What is it about being in the group that makes the impossible possible? Can somebody please explain this to me? I have known for 10 years exactly how I need to eat to clear up my skin, clean out my brain, stop/slow all the cravings, and be nicer to my wife (yes, that’s related to food too.)
I have been a psychotherapist for over 30 years. I was trained in the psychodynamics tradition, and I am a great lover of Freud. For most of my adult life I have had an eating disorder, and for most of my adult life I have been in therapy. I have spent more time talking about my relationship with my mother than I spent having my relationship with my mother. But it wasn’t until I was nearly 60 that I became willing to try another approach to my uncontrolled eating. My husband is a psychologist and more willing to experiment with diets and try new things.
Something in the way my eight-year-old talked to me about food told me it wasn’t about food, it was about power. After 20 years in commercial real estate, I can recognize a power play when I see it. Only now it was about me standing between my son and his preferred nothing-but-carbs breakfast, different but similar to brokering deals with parties who want to close deals on their terms.
“But if I have no cheese in the house I’ll feel like I have nothing to eat!” “Just go off dairy for two weeks,” my doctor implored, “Just two weeks.” I did. After only four days, my constantly tearing eyes stopped tearing – like someone had waved a magic wand. That was the catalyst that compelled me to make one of my most profound life changes, clarifying my muddy relationship with food.
It had come to the point where there was no way to get up the steps to the second floor of my house except crawling. My knees, elbows and fingers were in constant pain.
My name is Diana. I am in remission from rheumatoid arthritis, and I am sharing my story with Suppers, where my mom is a facilitator.
It was a cold winter night when I flew over to visit my daughter’s home in Michigan. Now, my visits to see Danielle’s family are usually last minute affairs. This trip was no different, except this time Danielle told me, “You are walking into a hot mess!”
Sneeze, sniffle, wipe, sneeze, sniffle, wipe, my daughter Jennifer was sneezing her head off throughout the whole last year. She seems to be allergic to something all the time and the stress of being a junior in high school made it all worse. I understand that as the mother of an average teenage girl I’m not the most credible source, but I must say that she was in a foul mood a lot of the time, and for no apparent reason. I thought it was odd too at her last check-up that she put on 20 pounds but only one inch of height.
The day I took a tour of the organic food store, the broken record in my head was chanting, “You don’t need this; why are you here. You don’t need this; why are you here.” I had been shopping at the same organic food store for 30 years and the last thing I needed was somebody telling me what to eat and where to find it in that store. Plus, it was a 35-minute drive and I was tired.
I had been sick for years. I tried everything and nothing worked. My misery didn’t seem to be limited to any particular system in my body; the whole thing was falling apart: sinus issues, no energy, poor memory, inflamed erupting skin. I had peripheral neuropathy and horrible gastro-intestinal issues. There were days it was so bad I couldn’t leave the house. I lived on antacids.
I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Hi, my name is Brad, and I’m becoming a statistic.
I am 48. I’m tired a lot. And depending on who you talk to, I’m 50 to 70 pounds overweight.
My wife says I snore. She says I have sleep apnea. My doctor gives me a talking to every time I see him. It’s the same routine every time, “Your numbers are getting too high, Brad; you’re getting older. It’s only going to get harder…”
