Thousands Now Have Quit Binge Eating Who Never Thought They Could!

                              
                            

I know what it is to be in need,

And I know what it is to have plenty.

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,

Whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

~Philippians 4:12

 

I’ve written Heal from the Inside Out: Release the Obsession with Food, not for notoriety and fame, for my name in lights, or for recognition—but to help free you from the obsession with food. My goal is to share my journey from active food addiction to spiritual recovery—and lead you away from compulsive eating.

My mom and Ma (grandma) were not as fortunate, and died never to know the freedom of spiritual recovery or that their defeat in the battle to lose weight was not their fault. My story compares two adjacent worlds: food addiction and spiritual recovery. It is my hope that this book helps you to recognize, deal with, and resolve compulsive eating—to heal from the inside out. If my journey lifts you from the pure hell of obsessive eating, I will have accomplished my goal. I write for my mom, I write for Ma, and I write for you.

 A Piece of My Story

By 22 years of age my mother had given birth to six children. When Mom was 17, my sister Christy was born, followed by a set of twins eight months later, Michael and Michelle; one year later another set of twins, Daniel and Debborah; and 19 months later (with a miscarriage between us), I was born. My mother was knee-deep in diapers for what must have seemed like an eternity while she was only a kid. I learned early on to comfort myself with a bottle and food. Although I was a scrawny child who was on iron drops for anemia, my dysfunctional eating behaviors were already developed. I remember climbing up on the kitchen counter to retrieve chocolate syrup and pouring it down my throat until I felt the sense of "ahhhhhhhhhhh" that food addicts are so familiar with. I was barely five. I hid in the dark coat closet and stole change from my parents’ coat pockets to buy stashes of candy.

Once, I was so desperate I stole my father's pouch of parking lot change—hundreds of dollars—from the third drawer of the china cabinet and took it to Pennies to buy candy. I was seven and the bag was awkward and heavy to carry. I dropped the bag—coins flew all over and the store owner turned me in to my parents. It was the first and only time my dad ever spanked me.

Does this ring true for you? How far back in your childhood can you trace the start of your compulsive eating? If you have a history of binge eating I can assure you memories of overeating are there—with a bit of digging you have a story that might sounds similar to mine. Knowing where it began gives clues to how to quit addictive eating.

 

 

 Drlisaortigaracrego.com

 

10 Ways to Increase the Release of Obsessive Eating

When I first started Dr. Lisa Weight Control Therapy Blog, I really didn’t have any goals or objectives. I just wanted a place to write my thoughts that didn’t fit the academic writing I’m trained for in addiction psychology. As such, I didn’t think I’d have too much of an audience in the beginning. I was wrong. From the start, my thoughts as a practitioner and as an individual in recovery from binge eating disorder and food addiction on topics that addressed obsessive eating, weight control, spiritual recovery, and emotional recovery pulled in interests from around the globe. I learned implementing goals and steps increases the success in the release of obsessive eating. I also learned sharing stories without the academia flare was more palatable.

I won’t bore you with the details, but I now consistently hear and see positive results in my practice and from my blog and/or emails from a wide population seeking to release obsessive eating. I found with the goal to contribute steps to build a strong recovery foundation successes increased. True, it didn’t all happen at once, patients and blog readers confessed there were some ups and downs along the way. I’ve found that the 10 steps below can help any food addict increase their ability to release weight and/or make peace with their obsessive eating—whether it’s a new issue or struggles long lived. 

 Here are my 10 ways to increase the release of obsessive eating:

1.    Remove all forms of sugar from your diet with the exception of fruit for breakfast and a fruit included in the metabolic boost later in the day. Sugar is not just an empty calorie; its effect on the food addict is much more insidious. Obese patients think it’s about the calories, but it has nothing to do with the calories. It’s a poison by itself.  Forget the fact that obesity and diabetes has skyrocketed in America in the past 30 year and it’s responsible for diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, and many common cancers, it also triggers obsessive eating and thinking.

2.    Exercise daily at least 30 minutes. It’s important to exercise because it helps maintain a healthy body, reduce stress, and improves blood circulation. More importantly, it’s important to exercise because exercising is healthy. It’s proven to help peoples overall moods, and their health, such as boosting their immune system. Exercise has also been known to keep your mind healthy as well. Get outside and connect with nature and your Higher Source while you move.

3.    Sleep seven to eight hours each night. Sleep is crucial for overall health. This is because sleep helps your body to recover and rejuvenate from your days stressors, ridding your body of fatigues. It’s your body’s chance to recharge and heal. The only way to rejuvenate all of our organs is to rest the body and sleep. Our brains need time to process all of the information it receives daily. Some even say it’s your time to clear your mind and connect with the Divine Source.

4.    Write a daily gratitude journal. Journal writing is very personal and very intimate. It allows you to tap into your inner feelings and figure out what’s going on for you in your life. Journal writing takes many forms. I, myself, especially enjoy “diary writing,” which for the most part involves the unstructured, chronological recording of the extent of a person’s life. With that, I write daily gratitude posts listing all the blessings and treasure that unfold in daily life.

5.    Meditate daily. Meditation is the act of embracing an open and inviting clear space in the mind. It’s the discovery of a corner of the mind, a quietness within the mind, a sanctuary, a resting place—paradise in the mind, a place of peace. Meditation is performed in quiet—with no agenda. Some individuals meditate by using one word to concentrate on, while others hum one note, and still others focus on something to look at, such as a cloud or flower or even a spot on the wall. Some will use a mantra, repeating it over and over again. In meditation, we spend some time in the spaciousness of not knowing.

6.    Pray throughout the day. The beauty of prayer is that it’s personal. There’s no right way to pray, and there’s no wrong way—just your way. You can talk, sing, sit in silence, dance, cry, run, embrace nature, hug a baby, kiss a puppy, and/or watch a butterfly swirl around a daffodil—all in the name of prayer. Prayer is powerful. Prayer can change your life anywhere, any time—alone in quiet or in the middle of a room full of people. You can be rich, poor, belong to a church, temple, synagogue, or mosque, or sit alone in a field that stretches out as far as the eye can see. Our higher source is everywhere—within us and around us.

7.    Drink at least eight glasses of water daily. Just as plants and animals need water to survive so do human beings need water to survive and function properly. In fact, humans can’t live without drinking for more than a few days before deterioration and death set in.  About 55% of the female body (60% of the male body) is made up of water with the muscles and the brain about 75% water. Although hydration for survival is of the utmost importance in drinking water, drinking water hydrates your skin and makes you look younger, helps fend off hunger, and helps to combat ailments.  All good reasons to include water in your daily ritual. Hmmm, seems it might be a good idea to add pure water to the system!

8.    Eat three balanced meals (breakfast, lunch, and snack) and one metabolic boost (snack) daily every four to five hours. The best way to begin your food recovery journey is to follow a simple formula of having four meals a day and breaking down each meal according to an easy structure of specific foods: fruit, protein, fat, vegetables, low-fat dairy, and whole grains (see weightcontroltherapy.com for detailed menu and food suggestions). I've found, too, that at the beginning, the most workable way to do this is to commit to your food plan prior to the start of your day, rather than merely hoping you'll arrive at this optimal arrangement by random eating.

9.    Hug an adult, child, baby, and/or your fury child several times a day every day. According to the famous family therapist, Virginia Satir, “We need four hugs a day for survival, eight hugs a day for maintenance, and twelve hugs a day for growth.”  In the right setting and situation a hug is the best natural therapy for all kinds of conditions, a sign of approval and affection. It is such a simple uncomplicated gesture that speaks more to the other than actual words.  A simple hug—a universal cure available to all of us—is positive energy transmitted in its simplest and maybe oldest form.  

10.   Laugh, giggle, and smile. A simple smile goes a long way. It immediately puts a person at ease and often is returned spontaneously. Giggles and laughter, like a smile has medicinal benefits. When I think of the benefits of laughter Norman Cousins immediately comes to mind. About 30 years ago Cousins was diagnosed with an incurable and fatal spinal column illness with no known cause or cure. Against the advice of his doctors, he checked out of the hospital and secluded himself in his home reading humorous stories and watching movies that brought tears of laughter hour upon hour for a month only to return to the hospital with marked improvement—no sign of the disease whatsoever.

     Since then, research has shown that the health benefits of laughter are far-reaching including it can help relieve pain, bring greater happiness, and even increase immunity. So, laugh yourself to health—beat down compulsive eating with a good belly laugh. Think of little kids when they laugh so hard they fall down. Like smiling and kindness, laughter is contagious. Imagine if everyone partakes what kind of world we’d be in. Now go giggle....

Photos Taken by: Dr. Lisa
http://weightcontroltherapy.com/

Why Can't I Stop Eating?

So, you ask yourself,'Why can't I stop eating?' or 'What's wrong with me that I’m eating a huge amount of food—when I’m not even hungry?'

Did you ever consider you may have an eating disorder? Okay, it's harsh to even consider the idea. Nobody wants to be "labeled" with a disorder. I get that. I have binge eating disorder and denied it for years until one day (after gaining and losing and gaining close to 100 pounds) I came to my senses and admitted I had an eating disorder and gradually changed my relationship with food; hence, my journey to recovery began. Was it easy? Certainly not! Was it doable? Absolutely!

Let's face it, change doesn't come easy for most of us and learning we might have a disorder that requires cognitive/behavioral changes is darn right scary. So what does one do? I believe the answer begins by making choices towards a healthy life style. We can hunker down to what is familiar—not willing to budge—or we can step out of our comfort zone and try recovery strategies that may seem foreign at first.

As an expert in eating disorders, I have found answers not only for myself but also for my patients who have binge eating disorder, bulimia, anorexia, food addiction, or a combination of all four. You may wonder if it’s possible to move in and out of binge eating, purging, and restricting—the answer is yes. In fact, it’s not uncommon to dance between a mix of eating disorders.

You may find it interesting to learn, bulimia and anorexia are the eating disorders most familiar, but not most common. Patients often gasp when they learn that eating a large amount of food in a small period of time with little regards for consequences (and not purging) actually has a name and is considered an eating disorder that is more common than bulimia and anorexia. Most of my patients (including myself) have binge eating disorder without purging food. After an episode of bingeing, often the person harbors guilt and shame promising after this last binge they’ll get back to their diet and never engage in volume eating again.

Once my patients get past the fact they have a disorder, and that it actually has a name—binge eating disorder—they move into acceptance and a recovery plan.

So now, when you ask yourself, ‘why am I bingeing', you may want to take a closer look at what's going on in your life? Let's be clear, if you spend the evening hunkered down in a coma-state watching television, and to your surprise realize you inhaled an entire bag of potato chips, you are not automatically a binge eater. A binge eater frets over the fact they lost control over their food and may even fear they can't stop eating once they start and an intense fear of weight gain. Furthermore, it's not uncommon for a compulsive eater to hide their food and binge alone—filled with shame when the binge is over.

The cause and recovery strategy for compulsive eating is up for grabs—with many theories. Some say it is a chemical imbalance and name it food addiction. Some find it is an emotional crisis and bingeing is a way to avoid something bothersome. And still others find it is a spiritual deficit. I say, it's a three-prong problem: spiritual, emotional, and physical.

Most of my patients contact me because they want to lose weight and they tried every "diet" imaginable and still can't stop eating. Eating beyond full is common with a person suffering from binge eating disorder. What is causing this behavior? Perhaps you're sensitive to sugar, flour, and wheat due to a chemical imbalance causing you to crave more and more food, especially from sweet and starchy food choices.

You may have trouble resisting a binge because you suffer from a food addiction and/or an eating disorder. The answer is not simple and it requires a process that involves change in thoughts and behaviors. The first step for you is to get familiar with trigger foods and start weaning off of them. After a binge (or before would be ideal!) ask yourself a series of questions:

1. Was I hungry? When was the last time I ate? If it was more than five hours you most likely were hungry.
2. Was I angry about something? Is there something going on in my life that I feel out of control, anxious, hopeless, and/or helpless?
3. Am I lonely or feeling alone?
4. Am I tired? Did I get an ample amount of sleep?
5. Am I stressed? Do I have too much to do and little time for relaxation and fun?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it may be the first place to address your eating issues. Also, pay attention to the foods you’re eating. Perhaps you are sensitive to processed foods such as: bread, cakes, cookies, flour, et cetera. So, if you ask yourself, 'Why can't I stop bingeing?' or 'What is wrong with me that I'm eating a huge amount of food when I’m not even hungry?', you may have an eating disorder or a chemical imbalance that triggers uncontrollable cravings and volume eating. My suggestion is to seek a certified eating disorder professional who can help you address these issues and move into recovery and quality living.

What is Spirituality?

What is the experience of spirituality? My patients in treatment for various eating disorders often ask me this very question. The answer is not so easy, especially when spirituality is an individual experience—with no two exposures mirrored.

Treatment for eating disorders is three-fold: physical, emotional and spiritual. Often the spiritual component is missing. Is it important? From my perspective, as a certified eating disorder professional and a food addict in recovery, spirituality is KEY to restoring a healthy balance.

What is the experience like when a spiritual connection is ever-present? For me, it’s a constant intangible companion through trials and tribulations. It’s an awareness that whispers answers to questions often not posed—when everything is dark and there’s nowhere and no one to turn to. Spirituality is the hug from God when you feel alone. It is His strength when you feel weak.True, this “thing” called spirituality is not tangible, but omnipotent when you open your heart and receive it. This infinite power shows no bias and no preference and is available to anyone who seeks.

What is spiritual deficit? When disconnected from spiritual recovery the sun no longer shines and the birds are silent—you drown in despair, so alone gasping for relief—any relief to stop the pain is welcomed. The lack of divine—is an innate gnawing sense something is not right within. To not be in spiritual presence is as powerful as to be—but on an insane track, hiding food in your purse, closet, drawers and filling up to your eye balls with food – stomach distended—dying within and dying without.

Spirituality is a term that is impossible to define because each individual attracts his or her spiritual-self differently. Spiritual sacredness is a personal, internal vision—a part of the self that refers to faith in something greater and more profound than self. Faith is not necessarily in the context of organized religion, but rather as how one perceives their own connection with a force higher than themselves. In the context of this blog, spirituality best fits to an internal exploration rather than to objective reasoning.

Ericson (1996) says it best:

Although I am well versed in the “techniques” and “tools” of psychology and psychotherapy, I believe that these are merely “tools.” The real healing takes place with these tools and the willingness and openness to allow that “power greater than self” to intervene. I believe that to use these tools without a healthy respect and inclusion of the spiritual process is like trying to run a race with one leg. (pp.104-105)

So, what is the experience of spirituality? It is allowing yourself to be open and willing to let your experience take you where your journey directs you—to embrace whatever comes…


Photos by: Dr. Lisa Ortigara Crego


Ericson Phyllis (1996). “Journey of the soul…The emerging self…from dis-ease to discovery.” Dissertation Abstracts International, 58 (8), 4579B (UMI No. 9542654)

Spirituality Inhibited by Active Binging

Spirituality Inhibited by Active Binging

I discovered working with a small intimate group discussing recovery that Spiritual healing alone works if you aren’t dealing with a chemical imbalance. We all experienced a blockage from our spirituality when we were active in binge eating. We lived in a self-centered world and yet never ended up with what satisfied us. We learned we can’t give of ourselves because we’re immersed in addictive eating blocking the connection to God. In our self-centered world we’re unable to love ourselves—we’re centered in self-hate.

Healing requires a three prong mindset: physical, emotional, and spiritual. How can we heal our bodies if our mind is toxic from our chemical response to certain foods? In turn, if we are emotionally bankrupt how do we find our way spiritually? Can we be spiritually connected when we’re knee deep in a food binge?

I can only speak for myself and the answer is—not totally. Yes, the binge dropped me to my knees begging for relief; however, once the food partially digested I was ready for another binge. What comes first cleansing from the binge or reaching out to God?

At times when I was loaded with sugar I struggled with negative images of God, feelings of spiritual unworthiness and shame, fear of abandonment by God, intense difficulty surrendering and keeping faith, and dishonesty and deception. I believed in God yet had deep spiritual struggles creating a major impediment to my ability to recover from my eating disorder.

This is not to say there were not previous times in my life where I felt a connection to God and a degree of personal spirituality. I still attended weekly Sunday mass intermittently but lost these connections through the course of my eating disorder. In essence, I realized spiritual healing can happen but first I needed to address my chemical imbalance on a physical, spiritual, and emotional level.

Patience

Patience was never one of my strong suits. Two years ago when I was up at my sisters cottages, which have been in my family for many generations, I commented on the beauty of Great Grandma's (Baba) lilies that are sprinkled about and how they are still going even though she has long passed.


My brother-in-law over hearing my enthusiasm and gratitude over Baba's flowers, surprised me the day I was flying home with 6 plants he uprooted for me to take back to Florida. Everyone scoffed at the idea saying these lilies could never grow in Florida soil.


Ignoring the nay sayers, my husband and I got busy and planted all 6 in the ground as soon as I landed and we returned to our Florida home. And...they all died! And then a strange thing happened. A few months after their death green foliage sprouted, but nothing more. Years passed. And today, to my glee I walked by and spotted this orange flower swinging to the breeze.


What a lesson in patience! I am so glad we did not give up and dig the plants out. Releasing weight and recovering from an eating disorder works the same way. Often you want to throw in the towel and just give up, especially if your are worshipping the scale. I know I never had patience to lose weight. I was jumping on and off the scale on a daily basis. Then one day (many years ago) a very wise friend of mine suggested I trust my food plan and turn the rest over to God. Wow...that was a bit much for me. First off, I never thought of my food and weight a God thing. I always thought about it as a lack of will power on my part. But, I thought with a hundred extra pounds hanging on my body what did I have to lose? Okay...I stepped into that one: 100 pounds!!!


I learned a profound lesson. I stopped worshipping the scales and trusted a power greater than me. I put all my attention on what I was eating: weighing and measuring it. I let go of sugar, flour and wheat and turned the rest over to this power bigger and grander than little ole me. And I waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. A little like Baba's orange lily. I was barely losing a pound every few weeks. I decided to let go of the daily ritual and worship of weighing my body and instead turned to once a month and trusted my plan would work. Some months I dropped a pound. Some months nothing. Other months I got a hand full of pounds off. But I stuck to leaving the scale to the power greater than me. Slowly and steadily my body changed, my spirituality strengthened, and my confidence soared. I like to think of it like healing. My body, mind, and spirit were healing.

My little flower could not have come at a better time. Today, 11 years ago, April 11, 1998, my Mom had a massive stroke at 4:00 a.m. I got the call from my Dad and by 8:00 a.m. I was in the car headed to Madeira Beach. We were suppose to have a lovely Easter Sunday together; all the preparations were waiting in the kitchen, even the little basket for Benjamin who was then 8 years of age. Life changed in that moment I received the call. I believe my Mom would be here today if she had understood eating disorders and obesity. My mission is to carry the news to those living and suffering from eating disorders...


So, here I am today reflecting on patience. I attach my weight loss success and my peace with my addictive foods to patience. Just like my little orange flower, blowing in the wind, I have sprouted my own pedals. I too needed a little soil, watering, sun, and love. I am grateful to have a piece of Wautoma, Wisconsin (Baba) in my back yard. It was worth the wait just as letting go of 100 pounds was worth the years it took. Today, I am at a healthy normal weight...never worried about what to wear or what to eat, just sticking to weighing and measuring my food, not eating sugar, flour, or wheat, and turning everything over to a power greather than me. Life is good.

Photos by: Dr. Lisa Ortigara Crego

Addicted to a Twinky?

I was reading an interesting article tonight on emerging trends in addiction treatment (Price, 2009) in the Monitor on Psychology. What I found interesting was the emphasis on new treatments for illicit drugs like marijuana and cocaine and licit drugs such as Xanax, Vicodin, and Oxycontin. Of course these addictions and some of the new treatments are not new to me as an addiction professional; however, what is interesting is the attention abuse of these drugs receives.

What about those suffering from addictions to food? The response to the triggers is almost identical. Whether the addiction is cocaine or a twinky, there is a loss of control, physiological tolerance, and psychological dependence occurring when the specific stimulus is ingested (or snorted or mainlined) resulting in negative consequences in basic life functions. These negative consequences include, relationships with: family, social situations, intimate relationships, spiritual or God, the law, health, and work life.

This sounds so dramatic when you think in light of a twinky! Could a person do something drastic if they have an addiction to sugar, flour, and wheat? I did! I remember some really foolish things I did when I was into my trigger foods. I remember one time driving over to the west coast of Florida in my 8 cylinder, 5 speed Mustang convertible with the top down, wind blowing through my hair...my 75 pound dog and then young son accompanying me, while eating a taco salad, shifting, and driving on a major highway weaving in and out of traffic. My reckless behavior certainly could have had severe consequences. I was using my hands to eat and my knees to steer the wheel, down shifting when needed, letting go of the wheel with one of my hands. This was definitely loss of control and possible disaster, just to get my foods in.

In my situation, phsyiological tolerance was evident. There was a time I was eating enough food to feed an army of people in one sitting. I ate large volumes in a small period of time not caring about the consequences...until I finished...and then the shame and bargaining set in. I never thought about how damaging this large volume of food might be on my health...but I did think about my weight and the fear of gaining until I would "fix" the thought with the next "diet" I was going to go on. It was a vicious cycle much like the drug addict experiences.

As for the psychological dependence, I feared life without these foods in it. I could not imagine never eating a chocolate bar again, or a soft piece of bread, or a Ritz cracker. These foods were my friends, my buddies, my life. The sadness and fear that overcame me was frightening and unthinkable. I did not want to go out socially. I would much rather be home with my stash of food and the television. The food took the place of relationships. As for God or a spiritual recovery, the path was blocked. How could I let goodness in when I was feeling so awful about myself. I was filled with shame and a low self worth I can barely believe was the me I know today.

Today, as I read the article on the new emerging trends in addiction treatment, and though happy to learn of new treatments on the horizon, I am saddened the food addict is struggling alone and most often not recognized or acknowledged. Treatments often neglect the addictive piece associated with binge eating disorder and compulsive eating. When patients come to me for the first time I see such sadness and fear in their eyes. By the time they leave they have hope to hold on to. They learn they are not alone and although they may suffer from this disease and that it is a chemical imbalance, it is not their fault. What they hear is so foreign yet validating. Perhaps one day soon I will pick up the Monitor on Psychology and read about the new treatment for food addiction!

Photo taken by: Dr. Lisa Ortigara Crego