Compulsive Food Behavior

Do you feel that you have a problem with eating or food? Do you experience depression or low mood related to your eating habits? Do you wish you could stop these behaviors, but no matter what you try, you just can’t?

Compulsive food behaviors, also known as disordered eating, affect countless people all around the world from all walks of life and all faith backgrounds. When struggling with an addiction and compulsion like this, it can feel that nothing will bring the healing and freedom you desperately seek.

You are not alone.

CIR can help you gain freedom from your compulsive food behavior. Still, despite a desire to begin recovery, there are many barriers to change that can make this journey a challenge. Denial, shame, fear, resentment, self-pity, selfishness, and pride are some of the potential obstacles that can keep us isolated within ourselves and unwilling to take the steps to receive God’s healing.

CIR’s Three Rings of Healing: Fellowship, Freedom, & Faith

Recovery isn’t only about overcoming compulsive food behaviors (or any other addictive substance or behavior) but, rather, is about living with the freedom and joy that God desires for His beloved children. The solution CIR offers integrates three rings: fellowship, freedom, and faith. While these rings are separate and distinct from each other, they overlap to provide a holistic solution. Each one is necessary, and together they support your healing and freedom from compulsive food behaviors.

Fellowship: We don’t find healing alone—we do so in a community of fellow travelers. Just as we are connected as members of the body of Christ, so too are we connected in our healing journey from addiction.

Freedom: We find freedom, first and foremost, by grounding our trust in God and His grace. However, this entails doing our part to be receptive to that grace, which is where the wisdom of the Twelve Steps of recovery is key.

Faith: Through CIR retreats, spiritually-enriching books, faith-related resources, and connecting with a vibrant community of fellows committed to Christ, we strengthen our relationship with God. The principles of 12-step recovery are integrated with the wisdom of Catholic tradition to enable healing, freedom, and joy.

The solution we are proposing is not a new one—it’s one many have followed to find true healing. It relies on the wisdom of 12-step recovery and the grace-led tradition of the Catholic Church.

Admitting We Have a Problem

For any healing to begin, we must admit we have a problem. You are the only person who can identify yourself as someone who lives with compulsive food behaviors. Compulsive food behaviors can include but are not limited to:

Binge Eating involves eating large amounts of food accompanied by a feeling of being unable to control how much one eats or when one is able to stop eating. 

Compulsive Overeating is defined as a chronic overconsumption of calories, often eating quickly and to the point of physical discomfort. Compulsive overeating may differ from binge eating in that the overconsumption may be a smaller amount than a binge eater would consume during a binge, but the overconsumption is habitual and persistent.

Bulimia Nervosa affects people who regularly binge on food and then follow those binges with actions that are perceived to prevent weight gain. These actions can include induced vomiting, abuse of laxatives or other medications, excessive exercise, and/or food restriction or fasting expressly for the purpose of avoiding weight gain. 

Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by an avoidance of caloric intake in order to reduce body weight to a point that physical health is endangered. While anorexia usually is accompanied by an extreme fear of weight gain or distorted view of one’s body, Atypical Anorexia Nervosa occurs when a person experiences anorexic behaviors while living at or above a “normal” weight.

Other specified feeding and eating disorders can include symptoms of any of the above types of disordered eating and can also involve obsessive restricting or pursuit of specific food types and flavor profiles; behaviors above being used less frequently; there is a difficulty with overeating and/or purging at a specific time of day (night eating, for example); and other misuses of food and caloric intake beyond the scope of these definitions.

Take the below assessment to determine whether you likely have a problem with compulsive food behaviors.