We know that starting or continuing your recovery journey can bring up a lot of questions, and we’re here to help.
This FAQ page is designed to give you clear, supportive answers about Compulsive Eaters Anonymous, our 12-step program, and what to expect. Whether you’re just exploring, new to the program, or a longtime member, we hope you find the information you need.
If you don’t see your question answered here, please reach out. You are not alone, and we’re here to support you every step of the way.
We are a 12-step fellowship where individuals come together to support each other in overcoming compulsive eating. This includes overeating, binge eating, anorexia, bulimia, and other food-related compulsive behaviors.
CEA-HOW follows a spiritual (but not religious) approach, offering a structured set of guiding principles for recovery from addiction and compulsion. Our program is rooted in the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, founded by Bill W. and Dr. Bob in 1935, and adapted to address the unique challenges of food addiction.
A 12-step program is a spiritual, non-religious program which provides a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction or compulsion.
Only you can decide if CEA-HOW is right for you—no one else can make that decision for you. Those of us in this program have found a way of life that frees us from the need to engage in compulsive food behaviors. We believe that compulsive eating is a progressive illness—one that, like alcoholism, can be halted with the right support.
There’s no shame in admitting you have a problem; what matters most is taking the first step toward recovery.
Our primary purpose is to stop eating compulsively…and we welcome in fellowship and friendly understanding all those who share our common problem.
CEA-HOW stands for Compulsive Eaters Anonymous – The HOW Concept.
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Compulsive Eaters Anonymous identifies the primary problem: compulsive eating in all its forms, including overeating, binge eating, anorexia, and bulimia.
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The HOW Concept represents the foundation of our recovery program. HOW stands for Honest, Open-minded, and Willing—three essential principles for working the 12 Steps and achieving lasting freedom from compulsive eating.
We follow a disciplined and structured approach to recovery, emphasizing accountability, rigorous honesty, and adherence to a food plan as tools for success.
- Acceptance – of you as you are now, as you were, as you will be.
- Understanding– of the problems you face now and share, almost certainly, with others in the group.
- Communication – since we find that we identify with each other, communication becomes the natural result of our mutual understanding and acceptance.
- Relief – having found acceptance, understanding, and communication with others, we have found relief from our illness and help toward a new self-acceptance and self-understanding.
- Power – by the acceptance and understanding of oneself, by the practice of the CEA-HOW recovery program, by the belief in a power greater than oneself, by the support and companionship of the group, a door is opened to a new way of life.
Nothing—It’s completely free. There are no dues or fees for CEA-HOW membership. We are self-supporting through our own contributions.
The only requirement is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
This isn’t a diet. While we do follow a structured food plan, the program is not about weight loss or restriction—it is a spiritual solution to compulsive eating. The food plan helps establish boundaries and remove the chaos around food, allowing members to focus on recovery, healing, and developing a healthier relationship with the food they eat.
Most members do lose weight as a natural result of following the program and abstaining from compulsive eating behaviors. However, the focus is on healing the underlying issues behind food obsession. By working the 12 Steps and following the food plan, members find freedom from compulsive eating, gain emotional and spiritual recovery, and often achieve a healthy body weight as a natural outcome.
The food plan is a printed piece of literature that is only given to a person by a sponsor. It is not intended to be used without a sponsor. The food plan is just one small part of our program of recovery, and it is a disservice to a suffering compulsive eater to share it as one would a diet, out of context of actually working the full program of CEA-HOW.
Not at all! CEA-HOW is a spiritual program, but it is not religious and has no affiliation with any faith, sect, or denomination. Our members come from many different religious backgrounds—as well as none at all. There are no required beliefs, and everyone is welcome, whether they believe in a Higher Power, are unsure, or don’t believe at all.
If you have religious beliefs or practices that support your recovery, you are welcome to incorporate them. At the same time, if you don’t identify with any religion, that’s completely okay too. There are no required beliefs—just a shared commitment to recovery from compulsive eating.
No, you don’t. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively. CEA-HOW is a spiritual program, and although our literature frequently mentions a higher power and god, some of our members remain agnostics and atheists (though many of them do, over time, come to believe in a power greater than themselves). Our individual spiritual beliefs are private and personal.