Weekly Vlog: Addiction is Progressive

Today I want to talk about the notion that addiction is progressive. It’s a progressive, incurable, fatal disease. 63 percent of deaths worldwide are attributable to diet-related diseases. Most people don’t reach end-stage food addiction, but some do. I did.
It may start as an inability to control how much you eat… at least sometimes. You may feel a loss of control-but you’re still living a functional life. Maybe weight is creeping on, but maybe not.
Then you move into the mid-stages, where it impacts more areas. Maybe you don’t enjoy social engagements as much. Possibly you don’t like to eat in front of people or don’t like how your body looks. Maybe it impacts your performance at work, or your relationships.
At the end of the road with food addiction, it’s mental madness, with massive binges that take days to recover from. I remember packing my binge foods in a garbage bag when I resolved to quit and bringing it out to the dumpster. And then I’d return later to retrieve all the food from the dumpster. The next time I resolved to quit, I dumped vinegar on everything before throwing it away so I couldn’t retrieve it from the trash and eat it later. That’s late-stage food addiction.
I remember in my 20s, I had to take a semester off from my PhD program because I was bingeing so badly.
Many people come to Bright Line Eating early in the disease rather than as full-blown food addicts. To be a food addict, you need to be experiencing clinically significant impairment or distress.
If you’ve tried to quit and it doesn’t last, or you lose control over what you eat sometimes-those are addictive symptoms, but you need clinically significant impairment or distress to have an addiction.
In my experience, addiction always gets worse. The prefrontal cortex, which should rein in these impulses, just gets weaker and less functional over time.
I was well into my recovery journey before I heard someone say addiction is progressive. But then I heard a magic truth: recovery is progressive, too.
At first, the benefits of recovery are small and coupled with challenges. All the sights and sounds pull harder, and the brain really wants what it wants. It doesn’t like dopamine downregulation. Cue reactivity peaks a short time into abstinence.
But it feels good to lose a little weight and write down your meals. Moments of peace start creeping in. You start to notice that overpowering cravings turn into simple food thoughts. There’s a difference between intense cravings and a food thought that you can block out. That’s nice.
Habit stacks start to form, and you get traction with other things. Your mood gets better, your outlook becomes more positive. Maybe you pick up a meditation practice or become more productive. You weigh and measure your food and before long you weigh and measure your life. Maybe you learn when it’s time to say no, thank you.
The vagus nerve develops. This is the nerve that goes from your organs to your brain, and it’s the way the brain communicates with your organs and vice versa. The gut and heart, which have their own nervous systems, bring info up to the brain-these are actually 90% of the signals the vagus nerve sends-and these connections start to strengthen.
New horizons open. Suddenly, you're taking a painting class, picking up your cello, or meeting a friend for a walk. You’re showing up for yourself and others.
We become more ambitious and able to charge what we’re worth. We earn more money. These benefits all compound and accrue. With food addiction slipping away, we address other addictions. Our self-esteem builds. We find ourselves reborn.
I’m thirty years into the journey, and recovery hasn’t gotten boring for me yet. To my knowledge, addiction is the only disease that, when treated, leaves you better off than before you caught the disease. Let that sink in.
That’s why I still proudly claim the label of an addict, because my recovery means the world to me. It’s who I am. It’s what I love most in life. I am an addict, and I’m in recovery. I love this path that I’m on. It keeps getting better.
Take a look at yourself. Maybe it is for you, too.
FOR THIS VLOG, PODCASTS, TRANSCRIPTS-and MORE: ble.life/v76ngk

[@nrstchr1]

I love this: addiction is the only disease that, when treated, leaves you better off than before you caught the disease. That is so true, thank you for the reminder

[@Brightlineeating]

🧡🧡🧡

[@KarenWoelfel]

Best vlog yet! Well done, Susan. It's filled valuable information and hope. Thank you for your honesty, vitality, and experiences shared.

[@Brightlineeating]

🤗🤗🧡🧡

[@msanchez4041]

Tears streaming down my face. 😭 Thank you Susan!! I’ve been in the ditch and really needed this. I have HOPE for a progressive recovery. Praying fora bright day today. This helps!! I love and appreciate you!

[@Brightlineeating]

Oh, my dear! 🤗 Sending lots of Bright light your way 🧡

[@jimcarlton9132]

Susan, you called me out on your live stream about me not really being "bright" just because I follow 2 lines religiously and that hit home. I have rezoomed to the plan I started 4 years ago and feel gratitude for your words. This video is the perfect definition of addiction and recovery I have ever heard. Thank You!!

[@Brightlineeating]

Jim! Way 👏 To 👏 Rezoom! Sending you high fives!!!

[@fionah3433]

I don't know how you do it, Dr. Thompson, but like recovery, your vlogs just keep getting better! Thank you so much. I never thought of it that way, but I like the "glass half full" approach that recovery from anything is progressive too.💪👍♥

[@Brightlineeating]

We appreciate you watching 🧡🧡🧡

[@treeyellow4627]

@@fionah3433 I agree! They do keep getting better!

[@cerewan1]

This is the best vlog I have seen to date Thankyou

[@Brightlineeating]

Wow! Thank you 🤗

[@TeresaHead-g5c]

Wow Susan! Thank you for sharing what you know is true through your full-on commitment to staying on the path of living a Bright Life as a recovering addict. Your depth of understanding through your human transparency, heart filled honesty, and brilliant mind is a consistent growing beacon of hope for those of us in recovery too. Much respect and gratitude.

[@Brightlineeating]

🤗😍

[@DyanneZitko]

Ending the addictive behaviours around food is part of recovery but the potential to end other addictions such as shopping/computer, living a more productive life, developing habit stacks, feeling gratitude, picking up a meditation practice and so much more are all things Susan thoroughly addresses in her Brightline Eating Bootcamp and Bright Lifers Memberships. I’ve never seen such comprehensive programs to help people recover from food addiction, and live much happier, healthier lives. I am truly grateful for what you share with us.

[@Brightlineeating]

We appreciate your kind and thoughtful words 🤗

[@elizabethmarshall3558]

Thank you so much for this! When I saw myself digging through my trash I knew it was time for change!

[@Brightlineeating]

🤗🧡

[@KimberliJones-p6p]

So appreciate these Blogs -- changing my life!!!

[@Brightlineeating]

Thank you for being here 😍

[@helly_helen]

I absolutely love this vlog. It has really shone the light on the delights of recovery for me. It’s a beautiful thing to take stock and have a picture of endless growth. Thank you Susan for your wisdom ❤

[@Brightlineeating]

A beautiful thing indeed. ⭐🧡

[@laureleeduncan2566]

You are totally amazing. Thank you so much for your observations from the heart!! Thank you!

[@Brightlineeating]

Thank you for your kind comment 🧡🤗

[@lindacannon2239]

SPT: Please add more content on the science of inflammation, cancer promotion/frequency, and relationship between SUGAR and Autoimmune Diseases. You are a scientist, and have more knowledge than just the Addiction issue.

[@Brightlineeating]

Hi! Please submit your vlog idea here: www.brightlineeating.com/vlog-ideas/ Thanks for reaching out! ❤️

[@dr.pamgarcy1938]

Thank you, Susan! I was pondering this question for months-and your description matches my experience. I appreciate the in depth discussion; it’s exactly the answer I’d hoped to discover!

[@Brightlineeating]

We're glad this has provided you with clarity! 🧡

[@GardenExperimentsByBLEth]

Yes, Susan! Thanks so much for this vlog!

[@Brightlineeating]

We're glad you're watching 😀

[@mindygoldberg1154]

WOW! I’ve never added a comment before, but I literally had to pause the video halfway thru and had chills b/c everything you were so eloquently saying about the progression of late stage addiction hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to write in my journal what a reality check it was after “progressively” living in denial and negative brain adaptations for years! Of course we hear and say “addiction is chronic and progressive,” but i think this was the first time I’ve ever heard the spin that “so is recovery” and MY hope is that THIS will provide hope (to myself and others!) Thank you for sharing this video; that I am saving/bookmarking as a “recovery favorite.” ;)

[@Brightlineeating]

We are so glad this hit hard for you! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment :)

[@evilmiller]

She is so real for this. Love Susan 4 ever❤

[@nathalieb-sq4he]

POWER FULL ! Thank you very much.

[@Brightlineeating]

⭐⭐⭐

[@christinawooten6085]

Soooooo good!!!! Thank you for sharing!

[@rebeccacaron8982]

Thank again for another amazing vlog❤

[@Brightlineeating]

Thank you for watching 🧡

[@gloriajenkins5049]

Ouch! This hit home! One of the better vlogs . . .Ditto to ALL the above (i mean that).

[@Brightlineeating]

⭐😍

[@treeyellow4627]

Such a good video!❤️

[@Brightlineeating]

😀

[@emcrone4101]

Yessssssssss

[@newtonjohnm]

All is not doom and gloom. As you say, recovery leads to a much better place. Just as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is now more beautiful than before the fire, thanks to restoration work.

[@Brightlineeating]

🧡🧡🧡

[@ellek6505]

Most people will not reach end-stage food addiction? What does that mean?

[@lindacannon2239]

I think she means food addiction that leads to conditions that eventually kill the person.

[@ellek6505]

@@lindacannon2239 What stops most people from getting there? Certainly isn't my experience. Most food addicts I know are pretty severely affected. I am certainly still severely affected, and I haven't had any sugar/flour--or other triggering foods--in over 2.5 years. I still obsess about my next meal, prefer to eat alone, crave and eat my allowed foods compulsively, and in an "out of control" manner. The addiction transferred from sugar/flour to the act of eating. My food is not sexy, and I'm building a new life based on recovery principles, but the addiction is still there --progressing.

[@leestrees]

Right, I interpreted that as cancer and heart disease taking over.