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Recovery Food Plan
by Kay Sheppard LMHC, CEDS (AARFKShepp)
Before using this or any other food plan, be sure to check
with your doctor for approval.
DAILY PORTIONS
Breakfast
1 fruit
1 protein
1 dairy
1 grain
Lunch/Dinner
1 protein
1 raw vegetable
1 cooked vegetable
1 starch or grain
Before Bed
1 fruit
1 dairy
Daily
1 fat
Daily Options
Spice 1 tablespoon
Condiments 1 ounce
Sweeteners 6 servings
Broth 1 cup
 Note: Exclude sweeteners which contain
dextrose, maltodextrose or polydextrose. This includes all packets.
Saccharine and liquid saccharine can be used with this food plan. Read the
warning on the label.
WOMEN’S PORTION SIZES
Protein 4 ounces, 2 eggs
Starch 1 cup
Vegetable 1 cup
Fruit 6 ounces
Dairy 1 cup
Cottage Cheese 1/2 cup
Oil 1 tablespoon
MEN’S PORTION SIZES
Protein 6 ounces (beef & pork 5 oz.)
3 eggs
Starch 1 cup
Vegetable 1 cup
Fruit 6 ounces
Dairy 1 cup
Cottage Cheese 1/2 cup
Oil 2 tablespoons
Note: Men may need to increase portion sizes to avoid rapid
weight loss. Maintain balance between carbohydrate and protein when increasing
portions.
 Safe Food Choices
Meat, poultry, fish and eggs.
Fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables.
Legumes and beans.
All whole grains except wheat: amaranth, hulless
barley, brown rice brown basmati rice, kasha (NOT Kashi), millet, steel cut
oats, oat bran, oat groats, quinoa, rye, ryeberries, teff.
Dairy products including low fat milk, plain yogurt, cottage cheese and
buttermilk.
Olive and canola oil.
Spices, check label for sugars and starches.
Condiments such as mustard, horseradish, vinegar and salsa.
When in doubt, leave it out!
TRIGGER FOODS
WE ABSTAIN FROM ALL FORMS OF: Alcohol, cocoa, chocolate,
caffeine, all pre-sweetened products including gum, desserts, yogurt, and
candy.
WE ABSTAIN FROM ALL FORMS OF SUGAR: Sucrose, fructose, corn
sweeteners, dextrose, maltodextrose, polydextrose, whey, syrups, malt, rice
sweeteners, honey, natural flavors, manitol, sorbitol, caramel color,
artificial sweetener in packets.
WE ABSTAIN FROM ALL FORMS OF FLOUR: Corn and corn meal, wheat, rice,
barley, rye, corn chips, tacos.
WE ABSTAIN FROM ALL FORMS OF WHEAT PRODUCTS INCLUDING:
Macaroni, noodles, bread, pizza, crackers, pita, bagels, muffins, shredded
wheat, and whole grain wheat and wheat flour.
WE ABSTAIN FROM ALL HIGH FAT FOODS INCLUDING: Fried food, butter, sour cream,
cream, cream cheese, dairy products over 2% fat, hard cheese, ricotta cheese,
nuts, seeds.
WE ABSTAIN FROM THESE FRUITS: Dried fruit, bananas, grapes, cherries, fruit
juice, mangos.
WE ABSTAIN FROM PUFFED AND POPPED PRODUCTS INCLUDING: Popped corn, puffed
grain cereal, rice cakes.
Consult with your physician before using this or any other food plan.
GUIDELINES TO ABSTINENCE
Check labels for trigger ingredients. Check the list of ingredients
every time you buy; food processors change ingredients and add sugars
when you’re not looking! Best of all buy fresh and frozen food
that has not been processed and whole grains (except wheat).
Use a multi vitamin daily. Good nutrition supports abstinence.
Prepare food by baking, boiling, grilling, broiling, steaming, stir frying in
cooking spray (be sure it is alcohol free),
When fat content goes down, starches replace it. Beware of non fat and
low fat food.
Check the ingredients carefully they may contain trigger substances.
Exercise sessions of 45 minutes per day are appropriate for individuals
using this food plan. Avoid excessive exercise.
Weighing and measuring food is crucial to the success of the food plan. This
is the way we manage volume.
Schedule meals approximately 4 to 5 hours apart to maintain a level
metabolism.
Use a variety of foods in order to avoid boredom. Using a single food
frequently, may indicate that it is a trigger food.
Eliminate caffeine, an addictive substance that stimulates appetite.
Plan, report, commit your food to a sponsor in the morning and then let go. Keep
it honest by reporting changes too!
Check labels on all meat products for added sugars. You may be surprised
to find that dextrose is added to frozen turkeys. All deli meat contains
sugar and starch.
Diet soda is a trigger due to the caramel color which is made from sugar.
Other sodas with “natural flavors” contain sugar.
Get support by attending meetings and food groups. Get a sponsor who
will share his or her experience, strength and hope with you.
When ordering in restaurants ask for dry broiled protein, dry baked potato,
large salad with oil and vinegar on the side. Beware of sugar added to
balsamic vinegar. Take your cup and scales with you.
There is no cheese on food plan except cottage cheese . Read the label
carefully . It is getting harder to find clean cottage cheese.
Make water your drink of choice. It is the fluid your body
needs. Adequate hydration supports abstinence.
GOALS OF THE FOOD PLAN
Eliminate the addictive substances.
Balance protein and carbohydrate.
Manage volume.
Provide good nutrition.
Distribute nutrients through the day.
For more information about the food plan and recovery from
food addiction read Food Addiction: The Body Knows by Kay
Sheppard, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Certified Eating Disorders
Specialist.
Be sure to read labels to ensure that all foods are free of sugar,
flour, wheat and excess fat.
For more information on the food plan refer to From the First Bite
by Kay Sheppard, LMHC, CEDS, Health Communications Inc.
Watch Out for Sweeteners
Let's talk about artificially sweetened products including soda, gum, and
packets. None of the foregoing products are on the food plan. The only
sweeteners appropriate for food plan are saccharine tablets and liquid
saccharine sweetener. These are non-nutritive products. Non-nutritive
means that the sweetener has no nutritional value and therefore contains no
sugar or carbohydrate which provide calories and trigger addiction. All of
the packets of powdered sweeteners are nutritive, that is they contain some form
of sugar which will trigger the addictive process.
Beware of all other nutritive sweeteners if they are highly refined
carbohydrates Refined carbohydrate is the food addict's drug of choice,
usually the first ingredient is dextrose which is a sugar.
Limit artificial sweeteners to six or less per day. This limit includes
all forms of artificial sweeteners.
In the not too distant past, several of my clients have done battle with chewing
gum. Their experience with gum included obsession, compulsion and withdrawal
symptoms. It is important to realize that so called sugar-free gum
contains sugars including manitol, sorbitol, and glucose syrup. Read
the label and think twice before introducing these forms of sugar into your
system.
Stevia is a refined carbohydrate that triggers cravings. Fruit juice sweeteners
and rice syrup or disguised sugar and not appropriate for our food plan.
You Need to Know
The amount of protein in the food plan is favorable to the brain chemistry
of the food addict. Combining protein with carbohydrate makes the food
plan work because the protein moderates the production of brain serotonin from
the carbohydrates. If you recall, brain serotonin is the food addicts
"drug of choice". Carbohydrates are the most effective precursor
of brain serotonin. They flood the brain with this chemical which acts
like a pain killer and a tranquilizer. Since protein decreases the
production of brain serotonin when combined with carbohydrate, it is vital to a
successful food plan. Reduction or elimination of high quality protein foods
will render the food plan useless.
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