Inner Voice

January 2024

Newsletter of New Freedom Intergroup of OA
Step 1: We admitted
we were powerlessover food—that ourlives had become
unmanageable.
• Spiritual Principle:
Honesty
Tradition 1: Ourcommon welfare
should come first;
personal recovery
depends upon OA
unity.
• Spiritual Principle:
Unity
Concept 1: The
ultimate responsibility
and authority for OA
world services residein the collective
conscience of ourwhole Fellowship.
• Spiritual Principle:
Unity
Promise 1: We aregoing to know a new
freedom and a newhappiness.

Sponsorship
The idea of sponsors was not explicitly mentioned in the first 164 pages of the Big
Book, which occasioned a member to question its importance. I point you to thePioneers of AA section of stories, Chapter 5, entitled The Vicious Cycle. The sponsor,
Jackie, is described as, “…he was happy, relaxed, confident, and laughing.” Our
recovery serves as a source of inspiration to newcomers and fellow members.
It is vital to note the importance of continuing the work, for though Jackie wasavailable for someone hitting bottom, he was unable to maintain his own recovery:“All of us in A.A. know the tremendous happiness that is in our sobriety, but there arealso tragedies. My sponsor, Jackie, was one of these. He brought in many of ouroriginal members, yet he himself could not make it and died of alcoholism.”
Here is an excerpt from https://oa.org/working-the-program/sponsorship/
There is no prescription on sponsorship (as a sponsor or sponsee), but here are sometips from another member to guide you:
As a sponsee, I do these things:
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•
•
•
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•

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•
•
•

Am honest with myself, my sponsor, and my Higher Power
Call my sponsor on time daily
Cultivate awareness of my Higher PowerAsk for assistance from other OA members to temporarily sponsor me whenmy sponsor is unavailable
Listen to and reflect on my sponsor’s feedback
Practice being a responsible OA member in fellowship with others, by using all
the Tools, having a home meeting, doing service, being kind and honest withothers, and welcoming newcomers
Sponsor another member or members as I’m sponsoredWillingly do Step and Tradition studies to learn
Celebrate recovery milestones
Honor anonymity as to the sponsor’s identity – if that is requested by thesponsor.

As a sponsor, I do these things:•

Welcome my sponsee’s daily calls and emails Listen to my sponsee’s food planand program work daily(continued next page)-1NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Gently reflect on OA Tools and spiritual Principles with my sponsee
Share honestly, and willingly about my experience, learning, stumbles, growth,and gratitude in recovery
Highlight areas of growth I notice in my sponsee’s physical, emotional, mental,
and spiritual recovery
Encourage my sponsee to be open and willing with me and seek assistancefrom other OA members and trustworthy professionals as needed
Listen for yellow and red flags in my sponsee’s recovery and talk about these
openly, honestly, and willingly
Let go and let God when I can’t be helpful to a sponsee
Celebrate recovery
Help the sponsee work through the Twelve Steps
Honor the sponsee’s anonymity if that is what the sponsee requests

Step 1: The Journey Begins

Step 1: We admitted we were powerless overfood—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Step One is where we begin our journey of healing through the twelve steps. We do not have to take any action. We
must simply make an admission.
Powerless is a strong word. Most of us cringe at the thought of admitting that we do not have power. Why, look at all
the powerful things we have done in our families, at our jobs, in our communities? Of course, we have power! BUT do
we have power over food? Are we able to eat in a sane and healthy way? Do we exhibit power during a binge as we cryout, “why can’t I stop!?” Where was our power after the last diet when we gained back all the weight we lost and more?
Our sponsors may ask us if we are done yet? Do we have any ideas about controlling our food that we haven’t tried yet?
Are we wondering about a new medication or a trendy new diet that might just be the answer? Do we want to continue
experimenting, risking the demoralization of yet another round of our most destructive food behaviors?
The second part of the step, “that our lives were unmanageable,” is also difficult for the active compulsive eater toadmit. Perhaps we make our bed every morning and organize our finances effectively and keep our car maintained.
Maybe we feel we manage people and places well too….perhaps we feel we can manage many things in our life. But
how do we manage food in our lives? Do we purchase healthy foods at the grocery store, bring them home, put them inthe fridge, cook healthy meals and eat them? Or do we binge on the way home in the car and throw all the rotten
vegetables away at the end of the week? Do we find ourselves turning into a drive through even though the healthylunch we packed this morning is on the car seat next to us? Do we manage our food life well? Does the unmanageability
and chaos we experience with food ever overflow into the rest of our lives? Is it possible that we manage in a way that is
not always considerate of others? Or do we now identify with the words of Dr. Silkworth, “They are restless, irritable anddiscontented unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few
drinks….after they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they
pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This isrepeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his
recovery.”(Alcoholics Anonymous, The Doctor’s Opinion)
In Step One we admit – we let in the idea – that we do not have control over our food and we are not good at managing
our lives. The spiritual principle of Step One is HONESTY. If we can honestly say our actions demonstrate a total lack ofcontrol over food and the management of our lives, perhaps we have hit bottom and are ready to take Step One.
— Lucy-2NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

More on Step 1
In the OA 12&12 it says, “some of us have difficulty with this admission because we’ve had so much experience in trying
to control our eating.”
What are some of the ways we are powerless over food?
First, we cannot control calories in food. The calories in food are a scientific fact. Lying about what we ate, wishing themaway, making believe that we will eat only one serving when we buy a package of a regular binge food, all are proofs ofour powerlessness.
We’re also powerless over food related behaviors, like eating while reading, watching TV or using the computer orphone, or going through drive-throughs or to buffets, or overeating out of sadness, despair, boredom, being too busy or
too happy.
And we are powerless over food related thinking: this time I’ll eat one, or this time I’ll be in control, or one won’t hurt, or
I’m cured!
When you prove to yourself once again that you are powerless over food, congratulate yourself. That’s Step One. I had
to do it about a million times before I got abstinent but I am still here 35 years later. I had to let go of my food and work
the steps. I also stopped bringing some foods into the house, which became a matter of growing honesty, which ones
were not my foods. I also had to tell myself, not today. I might have it tomorrow, but not today. That can lead to a long
string of abstinent days.
I had to stop controlling and dieting and work these steps. I knew that working the steps was what mattered because
they had changed my life in another program while I was eating compulsively. The steps work if you work the steps.
It took me four years to get abstinent for more than a week. Every time I slipped, I called my sponsor crying and she’dsay to me, “Gee P., did it ever occur to you that you might be a compulsive overeater?” and we’d laugh! No shaming, no
blaming, no firing because she would only spend time on “winners” who would follow someone else’s food plan.
One of the reasons why I think so many people drop out of OA is the focus on instant abstinence. Newcomers are often
given a diet (plan of eating) and have trouble following it and drop out because they slip and slip and/or get shamed or
dropped by a food focused sponsor. Don’t shame yourself when you slip. Perhaps you are also a compulsive overeater.
Learning how to be honest about problem foods is a process with many ups and downs, but if you develop a selfinitiated, self-actualizing plan of eating based on honesty about your own problem foods, it is more likely to stick. It is
slower. So what? Losing weight is not a requirement for membership. “The only requirement for OA membership is thedesire to stop eating compulsively.” Tradition 3. It’s not the desire to be thin, although working these steps will help withweight problems.
So if you try and fail, keep coming back. The steps are the answer, not a plan of eating. Take as much time as you need
to become abstinent but start on the steps right away. When you slip write, “I am still powerless over food and this is
how it happened today...” Eventually it goes away and food is no longer the center of life. It is really nice.
— P.M.

All Twelve: My Journey Through the Steps
Patience, a long-time member, frequently wrote about the Steps in 2023, and this is a wrap-up she shared with us. Herservice to the fellowship and to our newsletter is much appreciated.
1. I thought I was honest as the day was long because I never really stole anything and I gave correct change. I lied all thetime about not minding or not liking things or not wanting to do things or even not wanting you to want things. I’d say,

-3NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

“You don’t want that,” instead of “I don’t want you to want that,” which is kind of a vivid illustration of selfish motives,
but of course I also thought I wasn’t selfish. So I began to see a divide between what I’d say and what I’d do: a guideline
for honesty: say what you mean, mean what you say, but don’t day it mean. That was hard for me since shaming andblaming were part of my armor. My opinions were facts to me! Becoming able to see that my opinion of something or
someone didn’t make it true kept me from saying a lot of mean things.
2. I had no hope when I first got into my other 12 step program, but working the steps in that program transformed myrelationships, so when I heard about OA, honesty led me to say maybe I am a compulsive overeater too since food was
calling my name out of the refrigerator and I was saying to myself every day I am going to eat less today while I ate more
every day. Well I knew the steps worked, so I started OA as soon as I could.
3. Faith kept me coming, faith in the Twelve Steps, because I knew the steps worked. At the time most people were
weighing and measuring, food planning, and giving up sugar and white flour. I was binging on cholesterol and fat:cheese, animal fats, nuts, crunchy crap. I was never able to diet, so I picked a plan of eating 3-2-1 which I thought I might
be able to manage. I couldn’t stay abstinent for the first four years, slipping almost every week. I’d call my sponsor
crying and she’d say, “Gee Patience, did it ever occur to you that you might be a compulsive overeater?” I’d crack up andwe’d laugh together and start again. I never gave up because I knew the answer was in the steps not on my plate.
4. I loved writing down my resentments in the 4th step but the courage came in the last column in the Big Book’s way.
Was I really selfish, self-seeking, dishonest and frightened? Well yes. I always did a lot for others but they had to like mefor it…that’s selfish. I thought everything that happened was about me. Funny look on your face? Must be about me.
Also I wanted my own way and people should just listen and do what I wanted (which was for their own good). This was
also self-seeking while pretending to be kind. And dishonest because it was what I wanted and I had no idea if it wasright for them. I often lied out of fear of annoying others because I wanted approval, so dishonest due to fear applied. I
was also afraid to try things, to have fun, to make changes, etc. I had all four human characteristics!
5. Integrity means honesty but a second meaning in the dictionary is “the state of being whole and undivided.” Sharing
my fourth step helped me develop integrity and honesty. I wasn’t suddenly magically perfect, but I was grasping anddeveloping the capacity to be honest, as it says in the Big Book. I couldn’t change what I couldn’t see.
6. Willingness is very different from wanting to do things, a distinction which helped me move along in the steps when I
didn’t want to, but by this time I was really willing to try to let go of my defects of character. I really love the prayer,“Bless them, change me,” which has helped me when anything disturbs my serenity. That’s the essence of this program:actual acceptance and tolerance and willingness to change. Willingness is a sweet calm feeling for me.
7. Humility and humiliation seemed to be synonymous to me when I got into program, but the idea of trying to be rightsized struck this compulsive overeater! Oh, not bigger or smaller than everyone else! Another way of putting it that also
struck this know-it-all was being teachable. I am able to learn the characteristics I’d like to have, but the little joke in the
7th Step Prayer taught me not to expect perfection: it asks to have removed “every single defect of character that stands
in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows.” This says to me, I am not going to be perfect because no one likes
perfect people. You have to be human to be useful.
8. Self-discipline meant writing my list of people I had harmed. I got an awful shock there because the thing that harmed
me the most as a kid were mother’s unending lectures. Our step book says if you can’t think of harm, think what hurtyou. What did I do to my family and friends? Lecture! I found it easy to make the list after that. and I keep an eye on mytendency to go on and on…
9. Love is the principle of step 9. Am I willing to make amends, starting with the hardest? Living amends are the hardest
and most necessary and take loving my imperfect self and a lot of practice. Can I stop my formerly automatic behaviors?
Practice makes progress. By the time I got to step 9 I was basically very aware of how pleased I was to have beenchanged by working the previous steps to the point I was happy to do my amends. I had spent my whole life being
miserable and right all the time. Now I was happy to say I’d been wrong. People had noticed and were kind.

-4NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

10. Perseverance is such a great word. In order to keep what I have learned, I have to practice it. A written 10th step
keeps me on track. I have never done the one where you check off a list of character defects/survival skills. I used towrite out the serenity prayer with blanks for what I could not change, i.e. what was bothering me that day, and for what
I could change which was basically my own attitudes and actions. Then I wrote out old patterns, that came up followedby new recovering actions I took instead. This helped me see my progress. I followed this with a list of what I was
grateful for and then some things I had done well, even if it was only “got up, got dressed, and went to the bathroom.”
11. Having a spiritual connection is a big part of my program. I connect with the spiritual in my own way, adapt prayers
to fit my own way of connecting to the natural world and the universe by trying to be in harmony with what is. I am an
atheist with a spiritual life, but I have none of that expected objection to you believing in God. That is none of mybusiness.
12. Service is very important to me and mostly I do the one service I can do regularly, which is to show up at meetingseach week and help keep them going. I also text people and welcome new people, and lead meetings. At one time I
went to intergroup, but I don’t anymore for personal reasons. I practice the principles to the best of my limited ability
and I also practice them to get better at them. Each step is part of the whole and makes me more whole.
– Patience M., Gainesville FL

Tradition 1: One vs. Three
Tradition 1: Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity.

What can we do when members display disruptive behavior
and upset the group?
Unfortunately, this sort of situation crops up on occasion. Members don’t get well instantly.
Although having a sponsor is very helpful in these situations, having a sponsor is not required
for membership in OA. Tradition Three tells us, “Nobody is expelled from OA for not working
the Steps, not getting a sponsor, not respecting the Traditions, or not adopting the Tools andpractices many of us employ” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters
Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 108).
It appears that two Traditions (One and Three) contradict each other here. In some cases, we
may need to choose which has priority. Ideally, we might be able to find some way we canhonor both Traditions at the same time. Tradition One tells us that the survival of the group
has to come first, because without the meeting other members will lose the opportunity to recover. Tradition Threetells us to welcome everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively. All members can work the program as theychoose—but this does not come at the expense of the OA group.
The first consideration is the good of the Fellowship and its survival. While each member has the freedom to work the
program as he or she chooses, that freedom may not come at the expense of the OA group. If a member’s actions are
disruptive or dangerous, the OA group needs to protect itself. If it doesn’t, the meeting may fold, and everyone willlose the opportunity for recovery.
Groups and members may always refer to the “Guidelines” at oa.org/guidelines-meetings to read or download OA’s
Guidelines for Addressing Disruptive Behavior Affecting Overeaters Anonymous Meetings.

-5NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

Promises: New Happiness

Promise 1: We are going to know a new freedom
and a new happiness.

The 12 promises are located on pages 83-84 of chapter six “Into Action” of Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., also known
as the Big Book. While not appearing there as a specific list, these promises are included as text after Step 9.
Consequently, these are many times referred to as the Step 9 promises.
The Big Book instructs us, “If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before weare halfway through.” Halfway through what you may ask? Halfway through your amends list.
The first of these promises assures us we are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. While practicing our
addictions we may have experienced happiness and freedom – but these feelings were usually short-lived or artificial.
Before entering the OA fellowship, and before engaging in the spiritual process of working 12 steps of the OA program,our happiness and freedom may have been associated with our “alcoholic” eating behaviors.
Who remembers the empty happiness and that fleeting feeling of freedom once they were able to indulge in theirbingeing and/or purging? The Big Book reminds me that that I suffer under the illusion that someday, if I try hardenough, I can eat like other normal eaters. And, the persistence of this illusion is astonishing, and many food addicts
pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.
But there is hope. Or, in my opinion, a spiritual awakening associated with this promise.
As we progress through the steps, particularly Step 9, we begin to change. For me, my heart began to soften to the willof my Higher Power. And, as I progressed through my amends, I began to realize that happiness and freedom were
inside jobs. As I progressed through the spiritual work of making amends to those I harmed, regardless of theoutcomes, I began to feel the love of my Higher Power enter my life in a more powerful and meaningful way.
I began to feel a new freedom. Freedom from not just my compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors – but a
new freedom to be and do what I want without fear. Previously I engaged the world through my individual prison of,“how and when could I eat what I want, when I want?” As I break free from this prison of my own making, I begin to
truly experience freedom. To be sure, this is a new freedom.
I began to feel a new happiness. My previous happiness, many times, was selfish and involved getting what I want andkeeping what I have. I used to relish the synthetic “happiness” associated with feeding my disease in secret. Today I
can derive happiness from serving others. I feel a sense of happiness and well-being knowing that I’ve cleaned my sideof the street, and I have no “unfinished business” with those I harmed during my addiction.
As we progress through Step 9, we begin to see the program actually working in our life. Healing old relationships, or atleast clearing away the wreckage of the past, is extremely hard work. I pray everyone reading this has the willingness
to commit to this work so they too can experience a new freedom and a new happiness.
— John K.

And More Promises
As John indicated above, the Step 9 promises get a lot of press. What many Big Book readers can tell you is that there
are many other promises in the text. Not that those of us who have noted them always agree on what’s a true
promise, or how many there are. At the Tybee retreat, a table was set up for program materials (not all conference
approved) that people were passing on to others at no charge. Included was a set of CDs which included a wholepresentation on the promises, buried among hours of sessions. I have not tried to verify the speaker’s count on theoverall number (which I don’t remember, offhand), but there are so many!

-6NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

As the year goes on, I will attempt to present some of the other promises in Big Book order with a few comments. The
biggest consideration is that the promises are generally conditional. One needs to do the work of the program for thepromises to come true in our lives.
Foreword to the First Edition… who have “recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.” The promise that we have a program thatwill lead to recovery (I’m not entering the recovering vs. recovered debate) has been on offer since at least 1939.
Foreword to the Second Edition…the broker (Bill W.) had been “relieved of his drink obsession” by a sudden spiritual experience. We are promisedthat it is possible for our obsession with food and food-related behaviors to be lifted/relieved.
“…A.A.’s message could be transmitted in the mail as well as by word of mouth.” OA and AA and many other 12-step
groups have published materials that have brought healing and a path to wellness. And this literature is often used inmeetings as a source of meaning and discussion. The “word of mouth” part has stretched quite a bit with the advent of
online meetings, and some telephone meetings persist. The idea that one can find a meeting in any time zone canrelieve the problem of a dark night of temptation, but the promise of the power of the printed word remains
important to me. The one-on-one method of securing the confidence of another drinker (or compulsive eater) grew tothe point that AA was growing at 20% a year by the Second Edition.
Foreword to the Third Edition“The basic principles of the A.A. program, it appears, hold good for individuals with many different lifestyles, just as the
program has brought recovery to those of many different nationalities.” In a time of fragmentation in our society andworld, I find OA’s Unity with Diversity Policy which (hopefully) gets read at our meetings offers the promise ofrecovery to everyone. “Whatever problem you may have with food, you are welcome at this meeting, regardless ofrace, creed, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other attribute.”— Mark W.

-7NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

Trusted Servants and Committee Chairs (New emails)
GENERAL INFORMATION
Chair
Vice Chair/Bylaws
Treasurer
Secretary
Delegate
Newsletter/Meeting List
Public Info/Prof. Outreach
Young Persons
12th Step Within
Sponsor CoordinatorWebsiteWays and Means

Secretary will forward as needed
Echo G.
561.704.2917
Barbara C.
352.474.1366
Carly B.
303.710.0589
Sandi JC912.464.4231
VACANT—Consider doing service
Mark W.
904.527.3433
Nancy K.
516.286.1888
VACANT—Consider doing service
Georgette P.
352.870.4454
Hailey404.797.5586
Brian B.
904.616.0608
VACANT—Consider doing service

oanfig@gmail.com
chairnfi@gmail.com
vicechairnfi@gmail.com
nfitreasury@gmail.com
oanfig@gmail.com
delegatenfi@gmail.com
innervoicenfi@gmail.com
piponfig@gmail.com
youngpeoplenfi@gmail.com
ghabanero56@yahoo.com
sponsor.nfig@gmail.com
websitenfi@gmail.com
wandmnfi@gmail.com

Highlights of the December NFI Business Meeting:(Note: These are NOT the official minutes; they are only a recap of what was discussed. Official minutes are released
after changes and approval in the next month’s business meeting.)
New Freedom Intergroup business meeting was held December 9. Each meeting is welcome and encouraged to send
two voting members, and as many observers as desire to attend. The meeting is always the second Saturday of themonth (unless otherwise decided) and runs for one and a half hours. Thus, the next business meeting is Saturday,
January 13 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am by Zoom. (Meeting ID: 872 7218 1719, Password: 883350).
Highlights of what was covered at the December business meeting:Service Opportunities:• We need to fill the following service positions: Delegate, Parliamentarian, Young Persons subcommittee chair,and Ways and Means chair. Other committees also need volunteers to provide service.
• In 2024 (aiming for early November), we’ll be hosting a Big Book Convention at Marywood. There will be many
opportunities to give service as we plan for this event and at the event itself. If you are interested in being a partof the planning committee, please reach out to Nancy K. Expect more details soon! And please continue to be on
the lookout for more announcements and information about this!
• In August of 2025, the World Service Convention will be held in Orlando, FL. While NFI is not officially sponsoringor hosting this event, ANYONE is welcome to give service for it! If you are interested in helping with planning orotherwise volunteering, please contact Susan B. by email at chair@oaregion8.org
Other Items of Note:• All meetings are to let Chair know about changes in format. Thank you to those who sent us updates thismonth! They should be reflected on the website and meeting list.
• Final reports were given for the Region 8 Business Assembly and Recovery Convention that was held in Tybee
Island, GA in October. We had a very successful event, with over 100 attendees and lots of great recovery!
We’ve also inspired other intergroups to host this event going forward, and have been asked for advice by
several of them. Thank you to everyone who attended and provided service at this event!
• Elections were held for Chair and Treasurer. Echo G. was elected for a second term as Chair. Augusta L. waselected for her first term as Treasurer. Note: We will be updating our PO Box address to be more accessible forour newly elected Treasurer. As soon as we have it settled, we will share the information and make sureeveryone is up to date!
• Twelfth Step Within committee is looking for groups who are willing to host a workshop in 2024 on
Sponsorship. If you are interested, please reach out to Georgette P.
• Discussed the latest tactics from Zoom intruders and bad actors (see the article from Barb in this edition of the
Inner Voice for the latest tips and suggestions for Zoom). If you are a point of contact for a meeting and would
like to have your contact information removed from the websites, please reach out to Barb C. or Echo G. andwe will work with you to accomplish this.

-8NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

Zoom Intruders Have Changed Tactics!
Zoom intruders are back and they have some new ways to harass us. In addition to crashing our meetings, they are also
launching personal attacks. We believe they are getting our contact information from the OA.org meeting website. A
person from Wisconsin (262-477-6018) has contacted several of us by text -- asking to talk about OA. Wanting to carry
the message to the maximum extent possible, each one of us responded, stating when we were available. This personthen asked us to Zoom, and this is where it got creepy. The person wanted us to show our photo on Zoom, but did notshow theirs, nor did they give a real name (“o o” was the name on the screen). I started thinking, “this doesn’t feelright.” I told the person I was uncomfortable with the way this was proceeding and I left the Zoom room. IF YOU FEEL
UNCOMFORTABLE, STOP. HP works in our lives. Yes, we want to carry the message, but we must also be safe ourselves.
If you receive a phone call and it is NOT from a phone number you recognize, let it go to voice mail.
To prevent personal harassment:• If you do not recognize a number, let it go to voice mail. You can decide whether or not to call back.
• DO NOT put your last name and phone number on your Zoom photo box when in a meeting. Hackers are
copying our names and numbers to pretend they are a regular member and be allowed in.
• If you are uncomfortable with any conversation, shut it down.
• If you want us to remove your personal contact information from the NFI Meeting list or the WSO meeting lists,
contact the vice-chair (vicechair@oanfig.org).
The next new tactic Zoom intruders are using is jumping around the Zoom screen or constantly changing their name so
you cannot eject them easily. Participants enter and turn their camera off and on, or raise and lower their electronic
hand to make their box move around rapidly onscreen, taking advantage of Zoom's automatic ordering in the gallery
view. Restrict the ability to start their video. Unfortunately, we do not (yet) have a tool to prevent hand raising andlowering. Once they get into the room, it is impossible to eject them if you cannot PIN THEM DOWN. Thank goodness wehave a tool for this -- it is called PIN. PIN people you do not recognize. As soon as their box appears, go to the three dotsin the right top of their box and hit PIN. This feature freezes them and prevents them from jumping around. If you musteject them later, they are exactly where you pinned them.
Remember, the most important thing to do is not to let Zoom intruders into the meeting room at all (if you can help it).
There must be a meeting leader and at least a security host (who knows what they are doing) for every meeting. Assign
one or two other people you trust to be co-hosts so that they can look for weird videos and mute audio as required. The
host and co-hosts who are handling room security should not be the meeting leader – there is too much to do.
1. Someone from the group must get into the meeting early (10-15 minutes early) and take control as HOST byentering the host code (given separately) at the bottom of the PARTICIPANTS box. This should allow you to see
the SECURITY parameters box. This controls the actions over all members of the meeting, including the
intruders! Immediately ENABLE WAITING ROOM AND SEND EVERYONE THERE. Admit people one-by-one.
2. Check the meeting SECURITY. You may find that the following permissions are turned ON (have a check marknext to them) and allow participants to do the following:a. Share screenb. Chatc. Rename themselvesd. Unmute themselves
e. Start video
f. Share whiteboardsg. (There are more below this. They should be turned OFF (unchecked).
3. I SUGGEST YOU TURN OFF ALL OF THESE (uncheck) until the meeting is started. Once you are confident of theparticipants, allow them to share their video (not screen – this is how they share pornography) and chat.
4. If you don’t recognize someone in the waiting room, ask them for information about their OA experience so far.
What is your home group? How long have you been in OA? What is your food problem? You may be able to findintruders just by questioning them; they know we are prescreening entry and go away. San Diego disagrees andsuggests: Don't bother to "vet" people in the Waiting Room. It doesn't work. Let everyone in unless they havean obvious disruptive name. You can't tell anything from names or by chatting with people in the waiting room.
Disruptors will fool you, and newcomers seeking to recovery will be discouraged or intimidated.

-9NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

5. Ask your meeting for a group conscience on letting “lurkers” into the room. These are people who attend, but
leave their camera off and often do NOT share/participate. You can make it a part of the format for yourmeeting to ask people to turn on their cameras to be fully present during the meeting (you may still have somepeople who have no camera.) If we were in a face-to-face meeting, they could not hide outside of the room.
6. PIN people you do not recognize. As soon as their box appears, go to the three dots in the right top of their box
and hit PIN. This prevents them from jumping around. If you must eject them later, they are exactly where you
pinned them.
7. Remove disruptors and report to Zoom. Click "report later" and fill out the report that comes to your email. Do
not put them in the waiting room.
8. Don't panic and end your meeting. If multiple disruptors are present and you need to quiet things down quickly,
use Suspend Participant Activities and then unmute yourself and calmly explain what happened. Unlock theroom and resume the meeting.
My meeting does the following: as soon as the host signs in, the host enables the waiting room immediately. Anyone
who wants to join the meeting has to be admitted by the host. If you do NOT recognize the name (and they are getting
sneaky, even posting names such as “Jane F OA”) DO NOT let them in the room until you chat with them (only thepeople in the waiting room) and get their response. We ask questions such as, “what is your home group?”, “what isyour food plan?”, etc. to get a reply that shows they know the program. Many hackers leave at this point – they don’t
want us to question them. Be wary of people who will not turn on their video or introduce themselves when asked.
Five to ten minutes after the meeting has started, we LOCK MEETING – no one else can request admittance. This seems
harsh, but many intruders seem to come into the meetings late. OAers know that we start our meetings on time and end
on time. This frees the hosts/cohosts from having to maintain tight vigilance and lets them enjoy their own recovery
meeting. You may want to include a mention of this in your meeting format, as well. Again, San Diego disagrees and says
this makes your meeting room unwelcome.
Some meetings have had people hijack the screen or post derogatory/inflammatory comments in the chat room. Thiscan be resolved in the SECURITY box by NOT allowing participants to share their screen or chat, and by turning off
annotation. The host/cohosts can mute everyone else (thus preventing background noise and feedback). Check theother parameters in security – we enabled many of them (such as requiring a password, when we set up the original
meeting, without crippling who can share. If you want tighter controls, you may turn them on or off.
If you follow all the best practices in this guide, you should never find yourself in a meeting with an unwanted guest. But
if you do need to remove an attendee from the meeting at any point, Zoom makes it easy to kick an unwanted
participant out of the meeting. For additional security, you can also choose to not allow participants to rejoin once
they’ve been removed.
• Remove Participants – Once you’ve admitted an attendee into your meeting, you can easily push them back to
the Waiting Room or remove them from the meeting all together, and can even prevent their return.
• Suspend participant activities – Use this as a quick means to get rid of the intruders! No one in the meeting cantake any action and the intruders get bored, should leave the meeting. The participant numbers should decrease– put anyone you don’t recognize into the waiting room.
Remember: when we have control over our meetings, the intruders do not.
Additional information:
1. A guide entitled “OA FOOT STEPS VIRTUAL INTERGROUP -- EMERGENCY ZOOM PROTOCOLS” which discussed
actions we can take to keep our meetings safe. We posted it on the NFI website next to the Zoom meetings:
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/5da998b5-e4ee-4a7d-8e91-770f8a9e6f75/downloads/emergency-zoomprotocolsUPDATE1.pdf?ver=1702136124706. If you cannot download this and need an additional copy, pleasecontact the vice-chair.
2. A pdf on “Best Practices for Securing Your Zoom Meetings”
https://explore.zoom.us/docs/doc/Securing%20Your%20Zoom%20Meetings.pdf
3. OA San Diego (https://oasandiego.org/zoom/) offers monthly Zoom training. Zoom training is open to all giving
service in Zoom meetings in Overeaters Anonymous and other 12-step programs. Registration is required (8-9
PM EST). Their 1-hour class in Zoom Security will cover best practices and Zoom settings to minimize disruption,
intruders how to remove individual disrupters, and what to do if your meeting is targeted for a coordinatedattack (aka Zoom intruders). Please join them to make yourself feel more comfortable.

-10NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

Events from All Over

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More from Region 8
A new way to carry the message!
Region 8 announces an excellent resource page with links to valuable OA information tobenefit newcomers, returning and current members. Maybe even the "old timers."
Have you read the appendices to Overeaters Anonymous, Third Edition? They include writingson The Role of a Plan of Eating, A Disease of the Mind, A Disease of the Mind, A Disease of theBody, A Disease of the Spirit and more.
People may scan this QR code (point your smart phone’s camera at the QR code and it will pop
up a link) and connect to the Region 8 resources page. Please feel free to print this informationand pass around in face-to-face meetings or insert into a visual format for virtual meetings.
Check it out — Pass it on!

-15NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

rot

Where are yourdonations going?
According to our Seventh Tradition,
we are self-supporting through ourown contributions. To donate
directly to Intergroup, write a checkmade payable to ‘NFI’ and mail to:
OA NFI, PO Box 550842, Jacksonville,
FL 32255; or log onto oanfig.org andscroll down to the ‘donate’ button.
You may pay by PayPal or credit card.
When you contribute your 7th
Tradition donations, if you indicate
your group number, the donation
will be recorded for that specificgroup. When we do not have a group
number to work with, we may
include the donations as unspecified.
Each 9, NFI tallies the groupdonations and sends 10% of the total
to Region 8, with an additional 30%
to the World Service Office.
Donations sent directly to World
Service Office do not reflect in ourgroup donations total.

Articles printed in this newsletter reflect the opinion of each individual OA member and do not represent OA as awhole. Intergroup meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month. The deadline to submit articles is the 20th of the month
before the Intergroup meeting. Articles may be edited. When submitting articles, please include your name andphone number and whether or not you would like your name printed. This newsletter may be reproduced andenjoyed by other 12-steppers without written permission. If you would like to submit articles and/or comments, or if
you would like to receive the Inner Voice in color as a pdf, send your email address to the Newsletter Chair at
innervoicenfi@gmail.com.

-16NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org