online conference transcript

Our guest, Debbie Danokwsi has battled with an eating disorder for most of her life. She is addicted to food. Debbie tried many different ways to lose weight. She hid food, tried diet pills and diets, but couldn't stick to a diet. Finally, Debbie faced her food addiction and the feelings of being ashamed and lonely. At one point in her life, she says: "I hated myself. I had no self -esteem. I was ashamed of myself for having no willpower." To ease the pain, Debbie says "I even thought about killing myself."

Today, she weighs 150 pounds, down from over 300, and has maintained that weight for over ten years. Read about her addiction to sugar and flour (her trigger foods), and how her attraction to food, coupled with low self-esteem and depression, led to her life as a food addict. Then Debbie outlines the steps that brought her to overcoming food addiction and recovery from food addiction.

David Roberts is the HealthyPlace.com moderator.

The people in blue are audience members.

David: Good Evening. I'm David Roberts. I'm the moderator for tonight's conference. I want to welcome everyone to HealthyPlace.com. Our topic tonight is "Food Addiction, Food Cravings." Our guest is Debbie Danowski, a recovering food addict and author of Why Can't I Stop Eating? Recognizing, Understanding and Overcoming Food Addiction. She has maintained a weight loss of 150 pounds for more than ten years. A nationally renowned speaker, she is an instructor of media studies at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.

Good evening, Debbie and welcome to HealthyPlace.com. We appreciate you being our guest tonight. Can you describe for us your life as a food addict?

Debbie Danowski: Hello everyone it's great to be here. Being a food addict is similar to being an alcoholic: everything revolves around the substance and life is miserable. Nothing matters except getting food.

David: What were the reasons behind your food addiction?

Debbie Danowski: The reasons are a physical and emotional addiction to sugar and flour that is passed down in families. For instance, both of my grandfathers were alcoholics but I turned to food instead.

David: At what age did you begin to develop an addiction / attraction to food?

Debbie Danowski: I believe that I was born a food addict. Food was always so important to me. I really began to eat after I turned five. I weighed over 300 pounds when I was in my late teens.

David: And you are how old now?

Debbie Danowski: I am 35.

David: Did you suffer from depression or some other psychological disorder that lead to the food addiction?

Debbie Danowski: I believe that the depression was a result of the food addiction. Sugar and flour are depressants in the same way that alcohol is. Once I got these substances out of my body, I did not have the awful depression that I lived with for years. It was a depression that made it almost impossible to get out of bed each day.

David: Could you be specific about the impact that food had in your life before you started recovery?

Debbie Danowski: Food was my life. I spent each and every minute thinking about how I could get food (look under binge eating disorder, compulsive overeating). To get food, I did things I normally wouldn't have. I stole. I lied. I hid food. It was as if I couldn't help myself no matter how hard I tried. At my weight, it was difficult to move and my whole body ached. I isolated and had no life. It was me, my food and television. At the time, I didn't realize just how ashamed and lonely I really was.

David: I'm assuming that having these food cravings affected your self-esteem.

Debbie Danowski: Yes, so very much. I hated myself for being weak and having no willpower. I spent a lot of time being ashamed of myself.

David: Did you try various diets, diet pills, etc.?

Debbie Danowski: Yes, I tried just about everything and each time that I did I hated myself even more for being unable to do anything. I couldn't even stick to a diet for a few hours at the end. I did try over-the-counter diet pills but luckily Phen-Fen and Redux were not available at the time or I could have been one of the people harmed before they were recalled.

I would have done anything, including risking my life to lose weight. I often wished that I would get sick so that I would have a way to lose weight because nothing else worked. What I didn't know is that these diets were setting me up to fail because many of the products had sugar and/or flour in them which just made me want more and more.

David: Besides the food, did you ever turn to alcohol or other substances to ease the pain?

Debbie Danowski: I did drink a little but I only liked the drinks with lots of whipped cream. I also used shopping as a way to ease the pain. I thought that if I could buy the prettiest clothes no one would notice my size 52 body or make fun of me.