There are intense cravings for things like chocolate, French fries, or even bread. And then there is a line that crosses and those cravings consume the individual to a point of addiction. That’s the eating disorder that interventionist Brad Lamm is working to reverse on OWN’s Addicted to Food, a program he co-created. 
The program takes place at Shades of Hope, a treatment facility in Texas that Lamm calls “powerful, special, and unlike any other.” Contrary to any other weight loss show on television, this one doesn’t have participants competing, weighing in, or even get too caught up in calories. Instead, they’re working from the inside out. In fact, they may not even see any weight loss until after they go home.
The individuals you see on Addicted to Food spend hours in therapy each week, about 12-15 hours of mental and emotional work each day! “They are busting down the beliefs of this unhealthy loop they have with food,” Lamm told us.
He says that Shades of Hope is “not a fat farm,” but that it is more like an emotional bootcamp. It’s a safe place for those battling a food addiction to understand themselves, the addiction, and learn how to heal every aspect. It’s then that they’re able to go home and put what they’ve learned in to practice. While some may lose a little weight during their stay, most begin the physical changes and transformations at home. The internal baggage they leave with, while it can’t be weighed or measured, is greatly diminished. (more…)
