Week 2
Three Pillars of Food Addiction Recovery
The day you start using food to cope with life is the day you begin to stunt your emotional maturity, and this is exactly what I did until the age of thirty. My only mechanism for coping with and managing the things life threw my way—bad grades, breakups, mistakes at work, memories of past trauma—was eating until the pain was entirely numbed. When I finally decided to end my destructive relationship with food, I felt stripped of my comfort but also completely maladjusted to life. I didn’t understand how to navigate situations that seemed so easy for my peers. With tremendous support and by becoming a spiritual seeker, I learned about the importance of being at peace with myself, at peace with food, and ultimately at peace with the people in my life. Achieving food serenity is about returning food to its rightful purpose. Food is meant to nourish and honor our bodies. We begin the journey and stop using it as a drug to numb our pain.
There are many roads to recovery. However, through my many years of experience working with thousands of people who identify as food addicts, I have found that a few strategies in particular work for most every client.
The Three Pillars of Food Addiction Recovery make up an action plan to eliminate trigger foods, develop mindfulness and spirituality, and find a support network. I want you to think of the pillars as a three-legged stool. If you neglect one of the legs, the stool will collapse.
Creating a foundation for the pillars is an important first step: Create an internal environment that is kind, gentle, and nurturing. It is hard to change positively when motivated by shame, guilt, or hate. The first brave step in your recovery journey is learning to unconditionally accept yourself as you are today.
Acceptance and self-love should be unwavering, meaning the love doesn’t change when you lose weight. That is true, unconditional, energizing love, love that will sustain you along the road to food serenity.
Pillar One: Eliminate or Reduce Trigger Foods
You are not the addict voice telling you to give into your cravings. You are the voice of reason trying to shut down that addict voice. Don’t forget that you are capable of staying calm and confident in the face of a craving.
Pillar Two: Belong to a Support Network
Having people who are there for you in your recovery is essential. They empower you to keep going and recognize your efforts, no matter how hard things get. They also keep you from falling back into old habits and appreciate the beautiful, resilient person you are becoming.
Pillar Three: Develop Spirituality and Mindfulness
When your mind is full of love and light for yourself and those around you, the addict voice becomes a whisper. Each day, spend time in meditation, connect to the Divine spark you were born with, and find the calm, wise, and peaceful core of yourself. Live from this place, select food from this place, and eat from this core. myself.