Why Do We Require Spirituality To Overcome Food Addiction?

In 12-step recovery rooms, we may hear the words God or higher power and squirm at the concept of someone controlling us or the thought of needing something other than ourselves to recover from addiction. We might question what role God and faith may play in addiction. Spirituality differs from religion in that it does not have to be based on a belief in God, but rather on the notion that there is something beyond self. The focus of addiction is always on the self or the ego. When you start to look beyond yourself, you can then start to connect to a power greater than yourself (God), or your higher self, or a higher purpose.

Connection is the opposite of addiction. Connection is a key part in the recovery process and can come in many ways. When you connect to a higher power or God you gain faith that all is good and happening the way it should, and that God will take care of you and watch over you during the process of addiction recovery. When you connect to a higher self (a deeper part of yourself), you discover your true essence and what it desires, which is to be a healthier version of yourself, the best possible version. When you connect to a higher purpose, you connect with others and discover your unique role in the world, yearning to make it the best it can be.

I believe spirituality is needed to recover from food addiction. Spirituality leads to connection. These connections take you beyond the physical rewards of recovery, such as weight loss, a symptom of the addiction. Weight loss is almost never sustainable long-term until we immerse ourselves in the spiritual connections that lead to true healing and recovery from addiction.

What prevents us from making genuine, profound connections? Fear is one of the most common underlying elements preventing us from true connection. Fear of getting uncomfortable. Fear of doing something difficult. Fear of not being good enough. Fear of looking at ourselves in the mirror. We put food, our substance of abuse, in its place. Food becomes our higher power (even when it is hurting us) and we turn to it to numb and distract us from true connections that really matter. You can learn to find true spiritual connection in recovery; however you define it, and strategies to replace food as a coping mechanism.  Food is spiritual in and of itself. It makes its way into our bodies and becomes a part of us. Our bodies are entrusted to us to care for, and they deserve the fuel they require, healthy food, to enable us to fulfill our mission during our lifetime.

The first step in recovery is to remove, the chemical substance or addictive foods that are causing the addiction. Secondly, the psychological aspects such as habits, beliefs and emotions must also be addressed. Lastly, to be truly effective long-term, we must also address the spiritual side of addiction and not avoid that aspect of recovery. We have typically spent years utilizing our drug of choice to cope with life’s challenges. If we merely remove the drug, we will quickly require another in its place. It is crucial to address the issues that led us to use the drug/substance in the first place.  Recovery from food addiction or any addiction requires a holistic approach and if we omit some parts of recovery, we may achieve partial recovery, but we may still struggle and seldom fully recover.