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| Monday, April 20, 2009 |
| Food Addiction |
We received the following comment from one of our readers:
I've followed Kaye Sheppard's Food Addiction/recovery food plan. I found that I felt healthy and it seems balanced to me. However, I found it hard to follow without the personal support of a sponsor from Overeaters Anonymous. Would love to see a review of it.
In general, I would like OA to be part of the conversation about diet and food. I think many overweight/obese people struggle with food addiction.
And we wanted to share our response with all of you too!
Hey Rachel! Thanks for the comment. I agree that food addiction is a very real problem for many people and successful treatment must include proper support and guidance. In reality, following any restricted “diet” can be hard. Whether it’s OA or simply calling a friend for help, most people need support to be successful, so you’re not alone. The most important thing is finding a treatment program that works for you and your individual needs. I also encourage anyone facing addiction to be proactive about educating themselves and those around them. Knowledge empowers you to take control of your addiction instead of your addiction taking control of you.
As promised, here is a review of the Kaye Sheppard's Food Addiction Recovery Food Plan. Let me start by saying this program is more than just a diet. It’s designed to be part of a comprehensive treatment program for food addiction. In many ways it reminds me of the typical “detox” diet, where you eliminate a bunch of foods for a short period of time to supposedly purge the body of unwanted toxins. There are many so-called “trigger” foods that are off limits like chocolate, wheat, sugar, alcohol, sweeteners and caffeine. All these foods are considered to be addictive and people following the diet are asked to abstain (maybe even for life) from these foods to eliminate cravings.
The program does promote eating whole food such as fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, some dairy products and healthy fats like olive and canola oil. It provides an outline for daily portions, broken up into three meals and a snack. The portions are similar to diabetic exchanges (1 fruit, 1 protein, 1 grain, etc.) and different portion sizes are given for men and women.
Although I do think the meal plan portion of this program could be considered “balanced”, this type of diet plan is very structured and restrictive, which makes adherence difficult. In my experience, I’ve found the more difficult and time consuming a program is to follow, the less success people will have in the long run. If this isn’t a way that you could see yourself eating for the rest of your life then it’s probably not the diet for you.
- Lauren
Labels: Diet, Diet Review, Food Addiction, Lauren
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posted by My Sensei @ Monday, April 20, 2009   |
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