Category: Addiction Recovery

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BOOK REVIEW: The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, MD

The End of Overeating:

Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite

by
@DavidAKesslerMD

Rodale, Inc. 2009
330 pp

While scanning the Internet for blog material, I ran across this book. The title was intriguing and seemed to fit my research needs, so I placed my Amazon order. Upon it’s arrival, I was so overcome with the shocking information being revealed to me that I consumed the book as fast as I could.

Do you have an overpowering urge to eat an entire bag of chips while surfing late night TV?
Does the dessert tray at your dinner date call your name long before your entree has arrived?
 
In The End of Overeating Dr. David Kessler explains in fascinating, but scary, details why the food industry’s conniving scientific, “tricked-out” recipes keep us coming back again and again to foods that are not at all in our best interest.
The End of Overeating is timely and brilliant… disturbing but vitally important! Well written with engaging short chapters that keep you cruising through the book at an amazing pace. The information is concise and life changing! We can get off this overeating roller coaster if we take heed and do the work Dr. Kessler carefully lays out.
In studying sexual addiction I knew that food addiction was similar. But not until reading this book have I seen it so clearly. I’ve never read a book that so closely describes sexual addiction!

Among the many internal conflicts that plague us—the unwanted thoughts, the anxieties, the compulsions and impulses that too often seem beyond our power to quiet–the struggle over what we eat is, for millions of people, the most daunting. (from the Foreword)

A few years ago this controversial former FDA commissioner, Dr. Kessler exposed the tobacco industry. Today he is taking on another business that’s making us sick– the “big food industry” who manipulates our tastebuds to get to our pocket books with scientifically designed recipes that keep us coming back for more.
I will never look at a restaurant menu the same. Thank you Dr. Kessler!
For the sake of your health and your family’s health— Read this book!!
Check out this interesting interview with Dr. Kessler: http://youtu.be/3OqJhbSeUI8

 

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Working the Steps :: STEP 12

Step 12:
Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs. 


The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. ~ Isaiah 61:1

Step Twelve completes this part of our journey. Through this process we’ve been changed, we have experienced a spiritual awakening, our lives are now an expression of God’s will.  As we go about our daily life we look for ways to demonstrate this new confidence, showing our commitment to recovery and our growing awareness of God’s presence in our lives.

Sharing our life experiences is sometime difficult, we must be sensitive to whom we tell our story and how much we share. Not everyone is ready to hear our recovery story.  Practicing first with an accountability partner or sponsor is always good. The more we tell our story, the easier it gets. And with that ease, the emotional pain that we may carry today will be relieved.

Though much progress has been made we haven’t completed our journey to wholeness. That won’t happen in this world. But as we continue our growth we must daily be aware of the principles that will enhance our walk with God. Each of the Twelve Steps is a vital part of fulfilling God’s plan for our life. And as we experience daily challenges that try to pull us away from God, we must use the steps as tools for coping rather than falling back into old patterns.

Let’s quickly review each of the Twelve Steps:

 

  • Step One ~  Reminds us of our powerlessness.
  • Steps Two and Three ~  Show us our ongoing need for God’s help.
  • Steps Four through Nine ~ Guide us through self-examination and making amends. 
  • Steps Ten and Eleven ~ Help us avoid slips and keep us in touch with God.
  • Step Twelve ~  A milestone showing our commitment to God’s will for our recovery.

The most important part of Step 12 is the hope rooted here. By sharing our story we give others hope for freedom from addiction. It’s possible for life to be good again. As we prepare to tell our story, we shouldn’t compare ourselves with others. It’s not having some big dramatic story that give it value; it’s the end of the story that counts.

Post reminders around the house related to spiritual growth. In my role as a wife, mother, writer, minister and now grandmother, the tools of my work, whatever that work may be, play an important part in my spiritual growth. Here’s what’s on the reminder card I keep posted in the kitchen.  It’s adapted from St. Benedict’s Rule of Order.

“Each implement of your work is a sacred vessel on the altar of your transformation.”

 

Go forward now, intentionally pressing into each day, committed to give and do your best. Trusting God is by your side, changing you into the new creature He designed you to be.  Don’t not tell your story. There is someone who needs to hear it. Anyone can argue theology or doctrine. But who can argue with what God has done in your life? No one!

Once again… take a few minutes to enjoy our Twelve Step theme song for this year…
Step by Step by Bryan Duncan  http://youtu.be/l7BvJ0obHZk