Issue No. 21 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

If we consider how much time we spend in the company of family, friends, acquaintances or co-workers, it may be worth noting that research shows that we can actually “catch” processed food addiction from our social circles. While processed food addiction is not caught in the same way as an airborne virus, eating behavior patterns are indeed “contagious”. 

Have you ever struggled to remain consistent on a new diet plan because you were the only one in the house trying to eat clean? Or perhaps you’ve tried to eat clean while your circle of friends found it unthinkable that you would “deprive” yourself of eating sugary treats with them? Or have you had difficulty avoiding the junk food in the breakroom at work because your co-workers...

Issue No. 20 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

Recovering food addicts may be pleased to know that there is a strong body of research showing that exercise can support recovery, in a variety of ways. 

Here are some of the benefits of exercise as a tool in your food addiction recovery toolkit:

• Exercise can reduce cravings and hunger. 
• A lack of quality sleep can be a trigger for using food to cope with tiredness. Exercise can improve sleep.
• It offers a creative alternative from the cueing of watching television or being in kitchen unnecessarily.
• Exercise is also found to reduce isolation, which another reason, food addicts may turn to food.
• Another important function of exercise is to improve cognitive functions. This makes it easier to make good decisions about abstinent foods and cue-avoidance.
• Food addicts often suffer from...

Issue No. 19 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

Have you tried to cut back or abstain from processed food, but the discomfort of withdrawal became so intense, you gave up?

In this issue, we will take a look at some ways that you can prepare for initial withdrawal to make it more manageable. Later in your recovery, if you experience accidental ingestion or relapse on processed food, these techniques can help you to move quickly through re-withdrawal by minimizing the distress of symptoms. 

Symptoms:

Withdrawal from processed foods can manifest in many ways. Symptoms can include, headache, muscle cramps, stomach ache, chills, fever, irritability, depression, anxiety or intense cravings.  The severity and combinations of symptoms can vary significantly from person to person. Symptoms can last 2-8 days.

...

Issue No. 18 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

Discover the ‘20 Must-Haves’ for recovery!

For many, the new year presents a timestamp for a new start to get control of your food and body weight and live a healthy lifestyle. Some may get off to an enthusiastic start with a new diet or healthy meal plan, but then become frustrated by failure to gain long-term control and achieve your health goals.

Despite your best efforts to abstain from unhealthy processed foods, your new year resolutions may be derailed as you return to eating these addictive ‘food-like’ substances, again and again. Worse still, you may be left disillusioned by diets, meal plans or support programs that fail to help you get back on track. 

The triggers that processed food addicts are confronted with everyday are...

Issue No. 17 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

In the last issue of this newsletter, we looked at two of the top four most difficult emotions that people may experience in group settings. We acknowledged that having negative feelings at gatherings happens to many people for different reasons. You are not alone in this. In this issue, we look at the top 2 emotions on that list.

I Feel Tired in Social Situations

Feeling number 2 is Tired. We've all been there. We finally reach the social event, and the processed foods have exhausted us. Or we decide that we're going to let down our guard and go ahead and eat processed foods.  

And Boom!

Processed foods can drain us within 20 minutes of consumption.  Maybe we arrived in good spirits, but 20 minutes after the first drink or bite, we're tired on all levels.  We're tired...

Issue No. 16 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

Over the recent holiday period, many of us have spent some time in social situations. We had feelings while we were there. We might have had negative feelings at gatherings. We might have been uncomfortable there. This happens to many people. You are not alone in this.

Over the next two issues of this newsletter, we are going to bust the myth that people in a group are always having fun. You will experience the joy of knowing that if you do experience negative feelings at gatherings, you are not alone. In reverse order, we're going to highlight the top 4 difficult emotions that people experience in group settings. Here are the first two.

I'm Bored in Social Situations

The number 4 top feeling is being bored. Yes! Bored. This is quite understandable. Let's face it. People...

Issue No. 15 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

Holiday seasons can be a challenging time for people who are trying to abstain from processed foods and maintain their recovery from processed food addiction. The holidays are unashamedly littered with these chemically-engineered, food-like substances that Big Food would have us believe is central to holiday celebrations. What they fail to mention is the devastating, painful short and long-term effects of these toxic foods. 

But we CAN keep ourselves safe from the unscrupulous marketing and the deliberately stimulating supermarket set-ups aimed at triggering the addicted neurons in our brains, for the sole purpose of increasing profits. There is zero consideration for the physical, mental, emotional and financial harm these processed foods have on individuals, or society...

Issue No. 14 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

Recovery from processed food addiction requires vigilance and management of triggers and cues to eat processed foods. We asked members of our Facebook group, Food Addiction Education - which now has 20 000 members - what they experienced as the biggest causes of their relapse. In this issue, we take a closer look at what was revealed to be the biggest triggers. 

Stress

By far, the most common cause of relapse listed was ‘stress’. This is not surprising. Research shows that throughout many years of struggle with food, we start to merge thoughts about food, with the feelings of stress. Food becomes such a twisted enemy that just the thought of trying to sort it out and control it can also be stressful. Over time stress and cravings become synonymous —...

Issue No. 13 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

In our culture, processed foods are in widespread use. Often, friends, colleagues, and family are very attached to processed foods and want recovering food addicts to use them too. Without meaning to, they may become ‘pushers’ of processed foods. To be successful in recovery, it is helpful for food addicts to find ways to protect themselves from these pushers and their suggestions.

Like many with food addiction, you may suffer from ‘relationship sensitivity’ stemming from repeated exposure to unfair and harsh judgements. This may make it difficult for you to stand up for yourself.  With a little practice and preparation, you can learn to stop the pusher while maintaining civility. 

In some cases, you may want, or need to,...

Issue No. 12 | Brought to you by the Addiction Reset Community – ARC

Unlocking the secrets of processed food addiction and guiding you to find freedom from food and weight obsession.

Research shows that the brain can be conditioned to react to processed food cues by producing craving neurotransmitters such as dopamine, opiate, serotonin, endorphins, and endocannabinoids. The flood of these neurotransmitters has been shown to coincide with the suppression of the key ‘thinking’ functions necessary to resist cravings such as decision-making, memory, and restraint. This combination of intense cravings coupled with loss of rational thought may be considered as a primary dysfunction driving addiction to processed foods.

The kinds of cues which trigger addictive brain responses include sights, sounds, smells, availability, stress, fatigue, relationships, and intense positive or negative emotions. These cues can become associated with the place in which they...