{Update: I’ve tried many programs over the years since I started sharing my addiction journey in this online space. This is the food plan I honestly believe I found the most success on.
I’m starting it back with a few tweaks, including adding fasting days and allowing certain natural sugars, such as honey, that don’t set me up for a binge.
Please follow along in my current food addiction series, Turning to Food. We can do this!}
Here we are in Day 1 of my 31 day plan to start recovering from food addiction. If you missed the index explaining why I am doing this along with a listing of other days in the series, please check out 31 Days to Food Addiction Recovery…
I have decided to use a food plan from a group called Food Addicts Anonymous. They believe that sugar, flour, and wheat are all binge-causing foods and should be cut out in order to stop the vicious cycle of binge eating. You can find details of the plan, including acceptable foods and those to avoid at the FAA website.
The highlights (taken from their food plan information page):
- The best schedule to keep blood sugar levels and metabolism steady: Breakfast + 4 hours = Lunch + 5 Hours = Dinner + 4 hours = Metabolic Adjustment (MA). The MA is a snack consisting of 1 dairy, or 2 ounces of protein, and 1 fruit.
- No flour, wheat, or sugar, including artificial sweeteners. The dangers of each of these will be explored in later posts. For now, I will leave it at their binge-avoidance explanation.
- Measure your food as large volumes of even healthy foods can trigger a binge in those of us with addictive tendencies.
- Eat a variety of foods. This is not a diet and should be viewed as a new way of life. You do not want to get burned out on the same things every day.
- Write down your menu in advance. Plan ahead!!
I highly recommend you check out their page if interested in following the plan. It has much more detailed information and tips to implement this plan of abstinence, including a list of names sugar can be disguised as.
I’m really excited about the possibility of shedding these horrible daily food cravings and most likely some of these extra pounds I have been carrying around. A detox phase is to be expected and will probably hit me in a few days.
My body will definitely struggle with the sudden removal of all the foods it has grown accustomed to, but I know the payoff will be worth it. I will share the detox symptoms as they surface. Please pray for me…
Hey lady good luck for the next 31 days. Will be following to see how your doing.
Hi Camii! I am already missing my latte I won’t get tomorrow morning… Thanks for checking on me!
Thanks for all the great resources.
You are welcome Jerimi! I love FAA’s website. It has so much information and an online store with some great books, CDs, and DVDs.
Thank you for the link to the FAA website…I can’t believe the long list of names of sugars…WOW…I pray for you in your journey. It certainly will be a change of lifestyle. The strength of the Lord will be with you.
The list is shocking! I would have never thought to look for some of those names. Thank you for your prayers Gisela! They are greatly appreciated.
I like your approach from the addiction standpoint, because food is an addiction that is largely viewed as okay. There are some good tips in here. I will continue to read to see how to curb the cravings.
I’m so glad you are here Alyssa! The cravings are already going away some, but I am not feeling the greatest… I really believe once I get through the detox phase, it will be well worth it! I am planning to talk more about tips for detox next week. Keep coming back!
Hi Candace, good for you for taking on this challenge! Your going to feel great…well after that initial phase. The good part is once you have taken all of those things out of your diet your body won’t like even small amounts. I’m going to keep checking on you to see how your doing!
Thanks Melissa! I would really appreciate that. I trust your knowledge in this area :)! I think I have survived the main physical detox symptoms. It is more psychological at this point which seems to be even more difficult…
Thank you so very much for your willingness and honesty to have this prepared to help others. Food addiction is such a scary disease, and it can be so difficult to find an organized plan of attack. The resources here are great; the FAA website has helped me realize that this is indeed a disease but can be cured. I am now learning my triggers and my personal addictive tendancies. The hardest part for me is rationalizing allowing foods I know can not be consumed. There always seems to be a debate I hold with myself whether it is adding more to my bowl than I need to stopping by to pick up “just this one” fast food meal. It is a mind battle, a spiritual battle. It is more than just picking better choices for some of us. Thanks again, I look forward to continued reading. *Philipians 4:13*
I completely agree with you on this, Tara- “It is a mind battle, a spiritual battle.” So very, very true! It is a battle I still lose often, but I’m not giving up the fight. I fell off the wagon after this 31-day series ended. Like you, I can rationalize my way into bad foods. I thought I would just have a little of my son’s Halloween candy. I decided this series ended on Halloween as a sign for me to allow myself some candy :). I’m sure you can imagine how that went- months of sugar binging… I’m glad to be refocused again, even though I’m not following this food plan. I do plan to work my way back to it soon! Thanks so much for connecting. I look forward to getting to know you better!