Lori P., once bound by the grips of food addiction, narrates her journey through personal trials, from a turbulent childhood and a dissolved marriage to the sorrow of losing her mother. As a high-ranking corporate leader, she grappled with her weight, cycling through numerous diets and food as a coping mechanism. Hitting rock bottom became the catalyst for change, leading her to embrace a 12-step program for food addiction. Through this, Lori relinquished her struggle with food, achieving and sustaining a significant weight loss of 55 pounds. Embracing a spiritual path has been pivotal in Lori's daily recovery, finding solace in divine love and self-acceptance. Departing from the corporate world, she discovered her true calling: to empower other professional women. In recovery from addiction with food, Lori unlocked her innate talents and launched her own enterprise. Her transformation is a beacon of hope, showcasing a shift from a life overshadowed by addiction to one filled with purpose, joy, and freedom from food.

Dr. Ifland has been looking for a reliable way to help people stop compulsively eating addictive, harmful foods since 1996. She has a personal experience with food addiction. Once she realized that her mental and physical health was being negatively affected by her food choices, she began eliminating certain foods. Dr. Ifland educates about how recovery from food addiction prevents diseases. She predicts that 1.6 million Americans die from diet/nutrition-related diseases each year. She talks about how tobacco companies purchased food companies years ago to add sugar and create highly-processed “food-like substances”, intended them to be highly addictive. Dr. Joan Ifland provides counseling about how to break the cycle from severe cravings to live a mentally and physically healthy lifestyle. She runs the Food Addiction Reset program.

**"Kristie M., a recovered food addict, has been maintaining a 170-pound weight loss for many years. Having been a child of obese parents and one parent who abused alcohol, she identifies as being obsessed with food early in her life and dealt with the shame and denial of not being able to control her weight or food consumption on her own. She used many addictive food behaviors including secret eating that undermined any success she experienced attempting to use diets to control her weight or food. A work colleague told her about a 12-step recovery program for food addiction. She attended and applied the program to her life. Despite a relapse about five years into her abstinence in which she gained 100 pounds, she was able to return and fully embrace that she was had a severe addiction to sugar, flour, and volume eating. As a result, today she maintains a normal body weight. Although Kristie has experienced tragedies in her life, today working a daily practice of recovery from food addiction has taught her not dwell in the past or worry about the future. She has learned to distinguish between her thoughts and reality, gain composure over her behavior, regulate her food consumption and embrace people and life events on life's terms."**

Michael Prager lost 130 pounds and gained it back twice. On his 34th birthday, he reached 365 pounds. He felt miserable and isolated from people and was alienated with shame for his body size. After struggling with dieting for many years, he discovered his addictive, biochemical reaction to sugar, flour, and highly processed foods. He desperately gave up control and decided to “get out of the driver’s seat” and surrender his will. He wrote about his journey from childhood through recovery from food addiction in his book, "Fat Boy, Thin Man." Michael attended a 5-day food addiction treatment program, Shift, Recovery by Acorn where he discovered how to reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Michael originally didn't believe in any kind of God or Higher Power to surrender his will to, but he finally found his own way to let go of the helplessness over his food and his weight. Michael's sharp mind would get in the way of experiencing and expressing emotions. He realized he couldn't control himself once he started eating certain foods. Michael Prager is a writer and journalist in Arlington, Massachusetts. He provides an important message about the reality of food addiction, emphasizing that this disease is not our fault, and recovery is possible.

Thirty-four years ago, when Dr. Debbie Danowski weighed 328 pounds, she realized that her life was unmanageable. She decided to enter a food addiction recovery program. Today, Dr. Danowski maintains a 170 weight loss through a daily recovery routine. In this episode of the Food Addiction: The Problem and The Solution podcast, host Susan Branscome discusses the denial, powerlessness and the negative consequences of food addiction with Dr. Danowski. Getting the message out about food addiction is the driving force in all of Dr. Danowski's work. Her newest book Happy Eating and Food Addiction in American Advertising profiles how the food and drink industries are contributing to food addiction and obesity in the U.S. Researching to write the book, she watched over 500 food advertisements. She identified specific techniques used to sell ultra-processed foods that promise consequence-free eating and encourage over-consumption of addictive foods and drinks. Dr. Danowski presents an analysis of those marketing methods through the filter of food addiction characteristics and behaviors, such as using food to rebel, play, relax and achieve happiness and good health. Listen to Dr. Debbie Danowski share her recovery from food addiction and the evolution of her career helping others understand the truth about food addiction and how the Big Food industry promotes unhealthy food consumption.

Paul H. Earley, M.D., FASAM is an Addiction Medicine Physician who treats all types of addictive diseases. He has over 30 years of experience in the treatment of addiction, with a specialty in the assessment and treatment of addiction in health care professionals. In his book, Recovery Mind Training Dr. Paul Earley cites the statistic that addiction is a devastating brain disease affecting over 23 million individuals including their loved ones in the U.S. alone. He says that the single biggest driver around addiction is genetics and that there is a strong genetic link with addiction in families. Dr. Earley describes how powerful and insidious the Addict Brain is as it hijacks our brains without us being aware. The Addict Brain is like a computer virus running autonomously in the background virtually undetectable overwhelming an individual's conscious control by reorganizing life goals and ensuring its survival. Once the addict recognizes this and begins to realize the Addict Brain’s power as negative consequences occur, it is possible to implement new skills and recovery practices and place the addiction in remission. In his Recovery Mind Training method of recovery, he employs six domains including addiction containment, basic recovery skills, and emotional awareness and resilience. The RMT method helps unwind and repair damages to the individual as well as his or her family and social network caused by the Addict Brain. Dr. Earley recommends recovering addicts develop a set of skills and life responses to handle life situations blocking the primitive drive to use the addictive substance. He integrates a 12-step recovery program as part of his model and says when we recover and our behaviors are in alignment with our morals and values we find the feeling of freedom, joy, peace and serenity. He cites the strong connection between successful sustained recovery and those individuals developing a spiritual side. What an outstanding podcast episode as we host Dr. Paul Earley outlining the problem...and the solution!

When an overweight friend had a stroke, Tony W. realized that if he did not address his own weight and food issues, his health would continue to decline. Weighing 464 pounds, he had many obesity-related illnesses including neuropathy in his feet and five hernia surgeries. He grew up in a family and culture of fried foods and high-calorie foods. Tony got sober from drugs and alcohol using a 12-step recovery program, then began using food even more than he had. Since he entered the Bright Line Eating Program, Tony has released all of the extra pounds to achieve a healthy body weight, He eliminated sugar and flour, limited the times he eats during the day, and weighed his food amounts. The Bright Line Eating Program helped Tony focus on the inner emotional work required around the reasons he was using food. The work Susan Peirce Thompson, PhD, founder of Bright Line Eating, has done as a neuroscientist resonated with Tony because of her focus on the chemical reaction in the brain when we ingest sugar and flour. Tony recognized that it was not his lack of willpower which caused his food addiction, but rather his body’s response to addictive substances which set up cravings and obsessive behaviors around food. He talks about how automaticity began to play a part in his daily routine in which he has developed new habits that feel normal. Today Tony W. lives a happy, thin and free life through having recovered from food addiction as he continues to follow his program each day. What an inspiring and hopeful story of recovery from food addiction!

Colleen Y. has been recovering from food addiction for over four years having physically released 150 pounds. Like many food addicts, her history involves eating in secret and planning her food binges. She experienced shame and embarrassment about her weight and food use and tried to control her food and weight through diets and lap-band surgery. During a 2-month relapse, after she had become abstinent from sugar and other foods, she realized how serious her food addiction was and became suicidal. She entered a food addiction recovery treatment program Shift Recovery by Acorn and found out she was very angry and processed her anger there. Working a 12-step program, today she enjoys a rich spiritual life with daily disciplines around food. She is abstinent and has neutrality around the foods she used before. Through the support in food addiction recovery, she found the courage to deal with her anger and made changes in her life so today she enjoys her healthy body and a happy and grounded life with peace of mind. The International School For Food Addiction Counseling And Treatment (The INFACT School) brings you the podcast, Food Addiction: The Problem And The Solution addressing the ubiquitous problems of food addiction and presents the solution. Host, Susan Branscome, a recovered food addict, interviews guests who are professionals and counselors focused on the disease of food addiction, as well as individuals who have successfully recovered from food addiction. The podcast will resonate with food addicts, those worried about food addiction, those dieting unsuccessfully, those desperate to learn more about food addiction and recover, as well as professionals treating and counseling clients with food addiction and medical practitioners treating patients suffering from obesity and obesity-related illnesses and issues. Subscribe to Food Addiction: The Problem and The Solution wherever you get your podcasts!