Food Addicts In Recovery Anonymous

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous
  • 4.9 (169)
  • HEALTH & FITNESS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
Food Addicts In Recovery Anonymous

447697

  1. JAN 15

    103. As Her Body Got Bigger, Her World Got Smaller

    This story is about a woman who spent years chasing control, yet felt lost in her own life. Despite a loving upbringing, she struggled with feeling like she was “not enough.” Many of her childhood memories were centered around food, but she was able to maintain a normal weight until college. There, her food addiction took off, and she picked up cigarettes and alcohol. As she kept eating and growing bigger, she found her life shrinking. She made choices based on fear, such as working at the family business and settling into a life she didn’t love. After having a baby and not losing the weight, she joined a commercial weight loss program and lost 100 pounds (45 kilos). This kicked her disease into a whole new gear, throwing her into complete obsession with weight loss, exercise, therapy, and medication. Finally, she found Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA). At her first meeting, she heard members reading stories from the FA magazine, Connection, and related to every single story. She realized she was not alone. After one final binge that involved stealing food from her children, she found willingness to surrender control and become abstinent. Now remarried with two stepchildren in addition to her two sons, she has learned to face the challenges of life. But more than that, she describes a spiritual experience of joy and living with a lighter mind, free from food obsession.

    29 min

  2. JAN 1

    102. An Inside Job

    After 25 years in the Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) program, life looks vastly different. My wife and I are about to celebrate our 20th anniversary, and we have a 17-year-old daughter. I now serve as the dean of students at a religious seminary—an unexpected outcome from working the FA program, considering that I neither liked deans nor religion in my earlier years. My journey with food addiction started when I was a young girl, using food – particularly sugar – as a coping mechanism or a reward. Despite growing up in a stable household, I wrestled with self-doubt, insecurity, and body dysmorphia. I believed I was overweight my whole life, but childhood photos proved otherwise. The turning point came when a friend introduced me to FA, and though skeptical of 12-step programs, I decided to give it a try. The program helped me recognize my addictive relationship with food and allowed me to build a spiritual connection with my higher power. My sponsor's loving guidance provided structure, helped me with my food choices, and encouraged me to practice daily meditation. This simple, yet transformative, practice has helped me stay abstinent through many of life's challenges. Today, I live with gratitude for the gifts of FA, knowing that my life—once filled with fear and shame—has been completely rearranged from the inside out.

    31 min

  3. 10/23/2024

    101. 700 Pounds in my Lifetime

    I came to Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) fifteen years ago weighing 211 pounds. Despite countless diets, fasts, and exercise routines, I couldn’t maintain weight loss until I found FA. Beneath my career ambitions, I was plagued by shame and self-loathing, constantly trying to project whatever image people wanted—determined, fun, or athletic.  For confidence, I relied on drugs, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and, most of all, food. In my twenties, I replaced meals with liquid protein supplements, which led to hospitalization, a two-week coma, and the loss of a kidney. Even after that ordeal, I continued fasting and restricting my food intake during the week, and bingeing and purging on weekends - all to suppress my anger and rage. I was an out-of-control food addict, destroying everything in my path—my relationships with colleagues, friends, family, my bank account, and certainly my own health. My therapist, after determining I had probably lost and gained 700 pounds in my lifetime, admitted she couldn’t help, but she suggested I try FA. I didn’t want to go to a meeting—my life was very busy, after all. But I was desperate and broken, so I went to a meeting, and I found hope. Today, I no longer obsess over food or body image, I’ve mended relationships, including with my husband, and let go of the shame that once consumed me. I no longer compare myself to others, and instead focus on what’s right in my world. FA and the 12 steps have given me the tools to live life on life’s terms, and for that I’m deeply grateful.

    28 min

  4. 10/02/2024

    100. Finding Safety in Recovery

    This food addict’s story was about fear, which led her to go to the food. It was a drug that made her feel safe. Although her family looked normal from the outside, her dad was an alcoholic, and she did not realize how cunning the disease of addiction was until later in life. As early as five years old, she was uncomfortable in her body. There was a constant desire to be thin, leading her to avoid eating all day, just to come home and binge. High school consisted of drinking and smoking. After one year of college, she married her high school boyfriend, had two children, and stayed clean for a while. Her marriage ended in divorce, leaving her a single mom and broke. She knew alcohol was a problem, so she joined Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) at age 39. Despite seeing her sister suffer from bulimia and anorexia, and ultimately die by suicide, she continued to eat addictively. After getting sober, she finally realized food was also a problem. She eventually found Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA). Underweight when joining the program, she has now been at a healthy weight for almost 20 years. She is available for her relationships - showing up as a mother and a grandmother. After obtaining several degrees, there is joy in her career. She now has a kit of tools that helps her feel safe and live free from food addiction. She hopes others can experience that miracle too.

    22 min

  5. 09/18/2024

    099. From Fear to Freedom

    A food addict from New South Wales, Australia, I am the youngest of three who grew up with a strict, abusive father and a hardworking, protective mother. My childhood was filled with deep-seated fear, including night terrors, fear of the dark, and fear of my father. Despite having a large, extended family around me, I felt totally alone and alienated. As a child, I was trained by Olympian swimmers to be on the national team, but I got scared and quit the sport. Then I found dancing and went off to the UK to study ballet. Once again, fear led me to drop out. I realize now that opportunity frightened me, so I kept saying "no." Amid personal struggles with identity and acceptance, including abuse and familial disapproval, food was my constant source of comfort. At times, I would wake up at four in the morning and start cooking before leaving for work, only to start cooking again when I got home. My eating grew worse, and I started using bulimia and extreme dieting to control my weight. Thankfully, despite initial skepticism, I attended a meeting of Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA), which provided a pathway to recovery and self-discovery. I have embraced my true identity as a gay man and embarked on a journey of healing and personal growth. I never thought I would live past forty, but today I am sixty-one, with dreams and hopes for the future. I thought I was too damaged, too broken, and too far gone, but FA proved me wrong. I thought it wouldn’t, but this program absolutely works.

    31 min

  6. 09/07/2024

    098. Su única amiga era la comida

    Una joven adicta de los Estados Unidos con raíces en América Latina vivió con mucha inestabilidad en su juventud. Buscó consuelo en la comida y los laxantes.  Por las extrañas acciones que practicaba con la comida desde muy pequeña, y la incapacidad de parar de comer, ella subió de peso. Cuando se sintió rechazada y perdida, encontró la recuperación en el programa de Adictos a la comida en recuperación anónimos (Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous). El sentimiento de “¿Qué importa?” fue reemplazado con un estilo de vida y una actitud mental sana. Esa estudiante de medicina que luchó por tantos años ahora se percibe como una estrella a sus propios ojos, y a los ojos de su familia.

    28 min

  7. 08/21/2024

    097. Extreme Eating

    For years, I blamed everyone for my struggles with weight and food addiction – my parents, my wife, and my job. After I joined Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA), I realized it wasn’t their fault. My practice of eating large quantities began in childhood. Teased and friendless, I would sneak away to eat alone with the lunch money my mom gave me. This pattern escalated through high school with food, drugs, and alcohol, and in adulthood, I frequented drive-thru’s, mindlessly consuming meals meant for four. My career facilitated my food addiction, enabling me to binge on the company’s dime. As I ate massive amounts of food, my weight escalated. The real wake-up call came with the birth of my children. Multiple people began telling me, “You aren’t going to live to see them grow up.” I could barely care for myself, much less care for my children and family. In FA, my life quickly began to transform. Only a few weeks into FA, my wife said, “You seem calmer.” I had started at 398.6 pounds (180.8 kilos), and the extra weight fell off in the first year. I not only lost weight, but I began recovering from all of my addictions – including social media – saving my marriage and allowing me to love my children truly. I still have problems today, but I now tackle them with phone calls, writing, and prayer. FA has taught me to live a balanced and fulfilling life, always learning and adapting.

    31 min

  8. 08/07/2024

    096. Foxhole Prayers

    At a young age, I was completely focused on food and how to get it. Gaining weight by third grade, I went on my first diet – with my mom! By twelve, after a painful friendship breakup, I was binge eating and purging in secret. In college, despite quitting drinking, smoking, and pills through sheer willpower, bulimia was a battle I simply couldn’t win alone. College amplified my struggles; the affluence of my peers left me feeling inadequate, and my father’s death during my sophomore year led me to more unhealthy behaviors and depression. Feeling completely ungrounded, I found daily tasks difficult, and my life was truly unmanageable. I spent my days literally going from dining hall to dining hall, eating my way through the pain. A turning point came when I heard a recording from a recovering alcoholic that mirrored my story with food and how I ate. This realization led me to Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA), where after several starts and re-starts, I am grateful to now have over 20 years of abstinence from food addiction. This freedom has transformed my life, allowing me to leave grad school (the right decision!), start a business, share in a wonderful marriage, and embrace motherhood thanks to a profound change in my attitude. Through my recovery in FA, I have found a spiritual path, a peaceful foundation, and a life I never could have imagined.

    29 min
See All (98)

4.9
out of 5
169 Ratings

About

447697

Information

  • Creator
    Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2025
  • Episodes
    98
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2018 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Food Addicts In Recovery Anonymous

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada