How Can I Get Help With My Food Addiction If I Have Children?

No one wants to admit they need help especially with food. People will try everything on their own repeatedly just so they don't have to admit they have a problem. Eating disorders have so much shame attached to them. Men can be overweight and remain socially acceptable by outward appearances. Men are unhappy with how they look and feel however, men do not receive the looks that women get when there lives are obviously out of order.

The problem with eating disorders is he or she can't hide them. If he or she is anorexic people notice that the bones are protruding. If he or she is bulimic people tend to notice the high volume of food missing and off to the restroom. Then the compulsive over eater or binge eater wears the weight so others can see. Eating disorders require more than one hour a week visit to a therapist. The eating disorder requires inpatient treatment. Then when completed it would be appropriate to follow-up with a therapist weekly for continued support.

So many individuals do not realize they have insurance benefits that will cover them to go to an eating disorder treatment program. Mothers feel like how can I leave my husband and children to go away and get help? Better questions why not? The best gift he or she can give the husband, family, friends, partners and children is YOU! So often with eating disorders the shame and guilt that is attached with the disorder makes the individual detach from everyone they love around them. The person might be there physically but emotionally, physically and spiritually they left a long time ago.

Getting help is a sign of strength not weakness. Recognizing that he or she can not do this alone and reaches out for help is admirable. As a parent I am responsible to take care of myself as well as my family and when I am preoccupied with the eating disorder I am not there for anyone else including myself. The most loving thing a person can do struggling with an eating disorder is to get help, now not next week which turns into next month next year and so on. Call today and start a new life!

Autor: Joanna Painton

Joanna works for the Women's Behavioral Program. She has overcome adversities and shares her hope with anyone she comes in contact with. Joanna is a known published author in the Bariatric and Weight Loss Community, she has spent the last 13 years helping to inspire and motivate people on the value of the body, mind and spirit connection.

Please feel free to contact Joanna at http://www.womenstreatmentprogram.com or by e-mail joanna@recoveryconnection.org

Added: June 10, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Is There Help For Compulsive Overeating?

If anyone had told me I could go a day without misusing food I would have laughed. After years of using food to not feel my or deal with my emotions I had no idea how to cope with life other than to self medicate. I thought I was alone and that no one else did what I did. I was filled with shame, guilt and remorse. I thought of myself as weak willed unable to stick to my guns. I didn't know that I had an allergy to sugar, wheat and flour.

My food addiction began as a child I turned to food as comfort, as I matured my disease grew with me, I needed to do more in order to not feel and incorporated drugs and alcohol my disease continued. I was blessed to get into recovery from drug and alcohol addiction 15 years ago, a year later when I reached my highest weight of 460lbs. I surrender to my food addiction. My life was so small due to how large I had become, I was unable to work and physically unable to function. I had small children and I was so depressed and unhappy I felt there was no hope.

Then a light bulb went off I was lead into recovery for drug and alcohol why couldn't I recover from the eating disorder of compulsive overeating? I realized that it wasn't the food that was the problem the food was the symptom. I needed help from other individuals who could help me address what happened that lead me to food in the first place. Inpatient treatment worked, it allowed me the opportunity to stop blaming others, and accept responsibility for my behaviors and actions.

I was surrounded by people who knew about the disease of addiction, I was in a safe place everything was confidential and I finally allowed someone else to help to learn how to help myself. I was given the gift of complete desperation from that I was able to re-create a life that is beyond anything I could have imagined. Today I live and I am present, the lights are on and I am home. My wish for anyone reading this article is to let them know help is available with eating disorders just ask!

Autor: Joanna Painton

Joanna works for the Women's Behavioral Program. She has overcome adversities and shares her hope with anyone she comes in contact with. Joanna is a known published author in the Bariatric and Weight Loss Community, she has spent the last 13 years helping to inspire and motivate people on the value of the body, mind and spirit connection.

Please feel free to contact Joanna at http://www.womenstreatmentprogram.com or by e-mail joanna@recoveryconnection.org

Added: June 9, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Mindful Eating Roadblocks Part 1

I don't know about you, but I can pretty-much guarantee I'll be in a good mood over the next five months. Why? Because there's more light! I'm like a little flower who opens up and smiles when the sun shines and the air becomes warmer. I'm guessing most of you feel the same way. Over the past few months, I've been busy producing my latest book and audio program, and have been getting out in public and offering workshops and talks about its contents. Delightedly, I've been met with keen interest and wonderful and enthusiastic participation. So to start of the spring, I'd like to share with you a 'taste' of part of my book/workshop series from "Mindful Eating"...I hope you enjoy it. There are five major roadblocks to mindful eating and I will cover a different one in this next series of articles so stay tuned!

Roadblock #1: DISTRACTED EATING

I'm guessing you know what I'm talking about here. Who among us doesn't "multitask" on a daily basis; especially while we are eating? I have noticed that in our North American culture, the preparation and consuming of food seems to be little more than an inconvenience in our stressed-out, busy lives. I, myself, have become particularly adept at eating while driving, which not only takes the joy out of a meal, but also is very dangerous. I liken it to talking on a cell phone while driving- a very bad habit.

How many of you eat while also doing the following:

Watching television?
Driving?
Working at your job?
Having an argument?
Sitting at the computer?
Walking?
Talking on the phone?

You're not alone! Here are some statistics:

North American adults spend an average of 1 hour and 12 minutes per day eating, yet they spend between 2 -3 hours per day watching television.

66% of Americans report regularly eating dinner in front of the television.

Why should you eat mindfully?

You will eat less and get out of the habit of overeating:

Americans have been gaining weight for quite some time. The most recent National Center for Health Statistics report found that 32% of all U.S. adults are obese according to the government's Body Mass Index (BMI) classification system. By contrast, just 23% of adults were classified as obese in government surveys taken from 1988 through 1994. Government surveys also find that the increase in weight is in part related to an increase in calorie and dietary intake. In short, people are eating more.

If the mind is focused on more than one task while eating, critical signs that regulate food intake may not be received by the brain. If the brain fails to receive important messages such as the sensation of taste and satisfaction, it may not register the event as "eating". When this happens, your brain continues to send out hunger signals, increasing your risk of overeating.

You will drastically improve your digestive health: Recent research has found that when our mind is distracted during a meal, the digestive process may be 30-40% less effective.

For homework, I want you to practise eating without distractions. To help you achieve this, here are my "top 10" strategies for mindful eating:

1.Only eat while sitting.
2.Set a place for yourself at the table with a placemat, cutlery, napkin, and a glass for a beverage.
3.Eat away from your work area- in a lunchroom, restaurant, or outside.
4.Eat with chopsticks- it will automatically slow you down.
5.Take a few deep breaths before you eat to calm and center yourself.
6.Chew each bite at least 30 times before swallowing
7.Give thanks for your meal and appreciate that you have food to eat.
8.If you are eating with others, avoid upsetting conversation over meals and instead, practise eating quietly and mindfully with the other person.
9.Turn off the phone at all mealtimes so you won't be interrupted.
10. Eat at the same time every day for each of your three meals and make sure it takes you a minimum of 20 minutes to eat a meal.

Autor: Esther R. Kane Esther R. Kane
Level: Platinum
Esther Kane, MSW, Registered Clinical Counsellor, is the author of the soon-to-be-released book and audio program, "It"s Not About the Food: A Woman"s Guide To ... ...

Esther Kane, MSW, Registered Clinical Counsellor, is the author of the book and audio program, "It's Not About the Food: A Woman's Guide To Making Peace with Food and Our Bodies" (http://www.endyoureatingdisorder.com). Sign up for her free monthly e-zine, Women's Community Counsellor, to uplift and inspire women at: http://www.estherkane.com

Added: June 7, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/