Overeaters can receive holiday help

It was 1992 and Sheila, who had struggled with weight and food issues her entire life, had tried something new.

She dieted and spent a month avoiding the scale, thinking the constant reminders about her weight were impeding her progress.

At the end of the month, she checked -- and had lost three pounds.

And the next day the three pounds were inexplicably back.

"I just lost it," said Sheila, who had tried everything from fad diets to not eating all day because she knew she wouldn't stop once she started.

"It was the little straw that breaks it: 'I can't do it. I can't stop eating.' 

"I knew right then I needed help."

She found it with Over­eaters Anonymous, a roughly 120-member group that's been in Southern Nevada since 1966. It's starting a new workshop to help compulsive eaters get through the holiday season, when life becomes a minefield of temptation and emotional triggers.

People go to Overeaters Anonymous for help with obesity, anorexia and bulimia using the same 12-step program developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Like AA, OA practices strict confidentiality and members don't give out their last names.

The holidays are challenging because people face situations that are often at the root of their compulsive eating: family issues and childhood memories. Simple social expectations play a role, too.

When Sheila's brother arrived at her home Thursday, he said something along the lines of "Today is the day for over­eating and getting fat."

That's a common thought on Thanksgiving, but not one welcome at Overeaters Anonymous meetings, such as the regular weekly session that drew a handful of members to the Canyon Ridge Christian Church on Lone Mountain Road on Thanksgiving Day.

"Everyone has a coping mechanism. Ours is overeating," Sheila said. "But what are we coping with? You walk into this minefield of things that set off your emotional response. And there's food everywhere."

Sheila said she would "fold in on herself" if she overate. On Thursday, she planned and measured her food intake and kept the day focused on family and thankfulness.

Larry, another Overeaters Anonymous member, started the program two and a half years ago following a heart attack. He's since lost 50 pounds.

He said his problems with eating began when he stopped smoking 40 years ago: "When I quit I went from smoking to food."

"I would obsess about things and spend hours, days, weeks obsessing about certain events of my life," he said. "Eating, for me, was a way of dealing with some of the issues."

He said he's become "more at ease" while working the 12 steps.

"I'm going though some health issues right now. I'm at peace with it," Larry said.

"You learn to take care of what you can do. We have to believe that we have a higher power, and this higher power can help us if we seek it."

One of the revelations for Sheila and others who enter 12-step programs is that many others struggle with the same issues as they have, and that their problem has a name and a time-tested plan for addressing it.

People who eat compulsively -- or are alcoholics or some other kind of addict -- lose the holidays completely if their compulsions take over.

"A lot of what we talk about around the holidays is remembering what the holiday is for," she said. "There's nothing about 'thanks' or 'giving' that says I have to stuff my face."

And it's not always bad memories or unresolved animosity that leads to problems over the holidays. Sometimes the feelings are good.

"What did we used to do but celebrate -- and how did we celebrate? We eat," Sheila said.

"It can also, however, be the deepest and most satisfying happiness you ever imagined you could have. You realize how thankful you are, and you're not buried in food. You're not lost anymore."

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 229-6435.