Food addiction recovery is hard. I’ve been in that lonely place of self-loathing trying to resist sugar, late-night cravings, and fatty salty food that never really satisfies. There are times when it is so overwhelming it feels like too much to bear. Thankfully, I’ve found that having a supportive community makes all the difference.
Finding a Christian food addiction recovery group filled with people who can relate to your food struggles may seem out of reach, it did to me. That’s why I started the Dear Food Program. At our community, the Dear Food Circle we all battle overeating in some way. We know the importance of having a community that understands when it comes to our food related battles, failures and wins.
I’ve written this article to explain food addiction and how important belonging and supporting others is to long-term food addiction recovery success.
Understanding the Food Addiction Cycle
When a person has a food addiction, they have a powerful urge to eat certain foods, especially those high in sugar, fat, and salt. It’s like their brain and body team up and take over, pushing them to eat even if they’re not hungry and even if they’re full. I remember in the early stages of my binge eating, I would devour foods I knew were unhealthy and shame inducing, but I kept eating them anyway. I couldn’t stop. You can find my story in Dear Food. I Love You. I Hate You. Don’t Leave Me! Workbook One. It’s important to me that those working through the Dear Food Workbook Series know that I intimately understand the struggle to overcome unhealthy, addictive food and disordered eating.
The link between the brain’s reward system and the foods we eat is well documented; the cravings for these foods is similar to what someone who’s addicted to drugs feels. The addictive food becomes a necessity for emotional “survival”. Addictive foods can even create neuropathways, changing the brain. When we give in to the food, we get the same feeling of relief using food as one might get using a narcotic- as well as the same desperate need for more.
How the Cycle Works
It took me years to be aware of how the vicious cycle of food addiction works because I was so caught up in it myself. It started with simply enjoying the yummy taste of foods I knew were unhealthy from that oozing cheesy pizza to the double-scooped ice cream cone. And how could I resist a slab of carrot cake with thick cream cheese frosting? You only live once, right?
Suggestion, anticipation, sight, smell and touch all triggered a cascade of reactions in my brain. I couldn’t even strain hot pasta for my family without feeling like I would lose control and eat the entire box myself. My dopamine reward system was on high alert, demanding another food “hit”, motivating me to seek out a “food high” experience again and again. I was using food like a drug.
Looking back, it makes sense that I mostly struggled with highly processed foods laden with sugar, fat, and salt. Why? These types of foods trigger a strong dopamine response. Think about it like this: the first time you try a particular yummy treat, like a donut, your brain releases dopamine, a “feel-good” chemical, which creates an association between the positive physical response your body has when consuming that specific food.
Over time, repeated consumption of “hyper-palatable” foods can desensitize the body’s reward system. The body comes to need more and more of the dopamine triggering food to achieve the same level of pleasure. This puts the addictive food eater in a cycle of craving and binging which is similar to the behaviors seen in people with drug addictions.
How a Christian Food Addiction Recovery Program Can Help You
Being addicted to anything can leave someone in a dark place fighting uncontrollable desires. It’s a living nightmare.
Having been in this situation myself with food, I longed for a Christian addiction group who were in the same food fight as me, used the Bible as their guide to peace and got lasting recovery. What I learned is what studies show: that being in a like-minded community when you’re recovering from any addiction, including food, is key to long term sobriety.
That’s why I created the Dear Food Program: to give those who need food addiction help 1) clinically proven tools for success, 2) Biblically based spiritual resources, 3) a loving and supportive community to help.
How can a Christian food addiction recovery community like Dear Food help you escape the addiction cycle? Here how Dear Food is supporting members:
- Providing clinically proven tools for success.
- Opening up a discussion forum for those overcoming food-related struggles, weight loss challenges, and food addiction.
- Cultivating a compassionate community that “gets the food thing”, shares dreams and goals with each other, asks for prayer and receives positive encouragement along the way.
- Inviting Jesus to help us on our recovery journey.
- Having fun! Sharing memes, jokes, hobbies, artwork, quotes and even a favorite weight loss Bible verse.
- Hosting events with the author of the Dear Food Series (that’s me) such as live Q&As, workshops, new member meet-ups and more! I love to be a cheerleader for members, listen and encourage fellow food fighters during hard times and victories!
Ways the Dear Food Program Can Help You Break Free From the Food Addiction Cycle
Overcoming food addiction may feel hopeless with no way out. However, in the Dear Food Program, you’ll learn how to:
Break the cycle: The first step is to discover why you are eating the foods you’re eating. In Dear Food, I Love You. I Hate You. Don’t Leave Me! Workbook 1 you will learn how to identify foods and emotional hang-ups that are holding up your progress to lasting food freedom. Grab a pen and get started with the worksheets, inspirational reading, life application questions and prayer prompts. Soon, and you’ll be able to identify your specific challenge areas and have tools for getting your food and health victories with joy and peace.
Maintain your progress: Those of us who struggle with food and dieting often feel like it’s one step forward and ten steps back, day after day, year after year. In Dear Food, I Love You I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me! Workbook 2, you’ll get Ten Power Tools to maintain your progress and your victories. This book is packed with clinically proven tools for success, worksheets and tools you can use to lock in your progress and change your perspective from one of defeat to confidence as you experience more victories each day.
Build a healthy eating food plan you love: In Dear Food, I Love You I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me! Workbook 3 you are going to get real about what you like to eat, don’t like to eat, and can’t live without. Next, you’ll create your own sustainable healthy eating plan, hand crafted by you for you. Then, you’ll get a chance to try it out and adjust. Setbacks are normal; so you’ll also learn how to recover quickly when you feel like you failed, brush off the dust of disappointment and press on to reach your goals with joy and hope.
Resources: The Dear Food Program can help you recover from food addiction. There are times when additional help is needed. At Dear Food Circle, members who need more support often receive helpful recommendations how to find specialized eating disorder treatment, food addiction therapy and obesity programs with doctors and nutritionists who are licensed to provide a food addicts diet.
Deepen your relationship with Jesus: When life gets tough, we wonder if God really cares. In the Dear Food Program, you’ll learn that Jesus loves you and wants to help you overcome food challenges that feel annoying, impossible and everything in between. Participant’s tearful and powerful testimonies are proof that the Lord hears our prayers, answers and helps.
Curious if the Dear Food community is right for you? Find out by signing up for free at the Dear Food Circle here.
The Benefits and Impact of the Dear Food Program
Beyond the sense of belonging and connection, clinical tools and powerful prayer prompts, the Dear Food Program offers these additional benefits to impact your long term food addiction recovery:
- Fellowship: Our group comes together to share, listen, encourage and laugh. This caring Christian faith focused community is there to boost your confidence and provide the motivation you need to keep fighting as you discover how to overcome addiction with God.
- Skill Building: You will build your emotional awareness and problem-solving toolkit when it comes to food situations to get your health victories.
- Reduced Isolation: Knowing you have people who are willing to listen, encourage and pray for you can alleviate feelings of shame, guilt, and loneliness. With Dear Food, you have an online group, at your fingertips to go to when you need to be lifted up.
Sign up for the Dear Food Program Today
Recovering from food addiction is a journey doesn’t have to be tackled in isolation. You’ll need all the support you can get to break food strongholds, and the Dear Food Program provides you a faith-based program to begin overcoming food addiction.
So, start today. Don’t wait. Grab Workbook One, join the free community and finally get your food victories once and for all. Breaking a food addiction is possible with the Lord by your side and the Dear Food Community is here to help.
Written by Julia Fikse, FMCHC, NBC-HWC
Julia Fikse’s book Dear Food, I Love You. I Hate You. Don’t Leave Me! is the best-selling, award-winning Christian weight loss program, and spiritual diet plan designed to help you stop overeating and improve your health. This Bible based diet program is a Bible study with workbooks to use alone or as a Bible study for small groups. Grab your copy today!
Julia Fikse is a Nationally Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, specializing in Functional Medicine, Emotional Eating and Mental Health and Weight Loss. Julia has personally experienced the frustration of weigh gain, weight loss, weight related health issues and emotional eating challenges and is trained to help you overcome too. Julia is not a therapist or a doctor and this blog should not in any way replace doctors advice.
