International Women’s Day

Hello All,

It’s almost Spring, however, you would never know that if you were in Vancouver. We received another dump of snow over the weekend, and I think most Vancouverites would agree that we are done with the snow and cold this year. Vancouver’s climate is pretty mild and the continued low temperatures and amount of snow are rare for us. Looking out the window with the sun reflecting off the snow is quite pretty, but it’s not so pretty when I am out on the road fighting with the other Vancouver drivers who, like me, do not know how to drive in this white stuff! Needless to say, I will be happy to get on a plane next week and head to the warmth of Florida for a few weeks.

Wednesday March 8th is International Women’s Day. What does that bring up for you? It instantly reminds me of being in Cambodia in 2008 where Women’s Day is huge. I was in Cambodia volunteering with women in the sex-trade industry and women from the impoverished outer provinces. I was leading two programs: a gender equality program and a women’s empowerment program. Gender equality, women’s empowerment and International Women’s Day mean very different things to the women in Cambodia than it did to me, the white girl from a wealthy nation. For me, among other things, it means working towards women receiving equal wages in the work force. For the Cambodian woman, it means fighting on a daily basis to be able to be in the work force at all. Girls are encouraged to quit school around the age of 10 because – as told from birth – an education is not needed for the domestic work they will spend their lives doing once they marry and have children.

Cambodia was also an escape for me; just another attempt to remove myself from my life. I thought if I moved to Cambodia for a few months I could deal with my eating, lose weight and come home later a new person. People would be amazed and in awe of me.  I would be freed from the lonely, aching desperation I felt inside because I would be thin (don’t you know one can get thin through a move to Cambodia or any other geographical?), happy and free, and, most importantly, people would notice me and I would be important; always on the search to be filled up by something outside of myself. Cambodia in 2008 would be my answer!

This clearly wasn’t the answer for me yet it was my best thinking at the time. I would love to hear any crazy schemes you have had and where your best thinking has taken you.

In this picture (I’m in the front row, bottom left) I have just arrived in Cambodia and met some of the students I was going to be leading through the Gender Equality program.  Grateful to be there but fully in the disease of food addiction, I was constantly distracted by thoughts of when and what I was going to eat next, uncomfortable in my obese body, hot and sweaty and embarrassed as I was, once again, the largest person there. Everywhere I went people would openly stare and often poke at my body as they were not used to seeing large people. I pretended it was all ok but inside I was deeply ashamed. Again, I was so obsessed with what was happening with me that I couldn’t actually be there with all these beautiful people; yes, I was there physically but not mentally, emotionally or spiritually, which is what both they and I deserved.  Maybe one day I will go back to Cambodia and be able to show up differently. But in the meantime my amends to these folks is to commit to living in recovery and being present in everything I do.

Anyways, I digressed – International Women’s Day is what I was talking about and their 2017 theme is “Be Bold for Change”: take groundbreaking action and celebrate respect, appreciation and love for all people. For me, when I accepted that I was a food addict and needed treatment for that particular disease – and not for obesity or an eating disorder – I took groundbreaking action by following the plan of abstinence and recovery laid out by ACORN. This has turned into the ultimate celebration of respect, love and appreciation for myself and for everyone in my life.

How about you…Are you up for change? Are you up for taking groundbreaking action? Are you up for giving yourself and your family the ultimate gift of respect, appreciation and love? There is nothing more empowering you can do for yourself,  for women in your life, and, for that matter, all human beings in your life than take care of what is ailing you, take care of your needs and live boldly and courageously.

We have several upcoming events to help you do just that:

  • March 17 – 19
    3-Days with Phil
    Bradenton, FL
  • March 24 – 29
    Primary Intensive
    Bradenton, FL
  • April 21 – 23
    3-Days with Phil
    Bradenton, FL
  • May 19 – 21
    3-Days with Phil
    Homewood, IL

Wishing you all a week of abstinence, love, courage and appreciation,

Amanda

Nuts & Bolts of Abstinence: Recovery First


“One of our Wednesday “Nuts & Bolts of Abstinence” telephone meetings focused on how to work our recovery programs when we feel devastated by events that are out of our control and that threaten our serenity and abstinence.  At the time, we were feeling strong emotions over the same event.  But some of us, including me, have lost their abstinence over more personal events, such as the fatal illness of a parent, the death of a child, miscarriage, divorce, estrangement from children or other of Life’s curveballs.  These suggestions may be applied in any situation, and so we would like to pass along what we shared on the call: 

  • I am truly powerless over the outcome; I did my footwork [in the situation].  Now I need to work on acceptance.
  • The pain I feel is in my resistance to accepting the results.  The fear I feel is fear of a future event. 
  • I need not attach danger to my feelings; feelings rise and fall; I can allow myself to feel the feelings of fear, anger, panic, sadness and have compassion for my feelings. 
  • Meditation is helpful to regain my center. 
  • I have the urge to numb my feelings and thoughts with playing computer games, food, spending, and/or hiding under the covers.  As food addicts, we are comfort-seeking missiles [from the Food Addicts in Recovery basic text].  However, as a recovering food addict, I must put abstinence first without exception; take the next right action in my daily life, stay in today and act my way into right thinking and feeling. 
  • If I do the above, I remind myself that I do not have to feel immediate relief (which is a hallmark of an addict to want instant relief from discomfort. 
  • I trust that my Higher Power will reveal the good or the positives in any situation; I just have to be patient. 
  • Remember the quote in the Big Book: “It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison” 
  • Pray for the individuals involved in the event.  Pray to Higher Power for acceptance of reality. 
  • We are not alone.  As they say in OA, “as we join hands we find love and understanding beyond our wildest dreams.” 
  • Try a temper tantrum [with our peers or alone]. 
  • Apply the Serenity Prayer to this situation: Ask for the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can and wisdom to know the difference.”

 

Spring Special March 2017

In addition to the March 3 – Days with Phil and the Primary Intensive we are offering a Spring Special if you would like to combine events and add process groups in between. Please call the ACORN office at 941-378-2122 or email rmccumber@foodaddiction.com to register.


OPTION 1: $3,100 – YOU SAVE $865! 

Package includes:

  • 3-days with Phil – March 17 – 19 ($1,500 value)
  • (3) 3-hour process groups – March 20, 22, and 23 ($540 value)
  • Primary intensive – March 24 – 29 ($1,700 value)
  • Lodging at intensive only ($225 value ) – additional lodging payable to Sugar Free Place at $45 per night

Regular price $3,965


OPTION 2: $1,550 – YOU SAVE $490!

Package includes:

  • 3-days with Phil – March 17 – 19 ($1,500 value)
  • (3) 3-hour process groups – March 20, 22, and 23 ($540 value)
    (lodging payable to Sugar Free Place at $45 per night)

Regular price $2,040

Eating Disorders & Food Addiction…What’s the Difference

I had struggled with weight problems for almost my entire life. I tried a plethora of diets, exercise classes and therapy. It seemed to me the solution I was told was either eat less and exercise more and/or work on your emotional issues with a good therapist. I did all of these over and over and over again. Nothing shifted. For over ten years I regularly saw a therapist that specialized in eating disorders, I joined groups where the focus was on mindful eating and working on emotions that I “ate” over.

I remember one group where we all had to bring in one piece of our favorite food. I brought a rich, moist dark chocolate brownie. I couldn’t wait to get to group that night to see what everyone else had brought. We sat in a circle on the floor with our food in front of us on display. There were six people in the group and we had to cut the item we had brought into six pieces. Then we were told to be quiet and mindfully take a bite of our favorite food, then put the item down and slowly taste and enjoy the bite before we took another bite. We could choose another item that someone else had brought in if we wanted. We could have as much or as little as we wanted as long as we ate slowly and paid attention to what our bodies really wanted and most importantly to what we were feeling. “What my body wanted”, “be mindful of every bite”, what I’m feeling”…are you kidding me my brain was in overdrive with thoughts flying around like a whirling dervish…”what, I have to share this one brownie with six other people, I usually have at least two in one sitting”, “what am I going to eat next”, “there isn’t enough food here for me”, “people are going to be watching what I’m eating because I‘m the fat girl”, “oh no, everyone is choosing a piece of my brownie, there won’t be any left for me, I should have bought several more and left them in the car for after group”. There was absolutely no serenity or peace for me as long as there was high sugar, fatty, floury foods in front of me. I could think of nothing but eating them and if I couldn’t be stuffing them in my mouth as fast as possible I was anxious and jittery. I now understand why this sort of therapy was not right for me. However at the time it just boldly pointed out that I was a failure and couldn’t get a grip on the simple task of daily eating no matter how much support I had.

I was being treated for disordered eating! This was not my ailment, I had food addiction. Two diseases that can look very similar. However they are scientifically very different and need two very different treatment plans to successfully recover. SO what’s the difference between an eating disorder and food addiction you ask? This is a great question and a hot topic right now.

Here is what I have come to understand. The main similarity in Binge Eating Disorder and Food Addiction is that they both create loss of control over food consumption resulting in it becoming increasingly more difficult to lose weight and keep it off simply by dieting and exercising. Ok, check…I definitely had lost the ability to control how much, what or when I ate and my weight was piling on year after year. So far this still doesn’t help me with what my solution should be though!

In a person who has an eating disorder like Binge Eating the problem is they do not have the skills needed to deal with difficult feelings. Hmmm, ok? Is this why people would always ask what I was feeling when I over ate? Or why people would say they over ate when they were sad or angry and I would just nod and pretend I related because for me it didn’t matter what I was feeling; happy, sad, mad, glad…I didn’t need to be feeling anything in particular to overeat, I just wanted to EAT!

People with eating disorders use food or unhealthy eating behavior(s) to cover up their feelings. They “medicate” their feelings with their “comfort foods.” When the feelings are not resolved, they keep coming back, often longer and stronger and it takes more food – and eating more often – to get any relief from the unwanted feelings. The solution for those suffering from an eating disorder is simple but difficult: develop emotional skills to cope with the difficult feelings in a healthy and direct way. Ok, this makes sense, I can certainly relate to the needing of more food more often…but I had had YEARS of therapy to deal with my feelings and past traumas and things in my eating world certainly were not getting any better, in fact they were getting worse year after year!

So now what? Well, let’s look at what we know about food addiction and see if this paints a clearer picture. This disease is caused by the food itself – not prior trauma or lack of emotional coping skills. A specific food – like added-sugar, flour, specific grains or excess-fat – change the brain biochemically. Just like alcohol or other addictive drugs, susceptible people develop a chemical dependency to certain foods.  Thus, someone addicted to sugar, for example, finds themselves craving sugar. Progressively they need excessive amounts and thus create an even greater dependency. Ok, this explains why when I was in the eating disorder group with my brownie in front of me my mouth was watering and I was consumed with the cravings to just EAT it all now and forget about this mindful eating stuff. It would be like asking a cocaine addict to sit quietly with a line of cocaine and a straw in front of them and to just snort ¼ of the line and then sit quietly and focus on what they’re feeling and not on the rest of the cocaine sitting right in front of them…not going to work!

So people with food addiction eat because their bodies are physically dependent on certain foods and over time their bodies require more and more of those foods to be ingested to reach satiation. BINGO…..this is me! Therefore my solution as a food addict was to completely stop eating the foods I was addicted to. Much like an alcoholic needs to completely abstain from consuming alcohol. Just to be clear, the food addict may also have emotional issues that need to be dealt with. However, we must first eliminate all foods our bodies have become addicted to. So this explains why my years of therapy and diet and exercise had literally done nothing to ease my never-ending obsession with eating and why when I finally did put down certain foods I was able to stop the food cravings and obsessions.

So to summarize, eating disorders and food addiction are quite different diseases with very different causes. Eating disorders are caused by prior trauma and underdeveloped emotional skills. Food addiction arises when very specific toxic foods cause biochemical changes in the brains of particularly susceptible people. Further, the solutions to the two diseases are very distinct. For eating disorders, work on improving basic feeling skills and healing unresolved trauma. For food addiction the solution is to first remove the offending foods from the diet, and then find the specialized support needed to deal with the ongoing emotional, mental and spiritual issues caused by the food addiction.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions or want to chat further. Connect with us on Facebook or Twitter or drop me an email at fooddependencyrecovery@gmail.com

Wishing you all recovery and peace,

Amanda

Abstinent Valentine’s Menu

Roasted chicken, vegetables & baby potatoes!

IMPORTANT: Recipes may need to be modified to suit individual food plans and some recipes may not work. Please review carefully to adhere to your plan.

Slow Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

  • Whole Chicken | 4 lbs
  • Chicken Stock (no added sugar) | Approx. 1 cup
  • Lemon | 1 quartered
  • Yellow Onion | 1 quartered
  • Fresh Garlic | 3 cloves sliced
  • Fresh rosemary & thyme
  • Salt & Pepper

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350
  2. Rinse and pat chicken dry
  3. Place quartered pieces of onion & lemon in cavity of chicken (put in what can fit)
  4. Place sliced garlic, rosemary & thyme underneath chicken skin all over bird
  5. Sprinkle chicken with salt & pepper
  6. Place chicken in roasting dish and cover bottom of dish with chicken stock (no more than an inch of stock around chicken)
  7. Place in oven and cook for approx. 2hrs, checking after 90 mins
  8. Once cooked pull chicken and let rest for 20 mins prior to carving

Roasted Carrots & Beets

Ingredients

  • Carrots | 6 peeled and cut into thirds
  • Beets | 4 medium, peeled and chopped into small chunks
  • Fresh rosemary & thyme
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Olive Oil Spray

Directions

  1. **Pre-heat oven to 375
  2. Combine prepared carrots & beets in large bowl
  3. Spray with olive oil
  4. Season with fresh rosemary and thyme
  5. Sprinkle with salt & pepper
  6. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet sprayed with olive oil
  7. Cook for 60-90 mins until desired tenderness turning them a couple of times.
  8. **If cooking with above roasted chicken put the carrots & beets in the oven when chicken has about an hour left. Pull out the chicken once cooked and turn oven to 400 and cook vegetables for another 20-30 mins

Roasted Baby Potatoes

Ingredients

  • Baby potatoes | 2 lbs washed and cut in half (do not peel)
  • Fresh garlic | 3 cloves peeled and finely chopped
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Olive Oil Spray

Directions

  1. **Pre-heat oven to 400
  2. Put prepared potatoes in a large bowl and toss with olive oil spray
  3. Add garlic, salt & pepper and thoroughly combine
  4. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet sprayed with olive oil
  5. Cook for approx. 1 hour until outsides are browning and insides are soft, turn half way through
  6. **If cooking with above roasted chicken put the potatoes in the oven when chicken has about an hour left. Pull out the chicken once cooked and turn oven to 400 and cook potatoes for another 20-30 mins

Heart Month

February is Heart Month in North America. Yes, Valentine’s Day falls in February which speaks to the emotions of the heart. However, Heart Month’s focus is on the physical health of our hearts. “Heart Disease” (a general term that simply means the heart is not working properly) is the number one cause of death for men and women. The best defense for heart disease is controlling the risk factors such as:

  • High blood pressure
  • Diabetes
  • High Cholesterol
  • Being overweight
  • Stress

The above risk factors are preventable and manageable. I know this first hand as I suffered from every single one of the above conditions and was on a plethora of medications to treat each one of them. The treatment that finally worked for me was treatment for food addiction; specifically a food plan that supported abstinence from all foods my body had become chemically dependent on and therefore was powerless over stopping to eat them.

Within twelve short months of food addiction treatment, I was free of all of the above conditions, taking no medications and am now extremely healthy according to my doctor. This is not an uncommon result for those recovering from food addiction by following an abstinence based treatment plan. So while “heart disease” is often listed as the cause of death on the death certificate, the truth is this is often the secondary cause with food addiction being the primary cause. So let’s include food addiction education when we talk about February being Heart Health Month!