No one makes it out of the woods of addiction and self-destructive behavior alone. If I could have done this on my own, I would have. Dieting was no longer an option, but clearly I needed some boundaries where food was concerned, so I put some in place with one condition: they feel natural enough for me to live with for life. Dallas Page (who created YRG Fitness) and Terri Lange (a Team YRG member who’s kept her weight off for a decade) literally walked me through the early phases of withdrawing from foods I’d become addicted to. They and my nutritionist were adamant that gluten and cow-dairy had to go. I balked at the cow dairy especially but it turned out to be not as painful as I’d imagined. And it was so worth the sacrifice. My body balanced out like never before. Bloating, mucus, and stiff achy joints subsided. And the weight really peeled off. I don’t mean to mislead though: there’s no magic bullet. It wasn’t just the YRG, it wasn’t just going gluten-free, and it wasn’t just smaller portions. It was the whole picture. I finally reached a point in my life where I was willing to look at why I used food as a drug. There were some tangible reasons pressing on me (a toxic job, my father’s Alzheimer’s, an unhappy relationship), but also, it was as simple as high-volume eating had become a habit. After dealing with the major emotional triggers, food began taking a more natural place in the pecking order. No longer driven by a need to escape reality via a family sized can of ravioli, I learned how to eat according to the natural rhythms of my hunger…and to realize when I’ve had enough. There’s something amazingly satisfying about the eating experience now that there are clear delineations of a beginning and an end. I am learning to manage my love of food. I get pleasure from food on a regular basis. But now, I also get a proper mix of nutrients that allow my body to thrive and improve rather than deteriorate. Fortunately I love to cook and this site is where you’ll find step-by-step instructions on how to enjoy the entrees, appetizers, and desserts that rock my world.