How My Recovery with Food Addiction Led Me to Weight Loss

My name is Linda and I am a food addict!  “A what?” you may ask, which is just what my husband asked when I told him. Yes!  I am a food addict; I am addicted to food.

One year ago, this month, I began a journey that took me to a beautiful, peaceful, healthy new place…the place where I now reside…in my right sized body!  In 6 months I lost 55 pounds, 40 of which I’ve carried around, thus far, through my entire adult life. Since high school I’ve been overweight and for the last ten years, although it’s hard to say, I was obese. The failed weight loss attempts over the last decade left me feeling powerless, moneyless, and depressed.   Last year, I was turning 40, living with high cholesterol, wearing a size 16 and resolved that this was just the way it was going to be.

Food had a stronghold on my life; I was addicted to it and still am, but I have learned to utilize tools that help me keep it in check, one day, one meal at a time. I found a solution!  Well, no, it found me—while sitting on a couch at a party in the Hollywood Hills. I had been observing a close friend experiencing gradual, yet steady weight loss.

That fateful, summer evening, she encouraged me to go to her Saturday morning meeting in Sherman Oaks.   It wasn’t Weight Watchers…been there, done that! I went, not knowing what to expect. There I listened to a speaker share about her experience, strength, and hope. She lived a life as a heavy person; I know because I saw the pictures! MY heartbreak, MY insecurities, MY story came pouring out of HER mouth. I cried. God, my dear friend, and this speaker, someone I didn’t even know, gave me a solution that has forever changed my life. I decided that day to join Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA).

For three days I cried every time I thought about the new direction I was taking in my life. I was in mourning! I was mourning the death of three very close, yet caustic friends…flour, sugar, and quantities.  These friends were fun in the short run and, as I later learned, had filled a real void in me.  The aftermath that remained, however, was long lasting–obesity, greater depression, insecurity, high cholesterol, secrecy, detachment, and the list goes on.

Today, I am eating healthy portions of meats, vegetables, fruits, and grains. And today I have new friends:  Myself, God, people in my FA program, my family, and my old friends. These friends have always been here for me, but I wasn’t capable of receiving the gifts they carried.  Food was always in the way and now, with food in its proper place, I am free, peaceful, a size 6 (never dreamed that), 138 pounds (never dreamed that either), and a very proud, recovering food addict! I can sincerely say that I, by definition, NOW have oomph! I have more energy and vitality, feel sexy in my new body and gorgeous right sized clothes, and most importantly, I am enthusiastic about my life today. My future has 10-15 healthier years tacked onto its’ tail end. That, I am certain! Please revisit www.oomphtv.com, for more entries about my journey with food addiction.

Also, please visit Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) at www.foodaddicts.org

30+ Years of Feel-Good Running

I first came to live in the US from England in 1977. Miraculously I shed almost 50 pounds without even trying! My two young daughters and I arrived a few days before Thanksgiving. Even with its vaguely anti-English overtones, we immediately embraced this unfamiliar holiday, especially the strange but plentiful food. Christmas seemed to follow with hardly a chance to catch our breath (or get hungry) and then New Year. To complete the holiday feasting, my new American wife and I got married in January.

When I weighed myself after all this gluttony, I was truly stunned to discover that my 200+ pounds had been decimated. I was suddenly a svelte 155 pounds, feeling incredibly blessed and scared to death I’d pack those 50 pounds back on in a flash. Looking back now, it was obviously a complete change of lifestyle that did the trick. I had left behind an advertising career fueled by expense account food and drink (lots of the latter) with never a thought for calories or fat and had arrived in Los Angeles with its body-centric culture the first wave of California cuisine now making the transition from restaurant to home kitchens.

Whatever it was, it was working for this grateful new immigrant. I loved having to replace my old ‘fat guy’ clothes with 32″ waist pants and 15″ collar shirts. But I felt guilty that I hadn’t done anything to ‘earn’ this weight loss gift. What could I do to hang on to it? The answer was close to home. Rich, my new 14-year old stepson was something of a track star at his school and he wanted to learn how to play soccer (remember this was 1977). Being English, a lifetime devotee of the beautiful game (although never a decent player) and an obsessive fan of Manchester United . . . I saw an opportunity.

Rich and I spent each late afternoon at a high school track. I taught him Soccer 101 and he got me fit to run. He was a natural. Inside two weeks, he was showing a skill level I’d never had. As for me, I had enthusiasm on my side and the running boom of the late 70s to reassure me I wasn’t the only one. And I’ve been running ever since.

It’s been over 30 years. Rich’s mom and I divorced after 17 years. My girls are both married and living in Bombay, India and Portland, Oregon respectively. I’m happily remarried. My hair is gray and . . . I’m still 155 pounds with a 32″ waist and a 15″ neck. All thanks to running.

You’ve heard all the arguments in favor of running: it’s cheap, portable, you don’t need special equipment or a gym membership, it’s the best cardio bang for the buck, where else can you experience the runner’s high and on and on. All true, but what keeps me running is how good it makes me feel about myself. No matter how many mornings I’ve had to force my weary body out of bed and into the trusty Asics, I have some wonderful everyday justifications.

At 67, I can wear the same size clothes I wore at 36. I have blood chemistry my (younger) doctor envies. My body fat is 12.5%. I have no need for medication (except for occasional allergies). When I run an early morning 10-miler on Mulholland, I feel a sense of age-defying achievement (and a little smug superiority) for at least the rest of the day. If I have a difficult conversation coming up, nothing focuses my thoughts like a run. Best ideas? While running. Best meditation? Best problem-solving? Best way to digest self-help books? On my iPod while running. Best hangover cure? Best mood improver? Best time on my own? Best way to get to know a new city?
After 30+ years, running is still the answer.

Inspiration is Contagious

As I wrote in my last blog post, I got inspired by a former co-worker of mine who commuted to work on his bicycle.  I ended up buying a bike and did the same.

My main goal was to improve my health by lowering my high blood pressure and losing some weight.  After a few months of riding my bike to work (22 miles round trip, three days a week), cutting down on sugar and those bad carbohydrates, I managed to accomplish both my goal of losing weight (now over 30 pounds) and lowering my blood pressure to a normal level.

The big unexpected surprise was that I inspired several people at work of taking up some sort of exercise in their own lives.  I know of at least two people that ended up actually purchasing bicycles. One of them continues to ride to work on a regular basis because of being inspired by me!  Imagine that!  Me inspiring others to ride a bike or exercise was not part of my plan, but what a wonderful, surprising outcome.

Over a half a dozen people ask me several times a week, “Did you ride today?”  After a month or so I would feel that I would let my co-workers down if I didn’t ride in. The interesting point here is several of these people asking me if I rode my bike to work were people I had never spoken to before. Some of my new co-worker friends asked me questions like, “ How many miles do you ride? How many days a week? How much weight have you lost? Why are you doing this?”   After many discussions, I got to know them very well. Soon enough, some of them felt comfortable in revealing to me their own health concerns and challenges.  A few confessed to me that they felt they needed to take better care of themselves and have been thinking on what they could do to improve their own health and lifestyle.

I could not have been more effective if I stood at the entrance of the building I work in and preached to everyone on how they should take better of themselves by riding their bike to work. I simply rode my bike and did my own thing. Somehow I became an unexpected inspirational role model for so many of my co-workers. Here I am producing videos on people with oomph! and unknowingly became an oomph! role model myself.

I keep thinking back on my former co-worker who rode his bike to work and then inspired me.  I myself have inspired two others to ride their bikes.  Will these two new riders inspire four more riders? Perhaps inspiration is in fact contagious.

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