Based on the premise that overeating is linked to emotional and spiritual deprivations, Love Hunger begins with a relationship inventory that will help you understand how disappointments with your family, spouse, or self can result in obesity. It then provides a comprehensive program that helps identify whether or not you are using food as a substitute for love, career fulfillment, or friendship and shows you how to break that addiction. Once you begin dealing with the psychological basis for your eating problems, you'll be ready to lose weight healthfully, with a dietitian-designed food plan, that includes daily menus and recipes, as well as strategies for relapses, maintenance, motivation, and more. This is a complete plan for body, mind, and soul. LOVE HUNGER By Frank Minirth Paul Meier Robert Hemfelt Sharon Sneed Don Hawkins THOMAS NELSON PUBLISHERS Dr. Frank Minirth, Dr. Paul Meier, Dr. Robert Hemfelt, Dr. Sharon Sneed and Dr. Don Hawkins All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-7852-6023-3 Contents PART ONE Understanding the Problem1. When Is a Binge a Binge?....................................12. I Know I Binge-I Want to Know Why...........................73. Feeding the Hungry Heart....................................254. Understanding the Addiction Cycle...........................47PART TWO Ten Pathways to Recovery5. Path One: Preparing to Succeed..............................636. Path Two: Eating for Success................................817. Path Three: Saying Good-bye.................................1098. Path Four: Grieving Out the Pain............................1239. Path Five: Exploring New Vistas.............................14310. Path Six: Trusting New Directions..........................15911. Path Seven: Choosing New Guides............................17312. Path Eight: Joining a Footpath Society.....................18313. Path Nine: Maintaining Your Victory........................19714. Path Ten: Dealing with Relapse.............................211PART THREE Love Hunger Cookbook15. Cooking Tips and Meal Plans................................22716. Recipes....................................................239Appendix.......................................................315Notes..........................................................323Acknowledgments................................................324About the Authors..............................................325 Chapter One WHEN IS A BINGE A BINGE? Barbara Jamison, a heavy-set woman of 185 pounds, had lofty childhood dreams of becoming a woman of confidence and sophistication. The dream sustained her through a difficult childhood. In fact, she even dreamed of becoming a teacher to troubled children. Certainly no one watching Barbara on this day some thirty years later would have thought her to be a picture of confidence and success. Barbara had made certain no one could see her that afternoon. If fact, even though she was alone in her apartment, she had locked her bedroom door. Plopping onto the middle of her bed, she began ripping the bags open and savoring their contents: chocolate creams, extra-crispy fried chicken, creamy crab salad, and a yet-unopened box of doughnuts. She always had to have high-calorie snack foods when she binged. Barbara's binges began in early adolescence as a means of coping with her harsh and demanding father, an ex-military man. When Barbara was ten years old, she lost her mother to cancer. During her teen years, Barbara not only lacked the nurturance of a mother, but also her father's "drill sergeant" family tactics and periodic rages intensified as he searched in vain for comfort or solace for his loss. Inevitably, Barbara would return to binge eating after the numerous fad diets she embarked on in high school. The Kampus Korner drive-in in college became her source for quick, inexpensive binges-downed before she raced back to the dorm to stick her head over the lavatory and get rid of it all in the binge-purge cycle of her college years. Then came Tom and their troubled marriage ... Well, at least since he'd moved out, it was easier to hide her bingeing, even though the ravenous monster seemed to demand feeding more often when she was alone. At last the monster seemed to be stilled, and with the carton still half full, Barbara was able to put the spoon down. She was too miserable for any more movement. With a sweep of her arm she brushed the leftovers from her bed and leaned back. Her last prayer before sinking into oblivion was, "Dear God, where will it end?" Barbara is a compulsive overeater whose addiction to food became so intense that she sought our professional counseling in Dallas, Texas. WHAT IS COMPULSIVE EATING? "But doesn't everyone overeat sometimes?" you may be wondering. "I always eat until I'm uncomfortable at Christmas." "I binged in college-before exams, when I broke up with my boyfriend, when my roommate got a care package." "Sure I've gone on diets