By Emma Keeling
Many of us have heard about alcoholics anonymous but what about overeaters anonymous?
It doesn't concern itself with the medical side of obesity, it's about compulsive eating.
Some steal food from family and friends, or eat frozen, burnt or stale food.
Others lie about what they eat or won't eat in front of others.
Or maybe they obsess about diets and their weight.
In many cases food has ruled and ruined overeaters’ lives, yet those closest to them probably have no idea.
We're not allowed to show you their faces, but we can tell you their stories.
They follow the twelve step program of alcoholics anonymous.
And they share the same goal - to stop eating compulsively.
One overeater Melanie was asked when her overeating began. She explained it’s a problem that has plagued her since childhood.
“When I was 7 or 8 years old I had a bit of a battle - my grandmother, i call her my dealer. She used to provide me with baked good and things like that” she explains.
Melanie's family have battled with drugs and alcohol but with her it was food.
“It’s such an addiction. I liken it to a drug addict or an alcoholic. It is the first and last thing I think about” she says.
So how much was this overeater consuming in one day? Even Mel doesn’t really know.
“I really couldn't tell you how much I’d eat in a day. I've sat down with my nutritionist and we reckon about 12,000 calories a day which is about 10,000 more than most people need.”
Like Mel, overeater Geoff has suffered from his food issues since childhood.
“I’ve always had a problem. I was 7 stone at 7” he says.
When things went wrong, Geoff turned to food - whatever he could get his hands on.
“It’s strange you know, you talk about comfort and you get some comfort out of it but there's a part deep down inside where you actually feel worse and worse. It's an incredibly soul destroying feeling to have inside you. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
“I actually remember body obsession much earlier than food obsession or overeating or anything. And when I was 5 or 6 I used to hate swimming at school because I was so conscious of my body. The interesting thing is I wasn't big at all I was hardly even chubby” he explains.
Susan loved food and felt guilty about it. Feeling fat and disgusting she ate small amounts in secret.
She went to overeaters anonymous in her early 20's then had a relapse and started binging.
“Even without trying to, one day I ate so much my body couldn't handle it and I projectile vomited four times in a row into the sink in my room. The state I got to mentally, emotionally and spiritually in that relapse was really shocking. That side of the illness is progressive as well and I was thinking about suicide more than I ever had before” she explains.
The disease becomes harder to control.
Over exercising was part of Melanie’s addiction. Eventually even that couldn't keep the weight off.
“My doctor had spoken to me about the gastric banding, anti depressants - all the drugs you can take for weight loss but I knew that wasn't going to be the answer because I knew I was broken in my head.”
Sometimes surgery is not the answer with some overeaters getting gastric band surgery only to end up with a dangerous addiction to alcohol or other substance.
Many at overeaters anonymous have discovered that compulsive eating, just like alcohol and drugs, is a symptom of a deeper problem.
Geoff says overeaters anonymous helped him look at the cause of his addiction.
“OA has asked me to look at the reasons why I ate. It's asked me to look at myself. That's the first time anyone has said that.”
Mel also found attending the meetings a huge step.
“It took all the strength I had just to stay in that meeting for the first time because it was painful I didn't want to hear this was the life for me.”
But Melanie knew it was her last resort.
“I remember writing a letter to my husband and my daughter and tears were streaming down my face. I couldn't believe I was going to die at 32 and this was going to kill me this disease was going to take my life from my daughter who I loved.”
At her heaviest Mel weighed 153 kilos but she says she has lost nearly 60 of that.
She's achieved it through 18 months of OA meetings, without exercise.
“Just the life I can live has just been a reward I didn't expect. I just wanted to stop eating and to lose a bit of weight but it was so much more than that.”
OA has taught these people how to eat again without fear or guilt.
They read the OA literature, they support each other and they follow the 12 steps to recovery.
If you would like to know more about any of the issues addressed in this show you can visit Overeaters Anonymous websites here and here.