROTEIN
Beef - 4 oz.
Cheese - 2 oz.
Chicken - 2 pieces
Clams - 4 oz.
Crab - ½ cup.
Cold Cuts - 2 slices.
Cottage Cheese - ½ cup.
Eggs - 2.
Fish - 4 oz.
Frankfurters - 2
Ham - 4 oz.
Heart - 4 oz.
Kidney - 4 oz.
Lamb - 4 oz.
Liver - 4 oz.
Lobster - 4 oz.
Oysters - 4 oz.
Pork - 4 oz.
Salmon - ½ cup
Sardines - ½ cup
Shrimp - 4 oz.
Soyburger - 4 oz.
(soy proteins, ham & sausage links)
Steak - 4 oz.
Tongue - 4 oz.
Tuna - ½ cup
Turkey - 4 oz.
Veal - 4 oz.
Milk - 8 oz = ½ protein
Buttermilk, 1 cup = ½ protein
Yogurt, low fat plain 1 cup = 1 protein
COOKED VEG. - 1 CUP
Artichoke
Asparagus
Bean Sprouts
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Cucumber
Eggplant
Greens : Mustard, Collard,Beet, Spinach, Turnip
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Okra
Peppers - green, red
Radishes
Parsley
Pickles - sour, dill
Sauerkraut
String Beans
Summer Squash
Tomatoes
Turnip
Zucchini
COOKED VEG. 1/2 C.
Beets
Carrots
Onions
Pumpkin
Rutabagas
Winter Squash
Wheat Germ - 1/8 cup
THE FOLLOWING MAY BE USED FOR COOKING ONLY
All spices, Onion Soup, Horseradish, Soy Sauce and Paste, Worcestershire Sauce.
PAGE FOUR OF OA PAMPHLET
FRESH FRUITS
Apricots - 3 medium
Apple - 1 medium
Blackberries - ½ cup
Blueberries - ½ cup
Boysenberries - 1 cup
Cantaloupe - ½
Casaba Melon - ¼
Cranberries - 1 cup
Gooseberries - 1 cup
Grapefruit - ½
Honeydew Melon - ¼
Lemons & Limes - 2
Orange - 1 (3" diam.)
Pineapple - 1 cup
Peach - 1 medium
Plum - 2 medium
Raspberries - ½ cup
Rhubarb - 1 cup
Strawberries - 1 cup
Tangerine - 2 large
This is the food plan. It will get rid of the outer manifestation, fat. It is only a part of our program. The 12 Steps will take care of our living problems.
You may ask, "Can I do it?"
Yes, the key is within yourself. All you need is honesty, willingness and an open mind.
Many of the things you hear will sound strange at first. Just listen to the new ideas. Let them flow over you. Give these concepts time to settle.
A choice is open to you. You can choose to become responsible to yourself, for yourself. Learn, one day at a time, to like and love yourself.
Recovery begins here. The choice is yours.
Keep coming back!
PAGE FIVE OF OA PAMPHLET
THE TWELVE STEPS
Here are the steps which are suggested as a program of recovery.
(listing of 12 steps of Overeaters Anonymous)
PAGE 6 AND FINAL PAGE OF THE PAMPHLET
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS
WEIGHING AND MEASURING FOOD
We use an 8-ounce measuring cup (level) and a postal or kitchen scale. Foods are measured and weighed after cooking.
FOOD PREPARATION
Meats may be broiled, baked, boiled, roasted, pan-fried, or grilled. Eggs may be fried. Salad dressing without sugar once a day; a pat of butter or margarine may be used in cooking vegetables.
FOODS WE AVOID
Cake, candy, candy coated gum, catsup, cookies, honey, jam, jelly, nuts, pastries, peanut butter, pie, sugar, sugared soft drinks, syrups, Creamed, fried or scalloped foods. Cereals, noodles and spaghetti, Beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages. Condensed milk, cream cheese, sour cream and whipped cream. Crackers and all bread products.
WE ALSO SUGGEST . . .
1. Write your food plan daily; call it in to your food sponsor for one month.
2. Eat slowly, taking small bites.
3. Eat your meals sitting down.
4. No second helpings at meals.
5. Do not skip any meals.
6. Weigh yourself only once a month.
7. Avoid your individual binge foods.
8. Call before you take that first bite.
DO NOT EAT DIET SWEETS OR FOODS NOT ON THE FOOD PORTIONS SHEET
WHEN IN DOUBT, LEAVE IT OUT.
1972 Overeaters Anonymous
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Footnotes
1. "Individuals with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered
overweight, while individuals with a BMI of 30 or more are considered
obese. BMI is a common measure expressing the relationship (or ratio)
of weight-to-height."
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. "Defining
Overweight and Obesity." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
01 Jul. 2003.
Spake, Amanda. "A Fat Nation: America's 'Supersize' Diet is Fattier and Sweeter-and Deadlier." USNews 19 Aug. 2002.
2. Johannes, Laura and Stecklow, Steve. "Dire Warnings About Obesity Rely on a Slippery Statistic." The Wall Street Journal. 9 Feb. 1998.
43. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Losing Weight Safely." FDA Consumer Magazine. Jan-Feb., 1996.
4. Federal Trade Commission. "Paunch Lines: Weight Loss Claims Are No Joke For Dieters." Federal Trade Commission Consumer Alert. Mar. 1997.
5. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. "Obesity Trends: U.S. Obesity Trends 1985-2001." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 20 May 2003.
6. Holmes, Betty. "Childhood and Adolescent Obesity in America: What's a Parent to Do?" Cooperative Extension Service, College of Agriculture. United States Department of Agriculture. Jun. 1996.
7. Federal Trade Commission. "Tipping the Scales? Weight-Loss Ads Found Heavy on Deception." Federal Trade Commission Consumer Features. Sept. 2002.
8. I.e. By restricting caloric intake or certain foods and increasing exercise.
9. National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance Information Index. "Joining the Size Acceptance Revolution: Doing Your Part." National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Date Unknown.
10. Benfer, Amy. "The Lost Language of Fat."
Salon. 25 Mar. 2002. <http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2002/03/25/fat_kids/index.html>
11. NAAFA Information Index. National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. 14 Nov. 2003. < http://www.naafa.org/>
12. Gold, Nancy Evelyn. "Fat Traitor: One woman walks away from the 'fat is beautiful' movement." Gettingit Dot Com, a Webzine. 16 Dec. 1999. < http://www.gettingit.com/article/471>
13. Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. Alcoholics Anonymous. Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.: New York, 1998.
14. Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. Alcoholics
Anonymous. Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.: New York, 1998.
15. Overeaters Anonymous. "To the Newcomer: You're Not Alone Anymore." OA Conference Approved Literature. Overeaters Anonymous, Inc: 1995.
16. Like all members of an anonymous 12-step group, Rozanne S. is known only by her first name and last initial.
17. Overeaters Anonymous. Overeaters Anonymous, Second
Edition. Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. Rio Rancho, New Mexico: 2001. p. 14.
18. The Big Book, or Alcoholics Anonymous, as it is officially titled, is the primary text of Alcoholics Anonymous, and is what the program is primarily based on. Most other 12 step groups use the A.A. Big Book as the basis for their programs.
19. Sanctioned by the Alcoholics Anonymous World Service Organization, as opposed to a "renegade" group that is not officially recognized by A.A.
20. Overeaters Anonymous. Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition. Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. Rio Rancho, New Mexico: 2001. p. 19.
21. Food Addicts Anonymous. Food Addicts Anonymous Official Website. Food Addicts Anonymous. 18 Nov. 2003. <http://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org/>
22. GreySheeters Anonymous World Service, Inc. GreySheeters Anonymous. 24 Oct. 2003. < http://greysheet.org/>
23. S., Rozanne. "Cofounder's Address: World Service Business Conference" Overeaters Anonymous. 11 May, 2002. <http://www.overeatersanonymous.org/cofounders_address.html>
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Copyright Lina Goldberg. All Rights Reserved.
Citation info: Goldberg, Lina. "Between the Sheets: The History of Overeaters Anonymous and its Food Plans" linagoldberg.com Dec. 03 linagoldberg.com/oa