A year ago, the pandemic began shutting events down one by one. We knew that we were going to have to significantly pivot our business. Focusing on in-person events would no longer be an option for the foreseeable future. Just because the world goes on pause, doesn’t mean that people stop struggling with food dependency issues. We have been providing leading-edge food dependency treatment programs for over 25 years, and we were not going to stop now – enter the Virtual Program!

Spawned out of necessity, our Virtual Intensive Program is the virtual version of our flagship program, the Acorn Intensive. We have also converted our other Alumni Programs into the virtual format.

While at first we were all a bit unsure of how these programs would operate in a virtual setting, we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback for attendees.

Below, we’ve compiled a list of feedback we’ve received on the benefits of the virtual format: 

No Travel Expenses / Affordability

Who doesn’t like saving money? The virtual intensive provides a significant cost savings without the travel expenses one would typically have to pay to attend in-person. Cost savings with no reduction in the value you get out of the program? Score!

Structure & Flexibility

Being able to attend from the comfort of your own home coupled with the structure laid out during the program can be a powerful combo! We have heard remarks about how being around family who are supportive is a huge benefit to attendees. It also helps the attendee implement the teachings in their home from the start which helps normalize the newly learned behaviour in the long run.

Expanded community

We have seen an expansion in the locations that attendees can access the program from. Before, with the travel expenses for an individual to fly from any location outside of North America being very high, it was much less common to have people fly from too far away. We have now seen an increase of people from all over the globe who have been able to attend our virtual program and receive the treatment they need! This truly excites us and illustrates the demand for such a program in the future. Food Addiction is not exclusively a North American issue, and we are thrilled to be able to help those in need globally.

All of this to say, our Virtual Programs have been a larger success than we originally anticipated! 

If you or someone you know could potentially benefit from our Virtual Intensive Program, please consider booking a FREE Consultation with one of our professional counsellors. Chatting with someone who understands your situation can be game-changing.

If you know what you need, and are ready to make the jump – click below to register!

Register Here

As our “March Madness” theme rolls on, we explore a different angle of madness:

From an outsider’s perspective, the world of addiction/recovery can seem mad.

It’s not hard to empathize with someone we know who is going through addiction/recovery, but for someone who has never been an addict, it can be difficult to relate.

When food obsession fills our lives, we are not able to think past getting the next “fix.” Getting, making and hiding food become our obsessions. There is no room to think about anything else. And, if we have not yet hit a bottom, and can focus for small periods on other things, our heads are not clear enough to make responsible, informed decisions. While those around us can offer up advice and We need professional help to guide us at this point. 

Achieving abstinence from food addiction is a massive step, one often completed during our ACORN Intensive program. Maintaining abstinence from food addiction in our regular day-to-day lives can be another challenge. From shopping and cooking, to attending 12 step meetings and dealing with the emotions of life, abstinence takes practice and dedication. It demands so much of us and yet it provides a reward beyond comprehension.

To those outside our “world” of abstinence, the thought and effort that goes into our daily lives seems like madness, but they don’t have to overcome the same obstacles that we do. This can feel extremely isolating.

Those close to us can offer a level of support to us that can help with some aspects of recovery, however the support of a community of individuals who are all working on recovery day in and day out is priceless. If you have not already, please consider attending our FREE 3x Weekly SHiFT Strong calls for support. 

Talking to people who understand is an incredibly powerful thing. We hope to see you on future support calls and look forward to helping each other on our recovery journey, however mad it may seem.

March is Nutrition Month!

National Nutrition Month is an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. During the month of March, everyone is invited to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits.

This year’s theme is “Personalize Your Plate.”

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition and health. We are all unique with different bodies, goals, backgrounds and tastes! And a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist can tailor a healthful eating plan that is as special as you are.

While Food addiction treatment involves a specific type of plan that takes further steps beyond general nutritional guidelines (We have a very personalized plate), we can still find value in more broad messaging about nutrition.

For example, one of the practices that dietitians are encouraging us to practice is mindful eating. When we think of healthy eating, we often think about what to eat and maybe even what not to eat. But healthy eating is more than food. It’s about how we eat too. Mindful eating encourages us to be aware of our hunger and fullness cues and to be present with food.

Brief History of Nutrition Month:

For over 30 years, Nutrition Month has been the most visible public awareness campaign for Dietitians, reaching millions of Canadians. It began in the late 1970’s as a “Nutrition Week” with a small group of community dietitians. Local dietitians across several provinces then began planning events and activities in their workplaces, shopping malls, libraries and with the media. In 1981, The Canadian Dietetic Association (now Dietitians of Canada) and all the provincial dietetic associations jointly sponsored the first National Nutrition Week. The primary purpose of the Campaign was to increase public awareness about the importance of healthy eating by identifying dietitians as the most credible source of food and nutrition information. By the end of the decade, the campaign was expanded to a month. 

Each year, a Nutrition Month theme is selected by Dietitians of Canada based on a scan of the environment and with input from members. Themes have varied from the 1994 campaign “Nourishing our Children’s Future” to “Get the real deal on your meal” in 2012 to “Unlock the potential of food” in 2018.

See how you can get involved, or find out more here:

https://www.eatright.org/food/resources/national-nutrition-month

Before you start asking yourself why we’ve done a basketball theme this month, hear us out.

Did you know that every 2 tablespoons of Ketchup has 8 grams of sugar? That’s about the same amount as a large chocolate chip cookie.

How about every 100g of vanilla yogurt having 4 teaspoons of sugar? Isn’t yogurt supposed to be healthy?!

Check out this article to see more examples of this:

https://bit.ly/3uN3Zn9

The food industry is madness. The amount of sugar hidden in everyday foods that are marketed as “healthy” is alarming to say the least. We need to dive deeper into the ingredients in the foods at the supermarket as we cannot take the “Healthy” or “Low-fat” labels at face value. It is important to remember that these companies are not trying to make you healthy – they are trying to sell you a product. This month we will aim to showcase some of these examples, and hopefully help educate you on the food industry and some of their deceptive practices.

One of these practices is the manipulation of serving size. Companies will mislead you into thinking something is better for you than it actually is by diving the contents up into smaller portions than an individual would normally eat and showing those nutritional numbers. For example, a muffin could be divided up into 3 servings on the nutritional label, where in reality it would be an outlier for someone to eat ⅓ of a muffin and put it down for another sitting.

In addition to the above tactic, advertisers can manipulate the serving size to show lower sugar or fat content numbers, while then turning around and claiming: “Now with 25% less fat!” This is incredibly misleading and disingenuous.

We hope you get some value out of this month, and that it inspires you to take a closer look at what is in the foods you and your family have around the house.

What madness have you seen in the food industry?

#MarchMadness