Hi all :) My name is Mleissa and I am a 26 yr old food addict. I crave all types of food! I try and try sevreal times to only eat healthy food, get rid of all the junk only to fail. I even tried and failed to become a vegan. I LOVE food! When I am happy, sad, bored, sleepy, depressed or just having a bad day I eat. I really am a binge eater! I can eat healthy all day and then all of a sudden it hits me. This past week I ate 9 ding dongs and 5 cosmic brownies all with in 2 days. Tonight after dinner I ate popcorn, 3 bites of a turkey sandwich and then went to Mc Donalds and got a mighty kids meals dbl cheesburger with fries and a coke.
As I sit here on the phone with my fiance I am crying because I refuse to be a fat bride. Uhh I could go on and on I need HELP!

Welcome Melissa:
You have come to the right place if you truly desire to recover and live a life free from the bondage of all those toxic substances. I am a recovering anorexic/bulimic with 3 years and 1 month of clean abstinence using Kay Sheppard's food plan along with working a 12-step program with a sponsor and using all the tools available through Kay's program. Check out the website. I'm available via email anytime and would be delighted to help you in any way I am able.

Jenny B
Henderson, Nevada

Melissa--

Glad to see you here, reaching out. I really relate to the feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and demoralization, which is where my food addiction took me. But I didn't know what was wrong with me-- I mean, I looked at calories, knew something about fat grams, was a veteran and/or lifetime member of several commercial weight loss programs, where if I achieved goal weight, I could not maintain it by the next week or even a day, "time to celebrate!". I thought I was defective in some way mentally--I didn't know anyone else who did the things I did with food or thought/felt the same way I did. I dabbled in bulimia but was a terrible failure at that, had lots of negative consequences there.

Beginning in October 1998, for whatever reasons, I finally got exposed to the right information about what was going on with me, though it took me a while to really understand that there were certan substances (sugar, flour, wheat, high-fat foods like nuts, refined food like popcorn and pasta and bread--there's the flour and wheat coming in) that my body just can't handle without adverse effects--intense cravings, the afore-mentioned thoughts and feelings, including suicidal thoughts, which I have finally figured out to be a direct physiologic effect of these substances on my mind. I am sure I read in the Kay Sheppard books used in RFA, but it was the personal experiences with ingesting these foods and immediately tanking mentally, emotionally and physically that convinced me. This food plan, which we call an abstinent food plan because we abstain from all those substances I know now are addictive for someone like me, has been my food plan since 1998, and I am grateful I found the Cadillac (or is it the Bentley? The best, regardless) of food plans from the beginning of this journey for me. I am a recovering alcoholic and addict, and these substances/foodstuffs had EXACTLY the same reaction in me that the other ones did. Glad I know that today. And that it only gets worse with time.

The good news, the awesome news, is that there is a solution for people like me today. It started with an abstinent food plan and then the other work followed.

Welcome!

Steve K./Roswell GA

Hi,

Just thought I would post as my sponsor suggested I do some things for my recovery today which are outside of my comfort zone. I am in relapse for the first time in over 13 months. This relapse has last a month and I desperately want to get my abstinence back. So far today, I have (with God's help) acheived that. I need help and never knew how hard it could be to get abstient again. I have almost 5 years in AA and have never experience relapse in that program, so this is new for me. Feedback, thoughts, prayers would be gladly accepted.

Sarah

Meliissa,
.
Where do you live? Is there a RFA meeting near you. If not, please come to the phone meeting on Friday evening. The number is 218-339-4300, passcode - 1086405#. IIt's at 9:00 pm eastern time.

This program really works. We have a livable food plan and the 12 steps of AA for recovery.

I lived on diets all of my life along with the feelings of shame, guilt, and weight gain. I've finally found a solution in RFA.

Mary Rose

Welcome Melissa and Sarah,

You are in the right place to find help. I have tried everything and this is the only thing I have been able to sustain or have any kind of success with. I have been sober for 20 years and that was easy compared with food addition. The really good news is that recovery is possible. Freedom from cravings and from self-loathing is possible. And once you get going and establish a good program, it really is a great way to live.

Keep coming back- it's worth it!
Kelly (Houston, TX)

I am thinking about attending a food addiction meeting. I am not sure though if it is the right thing for me since I'm not sure if I'm a food addict. I am the heaviest I've ever been. Months ago I weighed myself and was 200 lbs. I should be around 130-140. I don't think I've always had a problem with food but most of my life I have. I actually have fluctuated a few times this is my third or fourth time being way too heavy I'm 23. I don't know if I sound crazy or not or if I'm asking this in the right place. Can somebody email me with advice. Should I go to the meeting? My eating is steadily the worst it's ever been and I want to be active and enjoy the beach that is right across the street and wear my clothes in my closet instead of my boyfriends shirts and sweat pants I want to be normal! What can I expect at the meeting is. Like aa?

Hi Stephanie,

You are always welcome to attend meetings until you know whether or not you are a food addict and this program will help you. The advice I was given when new to 12 step programs was to listen for the similarities and ignore the rest. My natural tendancy is to say to myself, "Oh, I'm not as bad as that person," or "Oh, I never do that" so I can separte myself from those at the meeting. When I listen for the similarities I find that I did do alot of the same things and, more importantly, had the same relationship with food and feelings around food and eating that others in the group do.

You might want to read one of Kay Sheppards books, From the First Bite or The Body Knows. You will see pretty quickly whether or not she is describing you.

Feel free to email me directly at kelly.levitt@gmail.com

Kelly