9781422270974

SOFIA’S STORY

Life was stressful for Sofia. She felt stuck in a dead-end job, her boyfriend always argued with her, and she was grieving the recent death of her mom. Sofia frequently felt a combination of emotions—sadness, anger, hopelessness, anxiety, and depression. All she wanted to do was be alone. Many nights, she sat in her room alone, snacking on cookies, eating burgers she picked up in the drive-thru on the way home, and drinking several glasses of wine. She felt good when she ate all this food and savored the wine. The next day, she’d slog through life—eagerly awaiting the cookies, burgers, and wine. As the days passed, she added cheesecake, French fries, pizza, and potato chips to the menu. To keep her actions secret from her roommates, she hid the wrappers from the food in her room and carried them out in her work bag each morning. “Food nights” turned into weeks and weeks of binge eating. Sofia felt like she had to eat more and more just to get that same “buzz” she had the first week or so she began binge eating. She gained weight, and she never felt very good the next day. All these extra food purchases were also starting to affect her finances. She stopped talking to her friends and family because she wasn’t happy with her appearance and was worried that they would find out about her binge eating. Sofia didn’t know—or want to accept it—but she had a food addiction, and she needed help to break the endless cycle of unhealthy eating that was affecting her physical and mental health.

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Detoxing from Unhealthy Eating Habits