DAY 14: WEEK 2 Resource Guide
Here’s your WEEK 2 Resource Guide!
It’s my hope that you’ll bring your curiosity to the process of overcoming food addiction. When we do, we experience less frustration and anxiety about “letting go” of our trigger foods and can embrace the principles of recovery as something positive.
I firmly believe that transformational change happens when you’re moving toward something positive, not when you’re running away from something negative.
Two new books for your reading list:
Food Junkies: The Truth About Food Addiction, by Vera Tarman, MD (2014).
Dr. Tarman is the medical director of Renascent, an addictions treatment center in Toronto. Her book tackles the complex, poorly understood issue of food addiction from the perspectives of a medical researcher and dozens of survivors. She answers the questions: “What exactly is food addiction? Is it possible to draw a hard line between indulging cravings for ‘comfort food’ and engaging in substance abuse?”
I find myself referring to Dr. Tarman’s book time and time again.
The Hunger Fix: The Three-Stage Detox and Recovery Plan for Overeating and Food Addiction, by Pam Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP (2012).
In her book, Dr. Peeke lays out a science-based, three-stage plan to break the addiction to false fixes and replace them with healthier actions. Fitness guides, meal plans, and recipes are constructed to bolster the growth of new neurons and stimulate the body’s reward system. Gradually, healthy fixes like meditating, going for a run, laughing, and learning a new language will replace the junk food, couch time, and other bad habits that leave us unhappy and overweight. Love that.
Great website:
Addiction.com, especially the subheadings: Food Addiction Treatment and Food Addiction Must-Reads. Great stuff.
Useful blogs:
“Food Addiction Rehab” by Dr. Pam Peeke. Yes, same Dr. Peeke as the author of The Hunger Fix noted above. She is also a regular contributor for The Huffington Post.
“Voices of Recovery” by blogger Carla Andrews. She’s a blogger who’s also a recovering food addict. I like her voice, and her stories show insight and self-compassion.
Lots of interesting things to think about, for sure.
More tomorrow. Until then, stay strong.