More reading on Food Addiction

Feeling ok today but not as good as I could. Just been having a look online for more help in dealing with food addiction or compulsive eating or whatever name you choose to give it. Thought i'd start how I tell lewis to start any of his research - look it up on Wikipedia! From there i found The Something Fishy Website! and thought the Recovery Toolbox page quite helpful so i've summarised as best as i can below and tried as much as possible not to just quote it because actually writing it out helps me to absorb it better!


Your Recovery Toolbox:
Recovering from food addiction is not just about losing the required amount of weight and learning to eat in a healthy way. There are other things to deal with along the way that are just as important. Something Fishy states

there are many things to address while working towards your own recovery... The items in your Recovery Toolbox are some of them.

What needs to be in the toolbox:

The Issues & Feelings Viewfinder:
This is saying that your condition is not about weight and food, that food is the 'drug of choice' and weight the symptom of something much deeper that is triggered by your feelings and issues. See earlier post here for more info.
This article is saying that in your recovery 'toolbox' you need a 'viewfinder' to examine and see clearly every single issue that feeds your addiction.
And then you need to be willing to explore and express those issues so that you can heal from them.

You will need to learn to identify your own negative emotions and what triggers negative thinking. Ultimately, you need to learn to identify and cope with the stress in your life and the emotions that you feel.

The site suggests that the best methods to uncover your underlying issues are Therapy, Support groups, buying self-help books and workbooks, going to self-esteem seminars, and journaling or blogging about how certain people and relationships, the choices you have made, and past major events have shaped your life. I would also work through the exercises from this earlier post.

The True-Voice Megaphone:
This tool to recovery is all about 'using your voice'. What it means is that you need to learn the ability to clearly express how you really feel in order to get the benefits.

to express what it is that you are feeling, to be able to communicate effectively with others what it is you need, what it is you lack, what they can do to help. You have to be able to tell someone you are feeling insecure. You need to learn to say "I'm feeling sad today, I could use a hug."

Something Fishy's suggestions for how to learn to express yourself are:

taking risks to just say how you feel to someone you trust. Sometimes it will be to write a letter to someone, expressing your emotions. A good place to start is in a journal, in therapy or a support group, or even in an online support forum.

The key point this article makes is that 'this is your TRUE-voice megaphone.' Talking simply about weight and food issues means that are limiting your TRUE voice and what it is that you are really feeling and going through

You may have spent many years translating your problems and emotions into
concentrated discussion on weight and food... you must learn to find your TRUE
voice beneath the symptoms of your Eating Disorder.

A Coping Bank:
As has already been mentioned having a food addiction or being an emotional or compulsive eater isnt really about food. Food is used like a medicine to cope with whatever it is that is bothering us.

you use your food behaviors to ...COPE with whatever is eating you up inside.

And once we have discovered our real feelings and issues its imperative to find new methods of coping, new skills to deal with whatever life throws at us.

It is a difficult slow process, but without the process
of learning healthier coping skills, you're left with nothing as a healthy replacement for a set of really unhealthy behaviors.

Essentially the idea of 'A Coping Bank' is to learn new coping techniques and then file them away in our minds ready for the next time we need to use them. Something Fishy advise actually making a physical Coping Bank as a extremely useful therapuetic tool. Click here for instructions

A Glass That's Half-Full:

Its hard to summarise this when its written so well!

Constantly thinking "I can't do it" will set you up for something
called "self-fulfilled prophecy", which means you predict and carry out your own future. You do have the ability to create your own success. If you are constantly thinking negatively about yourself and what you need to do, you only make it all the harder a task... and it becomes all the easier to just give
in to your negative thinking. Being a negative thinker may seem "natural", but learning to give yourself credit, to look for the positives in yourself, and to say "I can do this" is an essential part of recovery.

Their suggestions for help with having a glass half full attitude:
Making a gratitude list every day e.g "Today I'm thankful for [fill in the blanks]"
Getting a different perpective from friends and relatives
Surrounding yourself with supportive people can help.
Something as simple as a bumper sticker on the ceiling above your bed that says "I CAN DO IT"
Find creative ways to be your own cheerleader,
and to ask for reassurance when you're having a hard time.

I struggle with this topic a little - mainly because I am very much a glass is half full kind person so find it difficult to see it from the negative point of view.

Support Network:
Something fishy's article says that a vital tool in your battle towards recovery is a support network made up of people who you trust to listen to your feelings, who will actively encourage your recovery; Who will help you to understand how you can help yourself and encourage you to solve your own problems.

This network could contain a therapist, a support group, a close friend, a spouse or partner, a family member, or online support from a forum (such as minimins.com) they can all be supportive in your fight for self discovery and recovery.

Ask friends to make you accountable. Ask family members to ask you how you really feel when you start harping on weight and food. Ask your spouse to listen to your insecurities. Ask anyone willing to support you to listen, and ask them
for what you need.

Personal Responsibility Checklist:

This is direct from the article - maybe because i couldnt summarise it or maybe because this has taken far longer than i thought and i cant be a*rsed now!

Ultimately, you are responsible for your own recovery. Your
checklist is the way you learn to be accountable to yourself.

Am I doing my best to keep myself safe?
Am I surrounding myself with supportive people?
Am I trying to listen to healthy advice from supportive people?
Am I asking for what I need?
Am I getting what I really need by restricting/purging/binging?
Am I expressing how I really feel?
Am I doing the best I can right now?
Am I being honest with the support people in my life?
Am I being honest with my therapist?
Am I being honest with myself?
Am I asking for more help if I need it?

It is up to you to get what you need to recover. It is up to you to
ask for help to get what you need to recover. It is up to you if you take your meds (if necessary) and it is up to you to say they aren't working if they're not. It is up to you to show up for your therapy appointments, and it's up to you to be honest with your therapist and other support people in your life. AND if you are having a seriously hard time doing any of these things, it is up to you to say "I need more help here."
Everyone has the ability within themselves to recover.
Regardless of co-existing psychological illness, regardless of life
circumstance, everyone can improve their life by eliminating the part of them that says "I hate me" and by getting rid of an unhealthy coping mechanism such as an Eating Disorder.
Fill up your recovery toolbox,
reach out and ask for help,

and I know you can do it!

The Munch Summary

1. Forget food and weight and discover the real underlying issues
2. Discuss them to learn to express the truth to others and yourself
3. Find different methods other than eating to cope with the real underlying issues you have discovered
4. Have a positive attitude towards change and recovery
5. Look for help wherever you can find it
6. Accept responsibility for both your addiction and your recovery.