Dear friend,

Would you be so kind as to check off the following things that we previously dealt with, in order for you to get an idea of how you’re doing. If you have not made any progress in this area it might be a good idea to ask for some prayer by sending me an email or posting on our Members Forum. You might also look into some counseling, or support from a friend or pastor to speed up your healing.

• How are you doing with your 40 days?
  Please stay on guard in this area: The enemy won’t let you go without a fight. You might be especially vulnerable now that you start to let go of some addictive food, so you will need the Holy Spirit’s power and the power of prayer in your life to break free.

• Have you seen a doctor or made an appointment?

• Have you made an honest list of your addictive foods in your journal?

• Have you taken some steps to nurture your body? (even baby steps are good:)

• Did you start to cut at least one of your addictive foods from your diet?

• Do you experience withdrawal symptoms (tiredness, irritability, anger etc), and do you have someone to turn to during those times?

• Do you experience grief, and do you remember that it’s okay to bring your pain to God and have a good cry before Him?

Restrictive and Fad Diets

• Diets cutting out certain food groups permanently (meat, carbohydrates, fat , fruit, vegetables or dairy).

• Also diets where you eat only a few things (like cabbage soup) for a long time.

According to my own experience and the testimonies of other ladies, I have to say that diets that limit you to eat just certain foods are accidents waiting to happen, especially for someone with an eating disorder. Why?

• It puts your focus on food and the scale (feeding the obsession with food and your body).

• It usually deprives your body of a much needed food group (such as carbohydrates or fat).

• Deprivation causes cravings and a nagging fear that you are harming your body and that you will not be able to keep this up.

• The above mentioned cravings are inevitably followed by binging on the “forbidden food” and the fear steals every drop of peace you have.

• After a binge the vicious cycle of guilt and shame comes into play: you feel like a failure and this causes you to binge more and quickly pick up all (and more) of the weight you’ve lost.

• The fact that a certain food is forbidden also feeds perfectionism: You feel a total failure if you eat one morsel of the “forbidden food” and then just give up and binge.

One positive thing that I can say about diets that eliminate SOME carbohydrates (even fruit for a period of time) is that it can actually help you get rid of sugar addiction. These diets have helped me get rid of my sugar addiction in the past to an extend that I could walk into a grocery store after only 7 days on the plan and not crave the pastries and the chocolate at all. Also, weight loss are much faster on these kind of programs – this can be a great incentive to keep going.
WARNING: If you follow a program that is low in carbs and high in low fat protein, make sure that it also includes LOTS OF VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS. If you simply start eating lots of meat you might not have sugar cravings, but you will end up with a body that’s sick and depleted. This totally defeats the purpose, and is just another type of fad diet that promotes eating disorders.

Diets where everything in any amount is allowed according to your hunger and fullness signals

I have to be honest and say that I have met some ladies who did great with these diets. They told me that their bodies ultimately started asking for the healthy stuff as well (and not just the addictive food). Unfortunately for me and a lot of other ladies this “switch” never happened. I have gone back and read all the books, looking for something I’ve missed, because I really liked this way of relating to food and listening to your body. Here’s what I found though:

• It does teach you a lot about you own body’s hunger and fullness signals, but it also keeps you busy with your body and food all day long. I kept on wondering what I can eat next and if I’m really hungry/full and what I’m really craving. I thought it would get better, but after months I was still preoccupied with my body.

• It fills you with fear about how long you can keep up the few bites of food, especially the food that comforts you, before you binge on it again. So you keep on looking around for other ways to lose weight, and you worry that you’re gaining instead of loosing.

• You keep on waiting for the day your body will start to “ask” you for salads and vegetables, but somehow that day never comes, and every time you feel emotionally distress or want to celebrate, you fail to just eat a few bites of the addictive substance and then spiral into a binge.

• What I found is that as long as my body stayed depleted of vitamins it kept on craving the foods that I was addicted to. I simply didn’t have an appetite for fruit, vegetable, and water due to the years of depriving my body from it. I had to re-train my body to crave the healthy food again by simply adding it to my diet daily (regardless of what I craved). To me this diet felt like leaving a 3 year old in a store and telling him he can eat whatever he wants, hoping that he will eventually gravitate towards the broccoli. We have to teach our kids to have an appetite for vegetables by introducing it regularly, the same was true for my body.

Diets where you are motivated by giving money up front

Now I don’t have personal experience with these kind of programs seeing that they have some restrictions that applied to me. I wanted to try it once but I couldn’t (they don’t treat people who had any kind of liver problems in their life, even decades ago)

• However, I did hear back from a few ladies who followed this kind of program and read a lot about it too. It seems that the “money-carrot” either works for you or it works against you.

• I can see that it might work for people with a competitive personality – not sure what happens when the challenge is over though, but it looks like support is in place

• What I can say is that the program seems to have a good handle on balanced eating and the one-on-one counseling is definitely a great benefit

• The only down side that I can see is that you can lose some money if you don’t lose the weight and this can of course cause some additional stress. They don’t necessarily deal with cutting addictive food from one’s diet as far as I can tell.

Diets where you get your food pre-made

I have really seen people have success with these diets. It is obviously sound in good nutrition and portion control, and if you can keep to the food they send you, I can see that it can built up your body and stop the cravings. I recently joined one of these programs and was so impressed with it. Please click here to read my journal on the forum where I talk about this journey from being totally skeptical to feeling so blessed and grateful to God for giving me this tool: Heleen’s Journal

I had a lot of questions when I first started this program, so let me line out the basic pros and cons of this kind of food program. These are more geared toward the program I’m following: Take Shape for Life. This does not necessarily apply to other programs such as Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, etc.

PROS:

• After a few days on this program you feel peace returning to your mind and emotions mainly because you know that you’re feeding your body six meals a day that are high in vitamins and minerals but also low in calories.
• It can rid you of food cravings in as little as 7 days – after 21 days most people have no more cravings and can walk into a store without the anxiety and desire for all their addictive food
• It TOTALLY takes your attention off food (after the few days that it takes to get used to preparing the packaged meals). You go into auto pilot about food and meal preparation. This has been a tremendous help for me at a time in my life where I was so overwhelmed with work, housework, and homeschooling my kids. It is a fact that most of us moms will make sure that our children eat healthy (even if we are stretched to the limit) but then we have no time left for ourselves and tend to just grab junk food or bread. This plan helped me make sure that I’m also taking good care of my children’s mother
• I was amazed at the difference support from a health coach made for me on this journey. Many women on this journey have trust issues because they have been disappointed so many times, and I too felt myself  suspicious of the program and the coaching. However, a coach who is compassionate and kind and who have walked this journey herself can be a tremendous help. My coach has inspired and encouraged me and the fact that she is a Christian made it even more of a blessing.
• Fast and Safe Weight Loss! I have never lost so fast on any other program. The only way I’ve ever lost weight fast in the past was with dangerous methods (pills and purging) and with fad diets. These methods are not a permanent way of losing weight as it horribly abuses the body and at some point your body turns on you and the weight comes back on. So I was skeptical about this “fast weight loss” to say the least. I quickly changed my mind though when I actually kept the weight off and met other people who kept their weight off for years through this program. The biggest benefit I found from losing weight fast – IT’S A HUGE MOTIVATOR! I became more and more inspired every day to keep going on the program and to start exercising MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE FAST WEIGHT LOSS. Seriously, is there anything more devastating than working your best at a program, giving it your all for weeks, and not losing anything?
• I thought that it would be difficult to incorporate this program with family life, but I was surprised at how easy it was. Eating my own six small meals a day made me more aware that my kids also need small fuelings of food that are high in vitamins and nutrients throughout the day. Also, on this program you have one meal a day that you have to prepare yourself (consisting of  low fat protein and vegetables), so we eat that together as a family. Having vegetables and  low fat protein every night proved to be ONLY beneficial for our whole family – I just add a whole grain for the children.

CONS:

• I think one can get pretty sick of the same food, just like there are so many healthy frozen meals in the stores (Lean cuisine, Healthy choice, etc) but somehow you can find yourself staring at those meals and nothing looks appetizing after a while. This has not happened to me yet, but I’ve heard others complain about this. However, I have to add that the makers of this program hinge some of their success on the fact that “our cravings diminish when we have limited choices”

• Also, if you’re a family of two, this can work great seeing that you can simply bypass grocery shopping and simply stick to the food provided. However, for bigger families this might be a problem. It cost about $11 a day per person, which is less than the average $16 that most American’s spend on food per day. However, if you have a big family and you have been shopping carefully and planned your meals frugal in the past, this might jack your budget for groceries a month. I found that it cost our family of 6 people a little more when me and my husband first went on this program. However, after a while our budget went back to normal, simply because I don’t go to the store that often anymore and I actually stick to my shopping list when I do go

• I’m not sure that everybody can do this forever. If you stop, because you get tired of the same kind of food or run out of money, then what? Your coach’s job is to help you transition into “normal” eating when you lose your weight and then help you put a maintenance plan in place. This can all work out if you have a coach who you trust and who is willing to walk the distance with you.
• This kind of program is not for everybody. If you have bulimia or anorexia you can not follow this kind of program. Please have a look at the other programs I recommend below if you’re struggling with these types of eating disorders. There are also certain medical conditions that will prohibit you from following this program.

Weight Watchers

• It is online-accessible. I love this feature – if you’re already working on the computer you can just quickly add things to your online points calculator

• It allows you to eat everything, so you don’t experience that panic of impending deprivation before you start. It doesn’t deal with letting go of addictive foods (which can actually cause ladies to not break out of the addiction), but it encourages you to focus on healthy eating, which helps

• It reminds you to drink water, exercise, take vitamins and add important things like vegetables and dairy to your diet.

• It takes just a few weeks to get used to the points and then you pretty much know how much things count and don’t have to thing about food. If you are online, you just type in the food that you are about to eat and it tells you exactly how much points it is.

• It has menus and recipes that you can use or just add to your own weekly menus and shopping lists – so  you don’t keep you thinking about food all day long

• It is easier to follow and stay inside your point if you also start cutting back on your addictive foods.

• Unfortunately weight loss is pretty slow and this can be discouraging. Some people end up returning to their unhealthy ways of eating because it doesn’t deal with removing addictive foods and it’s too slow.

• Attending a Weight Watchers group can be the make-or-break factor when following this program. Most people find it very difficult to keep at it when they’re just doing it online. Accountability and support are always recommended, so if you like WW, you might consider joining a group close to you to get the maximum benefit. Research has shown that 80% of people drop out of diet programs that doesn’t offer some kind of coaching or accountability. Fortunately Weight Watchers has support in place all across the country – there are groups in shopping malls, churches, maybe even at your workplace. So be sure to check online for a group close to you, and show up. It might be uncomfortable at first, but it’s part of laying down your pride and asking for help on this journey – plus, it could help you stick to the plan and lose your extra weight!

Note: Cutting back on addictive food is not the same as deprivation. When you deprive your body you take away food or food groups that are important to health and well being. When you cut out addictive food, you take out food that are extra (not essential), have almost no nutritional value and can even be harmful to your body. Plus, you cut back one at a time.

First Place

Basically all the same advantages as Weight Watchers just on a much smaller scale. It is a Christian program and they use the “whole person approach”, so you get much more than just a food plan. This program has been around for a few years and they have a lot of groups throughout the country. Unfortunately they don’t have an online feature. But if you can find a strong group close to you,  with a leader who is compassionate and knows her stuff, then you can also reap a lot of spiritual, social, and accountability benefits from it.

You can also start your own First Place Group and help others. You will find their material at most Christian book stores or look for them online.

Overeaters Anonymous (OA)

I have a few friends who will tell you how deeply they were affected by a 12 Step program. These groups usually offers accountability and mutual understanding. They also encourage you lay down your addictive foods, which is crucial if you are struggling with food addiction. If you feel a lack of community and don’t have a connection with people who understand your struggle, these groups can definitely help you in that area.
A word of warning: I do recommend you make sure that it is a Christian environment, which is not to be assumed.
I have personal experience of the Christian version of OA, called Celebrate Recovery, and I do believe that you can benefit greatly from these groups. You will usually find these groups at big churches in your area.
However, I would recommend that you use it as one of many tools. These groups are usually run by volunteers and they don’t necessarily have the resources to provide you with a healthy eating program and accountability on that front.

FASTING (Full fast or liquid diets)

I do believe in fasting as the Bible recommends. However, if you are suffering from an eating disorder the enemy will very likely twist this Biblical truth to trick you. A clear sign of this is when you are fasting to lose weight and not to humble yourself before God. I would recommend that you tread very carefully when it comes to fasting. I tried fasting a few times while I was still struggling with an eating disorder and it didn’t work so well for me. The moment I stopped eating I would feel panic grip my heart and before I knew it, I would be binging, even though I might not have done that for a long time.

I also know of ladies who started out with a fast and became so thrilled and preoccupied with the drastic weight loss that they spiraled into Anorexia. This is especially dangerous if you have a history of Anorexia.

DIET PILLS (Prescription, over the counter, and herbal)

• All of these only work while you’re on them. So the moment you go off, you get your appetite and cravings back and start gaining weight again.

• Losing weight this way is usually at the cost of your health, seeing that it is too easy to just eat a few bites of your favorite (and most likely addictive foods) when you have no appetite, which keeps depriving your body from much needed vitamins and minerals.

• Also, when you can keep from eating, and lose weight this way, you might start to feel that you don’t need God. You might get so swept up in you weight loss and buying new clothes, that you neglect your relationship with God, which is a trap of the enemy to keep you enslaved.

• The biggest problem with these pills: They all contain addictive substances, so as soon as your body gets used to the prescribed amount, it doesn’t give you the same results anymore, so you have to keep on adding to the dose to get the same result. So to keep up the lack of appetite and high energy caused by ephedrine, caffeine, and other ingredients in the pills, you might end up using large amount of pills which can cause serious health problems and even death.

Note: Do not be fooled by the “natural” substances in herbal medicine that are not FDA approved. Some of these can have exactly the same harmful effects and complications. Test herbal appetite suppressants by the symptoms you have (no appetite, jitters, and tons of energy to the point of insomnia) and compare these with prescription or FDA approved OTC drugs.

Please take a look at the complications of diet pills (not a complete list) :

Seizures
Headaches
Heart palpitations
Dizziness
Anxiety
Irritability
Insomnia
Loss of libido
Blurred vision
Dry mouth
Menstrual irregularities
Paranoia
Cardiac arrest
Stroke
Death

PURGING (Vomiting, Laxatives, Diuretics, Ipecac)

Desperate people use desperate measures. I know that in the midst of an eating disorder you will do anything to feel better and “lighter”. This is a method that people use to rid their bodies of the food they’ve just binged on, and to rid themselves of the consequences of binging (weight gain)

This is a dangerous method that can cause death much sooner than you realize. Do not play around with this any longer! Please have a look at the damage Bulimia can do to your body. I gave you list of these in Week 3.