h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is noteworthy that the diversion that was shown in "Fat boy to slim" before his surgery was a family visit to a greyhound race, where betting addicts are to be found!

For some, me included my obesity is part of a wider disorder "addiction" that saw me at the computer in the middle of the night (now) looking up just one more thing, then another and so on. And before that I allowed myself to watch the BBC Three programme "Fatboy to slim" soon after midnight because it was an important subject and the fact that my sleep is already disrupted and yesterday was disorganised and so will tomorrow as a knock on consequence is forgotten, for the time being.

I am 58 years old and am still obese but at last have found some recovery by treating it as an addiction and using the one sure method to recover, namely the 12 step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous discovered in 1935 and since spread round the world by those who have achieved recovery and remained independent and financially self supporting.

I access the programme through the organisation, Overeaters Anonymous where there are many who have and are recovering from compulsive overeating and other eating disorders including anorexia and bulemia. What the programme brings is a whole life change where we aim to act on rather react to life. I am not the finished article yet as in recent times I have realised that I am vulnerable to all sorts of addictions, not least of which is Codependency.

However as far as eating is concerned My weight has reduced from over 27 stone to under 20 stone and I am still reducing. I first found OA in 1994 and had some temporary relief but always relapsed. At a point where I realised that I could not stand by body size and resulting difficulties and misery I boosted my affiliation to the twelve step programme by finding a day treatment centre that treats all addictions simultaneously and since that time have maintained three meals a day with absolutely nothing in between, one day at a time. There are difficult days, like today but by sharing experiences with others and studying and applying the twelve steps beginning with accepting I am powerless over addiction, I am making steady progress.

It is dissapointing that there is so little out in public about OA, I suppose this is because anonymity is critical to my recovery and my recovery would be damaged by me being photographed or by my identity being divulged. However I have no doubt that as we say "it works if YOU work it". There is much about OA and the other 12 step organisations on the internet. Alcoholics Anonymous" and it's "Big Book" is at the core of my recovery so far. When the first people recovered all they had was the Book, "Alcoholics Anonymous" and that is what I would encourage any addict to study, notwithstanding their have bean many cultural changes since it was written and some of it's language is unfamiliar. The message works as long as we understand that crucial to recovery is receiving and giving support to others, as can be achieved through the Anonymous Fellowship organisations.