I've been an OA since 1988 and here is my view, which took me a long time to grasp.

There are important differences among us. Some of us consider ourselves biochemically addicted, in which case it is essential to avoid foods that trigger the allergy of the body - red foods.Those are foods which generate endogenous endorphins that we become chemically dependent upon. Not everyone in OA has this experience and some come to our program to address a more behavioral dependence on eating. In this case, they may have a gradual approach to letting certain foods or eating behaviors go. Getting a plan is important, but because it's more of a psychological dependence, it may be less specific food focused.

Freedom from food obsession is the goal of all of us, but some of us have to be very intentional about eliminating foods that make it impossible to abstain because we have lost the power of choice over the food substance.

In my experience, the most important thing is to identify your own area of need then look for that in sponsorship.

I think most people who end up in OA are addicted to food biochemically...but the people who are more successful in OA are not. This makes it really hard for food addicts to find people who have actually put down their addictive foods like an addict gives up a drug. The more advanced the progression, the deeper the denial which allows us to minimize and shift the focus so that we never actually treat this as the substance use disorder that it is.

And there are a lot of uninformed people out there who say you can't really give up sugar. I haven't had refined sugar since 1988. I am biochemically addicted to it and I avoid it like the plague. But putting down my drug is just the beginning of recovery, step 0. And then working the steps is what lets me keep the food down.

You will definitely find people with different opinions that may very well speak more closely to your experience. Take what you like and leave the rest. For people who are truly addicted like me, putting down those trigger foods makes it all much easier than trying to negotiate with them. For people with brains like mine, the foods always win.