Is Denial Blocking Your Progress?

If you are like me, you know that if your food is out of whack, nothing else in your life is going to go very well. It's just impossible- we have a different reaction to certain foods than other people, and more and more research bears this out. The drive to overeat certain foods, in spite of the pain that our compulsive eating causes us, has chemical origins. I am not the one to explain the technicalities of this, but for a great book on this subject, I recommend both Mark Hyman's "Ultrametabolism" and Anne Katherine's "The Anatomy Of A Food Addiction"- they are both fantastic resources and taught me a great deal. You don't have to feel so guilty about your eating if you understand that this is really not about "willpower" or character.

When we are "in the food" nothing else goes well. It impacts our mood, our self-esteem, our desire to interact with others or use our skills and talents in myriad ways. We just do not function optimally, we are compromised, like any other addict.

I do believe that those of us with a longstanding history of food addiction are indeed addicts. It has taken me years to believe this, chiefly because of my own personal denial. But denial does not usually serve us, it keeps us from knowing what is true and then being free to act on it. I am a food addict, and that informs the choices that I make to stay well and live a happy life of freedom and wellbeing.

This is a tough issue for most of us to deal with. In spite of tons of evidence to the contrary, we tend to believe that tomorrow or Monday, or when a certain crisis is over, that we will find the way through this overwhelming source of disruption and pain in our lives.

And we don't.....

There are solutions for compulsive overeating and food addiction, and truly I believe I know all of them, from my personal and professional seeking these many years.

But for you, the most important thing is to decide if you really can "control" this, or if that is a belief that is no longer serving you.

You really have to know that you cannot manage this alone, before you will be able to find a solution that works for you. Confronting our denial is difficult, and it is the nature of the beast, that we try to wriggle out of looking at it with our eyes open.

Here are some questions that you might journal about:

1. Do you find yourself feeling guilty on a regular basis about your inability to keep your intentions around a way of eating?

2. Do you think if you only had more willpower you could succeed at losing weight?

3. When you choose to eat one of your favorite foods, do you know with certainty that you can stop at a pre-determined amount?

4. Do you begin each day with a promise to yourself around your eating, only to break it within hours?

5. Do you continue to try to eat certain foods like a "normal" eater, only to fail each time?

These are tough questions to ask yourself, and to really answer honestly. Honesty is what will free you to find a way of living without food addiction, and your journal is a wonderful place to explore this without judgment.

If you write about any of these and know deep in your heart that you do not have the answers to find relief, please let yourself seek the help you deserve from somebody who understands that this is not about a diet or food plan only. This is a complicated syndrome requiring lots of support and lots of tools.
I wish you great love, peace and every blessing,

Lisa Claudia Briggs, MSW, LICSW 
Intuitive ,Therapist, Eating Disorders Expert and Mentor 
http://www.INTUITIVEBODY.COM 
Healing our eating addictions and nourishing our Spirits, with ease 
Lisa@IntuitiveBody.com
(978) 772-0009

'Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers 'grow, grow'- The Talmud