Join me and world renowned food addiction expert Phil Werdell on Thursday Sept 6 at 7pm EST for a chat about all things food addiction.
Got questions about:
Why you can’t stop eating
How I lost 140+ pounds and am off all diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure medications
What is food addiction
How do I know if I’m a food addict
What’s the solution and how do I stop my crazy eating behaviours
What’s the upcoming 5 Day retreat in San Diego all about
Join us and ask us anything! For more information you can email me directly at [email protected] and to get the link for the calls please email [email protected].
There is no cost to you and best of all, you will receive a 10% discount towards your first ACORN event.
Thursday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Session 2 Q & A with Phil and Amanda (click the highlighted link below to join us)
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/7776123099
Or iPhone one-tap :
US: +16699006833,,7776123099# or +16468769923,,7776123099#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 876 9923
Meeting ID: 777 612 3099
International numbers available: https://zoom.us/u/cmziYAOkt
Thank you and I hope you will join us for one or both of the sessions!
Please, forward to anyone you think may be interested in either of the sessions!
“Summer freedom” – I’m not sure if prior to my recovery I would have included those two words in the same sentence and really meant them.
Summer means sunshine, warmth, outdoor fun, beautiful flowers filling the air with exquisite scents, daylight lasting until after 9 p.m., swim suits, shorts and tank tops. For me, beforerecovery, my “summer freedom” equaled profuse sweating, with perspiration rolling down my neck and face and my hair sticking to my forehead–a very sexy look! Added to that was an uncomfortable heat rash, meaning major chafing between my legs and under my stomach roll … painful, and often smelly, not to mention amusing! When I thought no one was looking, I walked as if a beach ball were stuffed between my legs so my thighs wouldn’t rub together and exacerbate the rash. “Summer freedom” also meant avoiding the beach and pools at all costs–or going only when I was basically the only other human being there because if people saw me in my bathing suit, they would know I was overweight (Ummm, I think it was pretty obvious fully clothed, Amanda). “Summer freedom” also meant lying to my friends when they invited me to places like the beach. It meant camping, which I actually really enjoyed until the sadness crept in, mainly because camping included eating junk food all day and night. As the rest of the world became excited and energized, connecting with others in the picturesque outdoors, I stood on the sidelines watching–sad, lonely, and ashamed–and all the while desperately trying to portray that all was good and that my life was great.
The truth was my life was far from great as I was tethered to my obsession with food, body and weight. No, freedom was not a word I would use to describe my life, and certainly not a word I would use to describe summer.
Today “freedom” is exactly the word I would use to describe the feelings I’ve been experiencing this summer. I have the “freedom” to take my niece, Georgia, hiking up Grouse Mountain and know that when she gets tired and “can’t walk anymore,” as is almost a guarantee with any four-year-old, I have the ability to hoist her onto my shoulders and keep going. (I know Georgia doesn’t look too impressed in this picture, but I promise we had a super fun day–this was just after her dramatic experience of “being cold, wanting to go home, and not being able to take one more step,” which was followed two minutes later by her “having so much fun!”)
I have the freedom to hop on my bike with my Dad and go for a spin around beautiful Vancouver.
And I’ve saved the best for last: I have the freedom to snuggle with my niece and feel the pure contentment, peace and utter joy that this little human being is in my life. Yes, I could have done this before, as well as all the other things listed above. However, they would have been far more physically challenging–I didn’t really have a lap that my niece could sit on! More importantly, I would not have been truly present, as my mind would have been hijacked either by obsessing over how I looked or what I was going to be able to eat next–or even more devastating, how much I hated myself and my life!
Yes, recovery has brought me freedom to live a life beyond my wildest dreams, including all the ups, downs, and in-betweens that make up life in our magnificent world. It has allowed me to show up for my niece and for everyone else in my life in an authentic, integral way.
Today I am truly grateful that I can honestly say “summer” and “freedom” in the same sentence and know they truly fit together.
Join me in beautiful San Diego September 21-26 for five life-changing days.
5-Day Food Addiction Retreat Date: September 21-26 Includes: 4 delicious, home-cooked meals a day, lodging in a beautiful San Diego home, daily yoga, and the tools needed to begin your journey of food freedom.
We have scheduled two Question & Answer sessions with Phil Werdell (ACORN founder and facilitator) and Amanda Leith (ACORN facilitator). In this session, we will give an overview of what to expect at an ACORN Primary Intensive and leave time for your questions toward the end.
Please, let me know if you are interested in either of these dates/time as we will only take a limited number for the first session. If you have questions before the Q & A sessions, let me know and I will do my best to answer! This session will be no cost to you and best of all you, will receive a 10% discount for your first ACORN Primary Intensive.
Sunday, September 2 at 2:00 p.m. EST. Session 1 Q & A with Phil and Amanda (click the highlighted link below to join us)
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/7776123099
Or iPhone one-tap :
US: +16699006833,,7776123099# or +16468769923,,7776123099#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 876 9923
Meeting ID: 777 612 3099
Thursday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Session 2 Q & A with Phil and Amanda (click the highlighted link below to join us)
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/7776123099
Or iPhone one-tap :
US: +16699006833,,7776123099# or +16468769923,,7776123099#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 876 9923
Meeting ID: 777 612 3099
International numbers available: https://zoom.us/u/cmziYAOkt
Thank you and I hope you will join us for one or both of the sessions!
Please, forward to anyone you think may be interested in either of the sessions!
I had very mixed up ideas about this throughout my life…these ideas included calling in sick to stay home bingeing and watching TV all day, buying myself an ice cream cone because I deserved it, missing exercise class because I was “too tired and went last week” and buying new clothes instead of using my money to go to the dentist as clothes made me “look good”. These are all warped ideas and they were the best I could come up with prior to recovery…to me, self-care used to mean doing anything I wanted and that made me “feel good”. All of these things were designed to make me “Feel Good”.
“Feeling good” now comes to me very differently than it used to. The things that truly fill me up and therefore leave me feeling happy, peaceful and content now include:
Following through when I say I will do something
Rigorously eating my abstinent food plan every day
Walking in nature
Riding my bike, flying down a hill
Connection to my Higher Power through daily meditation and prayer
Playing with my 5-year old niece, Georgia ( you knew I had to get that one in there)
Laughing until my stomach hurts with my Mom
Making my bed every morning
Doing the dishes after each meal
Being compassionate to others in pain due to food addiction
Telling the truth
And I could go on and on…that actually surprised me. When I started writing this list I couldn’t think of much and then once I started they just kept flowing. Wow! My life is pretty amazing and I “feel good” so much more than I ever used to. Even when I am struggling (which let’s be real…is often, for the simple fact that I am a human being which means I will have challenges every day of my life) I can still feel good and look after myself. It’s actually imperative that I practice good self-care, I believe that recovery is just that…self-care and looking after myself! So these things actually are life-saving for me. What actions are life-saving for you? What makes you “feel good” and what is your personal definition of “self-care”?
Would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Amanda
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Today “freedom” is exactly the word I would use to describe the feelings I’ve been experiencing this summer. I have the “freedom” to take my niece, Georgia, hiking up Grouse Mountain and know that when she gets tired and “can’t walk anymore,” as is almost a guarantee with any four-year-old, I have the ability to hoist her onto my shoulders and keep going. (I know Georgia doesn’t look too impressed in this picture, but I promise we had a super fun day–this was just after her dramatic experience of “being cold, wanting to go home, and not being able to take one more step,” which was followed two minutes later by her “having so much fun!”)
I had very mixed up ideas about this throughout my life…these ideas included calling in sick to stay home bingeing and watching TV all day, buying myself an ice cream cone because I deserved it, missing exercise class because I was “too tired and went last week” and buying new clothes instead of using my money to go to the dentist as clothes made me “look good”. These are all warped ideas and they were the best I could come up with prior to recovery…to me, self-care used to mean doing anything I wanted and that made me “feel good”. All of these things were designed to make me “Feel Good”.