For most of my life, I just wanted to eat what I liked and not keep putting weight on.
I wanted to wear whatever I liked, and not just the clothes that fit me at that particular time, or that hid or disguised my body.
I wished I was one of those ‘naturally slim’ people who didn’t need to keep going on diets like I did.
It seemed really unfair that I was one of those people who was predisposed to have a weight problem, just like my mum and my nan had!
I didn’t think there was a solution other than to keep trying to keep it under control using willpower. I would occasionally summon up the energy to lose weight with varying results before I went back to my old friends – chocolate and cake.
I was a classic yoyo dieter, and at my heaviest, my weight put me in the top half of the “obese” range on the BMI scale.
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Even when I got down to a healthy weight, nine years ago, and I first started working as a weight loss coach, I still had the same struggles as before. My weight fluctuated less but it was still an effort to keep away from the cakes and chocolates I loved and craved.
Helping other people to lose weight on a one to one basis gave me a real insight into how common my own struggles were and how hard it is to consistently resist our favourite foods in order to lose weight.
I started to see the problem as a “mindset” issue and spent thousands of pounds and hours learning different therapies, basic nutrition and how the mind works.
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It was in a nutrition programme that I first saw a brain scan images showing the effect of sugar and versus co***ne on the brain. The scans were almost identical. This piqued my curiosity and I was eager to find out more.
I read books and read research papers about the effects of sugar and started to realise just how damaging it is, and how much of it there is in our food.
But the turning point came when I found out that repeatedly eating sugar caused damage to the part of our brain that wants pleasure. Over time, the brain adapts so that we can’t experience normal levels of pleasure from other foods or experiences. We have just GOT TO HAVE THAT SUGAR! Nothing else will do! But, fortunately, this damage is reversible!
I realised that I was looking at the problem from the wrong angle. My weight wasn’t the problem! My body wasn’t the problem! The problem was in my food!
The NHS defines addiction as “not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you.”
What if I treated my weight problem as an addiction problem? Instead of using food to manage my weight problem, what if I addressed my food addiction problem to manage my weight problem instead?
This changed everything!
I used my therapy skills to take advantage of my very strong desire for a healthy weight to overcome my dependency on the foods I loved. Rather than temporarily resisting the foods I loved, I turned myself off wanting them!
Within days I found myself eating less and choosing more healthy foods. It felt quite strange at first, but I just didn’t want sugary or savoury snacks at all. I lost a bit of weight which stabilised over time. I was eating what I liked, but the definition of “what I liked” had changed.
After a while, I found that I I am lucky enough to be able to have the odd small piece of chocolate now and then, but am always very aware that this can creep up if I allow it to. But that is ok because I don’t find it irresistible anymore!
I started applying what I had learnt with my clients, and when they started to view the food as the problem, they began see similar results. Whilst some had a sweet tooth, some craved crisps or pizza, and some found alcohol difficult to avoid. We had unintentionally rewired our brains cry out for a massive dopamine kick. It was almost impossible to resist the lure of sugars and starches, especially if we were tired, stressed, anxious, bored, lonely, angry or upset.
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Treating the problem like an addiction may seem extreme, but it works! It is not your fault! You didn’t know that for some people, like you and me, sugars and starches are addictive!
When a family member first gave you a sweet “treat” they did not realise that they were wiring your brain to reward yourself with food. When you first ate food for a bit of comfort, you had no idea that this would turn into your ‘go to’ solution. And when other people seem to be able to ‘get away with it’, it seems impossible not to join in!
But, when you view lapses as part of recovery from a substance you never chose to become dependent on, it takes away the shame and embarrassment of falling off the wagon, so you can climb straight back on again!
When you join other people in their journey, you have the knowledge that you are not alone and the support of a community who is working to overcome the same difficulties as you.
When you follow a programme of recovery which rewrites your beliefs to reject the foods that have caused you so much harm, you no longer need to rely on willpower, because you just don’t want them.
And as you start to take control of your nutrition and begin to feel the benefits to your health, mood and vitality, your confidence grows and you feel GOOD!
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When I look back on the years and years I spent with a subtle addiction that I hadn’t heard of, it makes me really sad and frustrated! And thinking back to the terrible thoughts and feelings I had about my body and my inability to control my weight, I knew I had to reach out and help more people.
I created the WHACC and the Sugar Freedom Programme and make my methods available and affordable to more people.
If you are thinking that life without certain foods would be unbearable, then you are probably having the same thoughts as a smoker contemplating life without ci******es or an alcoholic contemplating life without alcohol.
Let me reassure you, it doesn’t have to be difficult if you are willing to change the way you think and feel about food. I can guide you gently through the changes needed to break free and take control, without having to rely on willpower.
