Welcome to Awareness April.
Awareness April is our month to highlight important issues or topics that are meaningful to us within the food addiction world. From Abstinence to Earth day and much more!
For this week’s blog, we will begin to address some of these topics.
We want to be aware that our food, and what is in it, is a huge issue.
There is a general lack of awareness of the effect of food and its contents on our brain. Please take a couple minutes to read this New York Times article on this topic: https://nyti.ms/39yX880
We also want to be aware that weight isn’t the main problem. It is a product of deeper issues that must be addressed with professional help. This leads us to another issue – asking for help.
For those who are new to recovery, asking for help can be a truly frightening experience. Some grew up in homes where asking for help was not okay. Others were yelled at or called weak when they requested assistance. A few were even punished.
Many who are food dependent believe that they “should” be able to get into and stay in recovery without any help at all. Some think that if they just try harder, they will be able to figure things out. Almost all doubt that they even need help. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Every single food dependent person I have worked with has needed help. In fact, every food dependent person I have ever known has needed help to get and stay in recovery. It is just not possible to work a recovery program alone.
We want to be aware about myths in our industry. The idea that a food addict can simply begin and follow a diet without addressing the physiological addiction to food is a myth. It’s just not possible. Food addiction doesn’t work that way. Simply cutting back on calories will not help a food addict to recover.
Many food addicts come to us believing that eating “diet” foods low in fat will help them to lose weight when it’s exactly the opposite. Most low-fat foods contain even more sugar than normal fat ones, which means that for food addicts these so-called “diet” foods are even more addictive.
The more “diet” foods that a food addict eats, the more food they crave. These “diet” foods cause the exact opposite effect in food addicts and result in even stronger physical cravings than some normal fat foods. The only way to eliminate physical cravings for certain foods is to stop eating them.
If you want to find out more, or you are unsure what kind of treatment is right for you, please book a Free Consultation with one of our trained facilitators using the link below: