Overcoming Ultra Processed Food Addiction: The Fellowship I Didn’t Know I Needed

VK Author

Are you struggling with food addiction, binge eating and emotional eating? Read why community groups are so important in recovery from food addiction.

It seems to me that I’ve always been addicted to food, especially sugar and ultra-processed carbohydrates. I always wanted more. More cookies, more chips, more of anything that would quiet the noise in my head, even if just for a moment.

For so long, I thought this was just my fate. That I was destined to be locked in this cycle of binge eating, of compulsive eating, of emotional eating. I was eating for so many reasons. I had several sizes of clothes in my wardrobe because my body weight fluctuated wildly depending on the severity of my binges. It was my body carrying the evidence of a struggle I told no one about.

Eventually, when it got really bad, I reached out to a counsellor. But even then, I still thought I had to fix this alone. I devoured books, tried every food plan, tracked everything I ate, journaled about my ‘eating disorder monster,’ made lists of emotional triggers. But the food noise, that relentless mental chatter, wouldn’t stop.

It was with me every second of the day, from childhood to adulthood. I couldn’t escape it.

And I was so alone with it.
This was my deepest, darkest secret.
No one knew. Not a single person.

I felt so ashamed that I couldn’t control my eating. That I was always thinking about food. I truly believed I was the only one who struggled with overeating, with this incessant sugar addiction, and the crushing obsession that came with it.

Then, my counsellor suggested I try a peer support group, a fellowship for people who identified as compulsive overeaters. I didn’t love the idea. I had just moved to Paris and didn’t know many people. The thought of spending Sunday mornings in a church basement with strangers felt silly.

But I went. My counsellor came with me to the first meeting. I still remember her introducing me to two kind women who offered their phone numbers in case I wanted to call for outreach. I didn’t know what that meant, but I felt comforted just knowing I could reach out if I needed to.

And slowly, something began to shift.

In those meetings, I heard other people telling my story.
I wasn’t the only one eating in secret.
I wasn’t the only one who made promises to myself and broke them.
I wasn’t the only one who felt completely broken by food.

There was no judgment but understanding.
No shame but recognition.
No silence but fellowship.
No secrecy but openness.

It took a while before my binge eating actually improved. But the meetings gave me something I didn’t even know I needed: the profound relief of not being alone. They gave me hope. Hope that I could recover. That others had, and maybe I could too. That maybe I didn’t need more willpower; I needed connection.

I now understand why fellowship helped in a way nothing else had.

We are wired to connect. Addiction isolates us. It drives secrecy, shame, and disconnection. But healing thrives in connection.

Neuroscience validates this. A powerful study by Professor Joy Hirsch at Yale University found that during face-to-face conversation, the brains of two people light up in sync. This “inter-brain synchrony” activates areas of the brain responsible for empathy, reward, and emotional regulation, which are areas that often go offline in addiction (Hirsch et al., 2017).

In other words, our brains heal in the presence of other brains.

Throughout my recovery, I’ve done lots of therapy and personal development. And I always come back to group work. There’s something irreplaceable about doing the hard inner work together. Sharing vulnerably. Being witnessed. Learning from each other. Holding space for one another.

What Fellowship Gave Me

Recovery fellowship gave me:

• A sense of belonging in the face of a disorder that isolates
  

• Gentle accountability, free of shame
  

• A space to practise rigorous honesty and self-compassion

• Deep, soul-level conversations and emotional presence

• Cherished friendships with people who truly understand
  

• Hope, consistency, and a recovery lifestyle I choose every day
  

• Tools, wisdom, and principles that guide my healing
  

• A place to be seen in both struggle and growth
  

• The gift of identification; knowing I am not broken, I am simply someone with food addiction, and I have a path
  
  

It was in fellowship that I first said out loud:
“I have a problem with food.”
And someone looked me in the eye and said:
“Me too. Maybe we can walk this road together.”

That moment cracked something open in me that has never closed.

It’s the journey of recovery, with all its highs, lows, setbacks, and grace, that led me to train as a counsellor and dedicate my life to supporting others in healing from food addiction, binge eating, sugar and carbohydrate addiction, emotional eating, and compulsive eating. There are so many words people use for their experience. 

That’s why I love working with groups as much as doing 1:1 counselling. After so many years chairing peer groups, online, face to face, in many different settings, and plenty of intensive group retreat experiences as a client and therapist, I feel I never get tired from it. Even studying counselling at university, group work was one of the units that lit me up the most. Group dynamics can be subtle and need to be held well for all members to feel supported. And group dynamics are also a powerful healing agent.

If you’ve felt alone in your struggles with food, I want you to know this:
You are not alone.
There are others who understand.
There’s space for your story.

We do recover.
And we do it together.

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Reference

• Hirsch, J. et al. (2017). Cortical networks activated by face-to-face verbal communication with humans and humanoid robots: A fNIRS study. Scientific Reports.
  

Categories: : Community, Eating Disorders, Food Addiction, Recovery