OVERCOMING FOOD ADDICTION

OVERCOMING FOOD ADDICTION T he taboo of dysfunctional eating

Some *5% of the population have a food addiction - an urge, desire and compulsion to eat for other reasons than physical hunger. 4.2% of women have bulimia and 3.5% of women suffer with BED (Binge Eating Disorder). While those statistics sound small, consider this: 75% of UK women are currently on or are about to start a diet - and 91% of women say they do not like their bodies. My story My own dysfunctional relationship with food began at the age of 14. I wanted to lose a bit of weight, believing it would help me feel better about myself. I had no idea this would be a slippery slope into the world of food obsession and compulsive behaviour around food that lasted over a decade. I binged, purged, weighed, measured and tracked everything I ate. Then after a traumatic relationship break-up, I spiralled into social anxiety, depression and food dysfunction. During this time, my life was on hold (it takes a lot of time and emotional energy to maintain a disordered relationship with food) but with the help of professional coaches and therapists over many months, I rebuilt my relationship with food, until it was no longer my focal point and obsession holding me in a cycle of selfdestruction. It’s not about the food Conventional thinking around resolving addictive eating issues can often focus on the food itself in the form of meal plans, nutritional plans and abstinence and/or elimination. Yet the truth is that food addiction is rarely about food. That’s just the symptom. Underneath the addiction are the common the drivers of pain and unresolved trauma and that’s why my approach to addictive eating, food obsession and binge eating blends therapy, coaching and eating psychology plus the Food Addiction Recovery Method™ framework I’ve created after working in this area for almost 12 years.

The undigested story Sufferers often connect their self-worth to the number on the scales or external measures of success or achievement, yet they may be holding onto anger, resentment and rage which has been ‘eating’ them from the inside for decades. They may feel unfulfilled due to circumstances and past decisions or have an inability to forgive either someone, something or themselves. Issues of abuse (which may or may not be in the open yet) can be present or they may have experienced trauma that created pain which, in turn, created a need for protection. Many women have used food as an emotional crux for years as it soothes, comforts, supports, numbs and suppresses a wide range of feelings and emotions – these are their ‘undigested stories’ and these undigested life events can affect their relationship with food and with themselves. Many clients experience feeling abandoned whether by friends, partners or parents. Those experiences can remain active in their psyche and energy and can be re-activated and re-triggered with surprising ease. The result being, every time they feel abandoned in any form, they have an urge to binge or misuse food to comfort and soothe. This is merely the symptom of the undigested story (not wanting to feel abandoned) which is true for all manner of addictions and compulsive behaviour. By getting beneath the triggers and starting to unravel the emotions, a permanent solution can be found through healing, coaching and therapy. The Food Addiction Recovery Method™ is rooted in therapeutic coaching, healing modalities, mindfulness and embodiment practices and, in using these, we get beneath the triggers and start to unravel the emotions to find a permanent solution and, as a result of my own personal experience and years as a professional, I know these three things to be true: You can heal your wounds. You can change how things feel and you can re-write your story.

Rachel Foy is a Food Addiction Recovery Coach, Eating Psychology Consultant & Clinical Hypnotherapist Author, BSc (Hons) Dip Hyp. She is the creator of The Food Addiction Recovery Method™, a speaker, host of ‘The Hungry Soul’ podcast and founder of Soul Fed Woman.

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“You can heal your wounds. You can change how things feel and you can re-write your story”