I know the internet is packed full of enough stuff to keep you scrolling for eternity; there’s a lot out there to command your attention, so I’m grateful you’ve found your way to The Sweet Escape.
My journey has been long, challenging and at many times has felt hopeless, I’m not going to sugar coat it. I often joked that I was addicted to certain foods, but never seriously thought it was an actual addiction. Nobody really does. Or so I thought, until two years ago, when I found a wee corner of the internet dedicated to the world of sugar and food addiction. With the realisation that food addiction was real, things began to change. I had hope for the first time in decades that I could escape from the sweet stuff, and the madness of my eating habits, and find a better way to live.
While my journey began in seeking freedom from my difficult relationship to food, I’ve learned that recovery is only 20% about what we eat. The other 80% is our mindset, our thoughts, feelings and emotions, our lifestyle, the people we surround ourselves with, the jobs we do, the stresses of modern-day life, how much we move, how well we sleep, how much fresh air we get and how well equipped we are to deal with all these things. My 80% will look completely different to your 80%.
I’ve always tried to embrace my wild side and get out of my comfort zone. Magic really does happen when you embrace discomfort. I love the feeling of being out in the hills, no one else for miles around, the silence of nature, the sun on my face or the wind and rain battering me, dipping into a cold river or the sea, or running along a beach, but I always felt I was trying to run or swim or climb my way out of something, a kind of stuckness that I was never able to articulate. With the knowledge I now have, no matter what I did, it would never have been enough to free me of the addiction.
I was searching for a connection in nature whilst completely disconnected from myself.
Everything always felt like a monumental effort, I felt like I was just going through the motions, part of me believing that nothing would change whilst also hoping that everything would change.
I’m now free of obsessing about food 24/7, my mental capacity has improved, I have more energy and I have a joy for life I didn’t know was possible. I truly believe we all have the capacity to live this way, but I know it’s not easy, so I want to create the resource I wish had been available to me. I want share what I’ve learned in the hope that it can inspire, motivate or encourage you to make the changes you need to break free, whether it’s from sugar, food or something else holding you back in life. I encourage you to read through my posts and take what you need. Start to question the status quo and don’t settle for anything less than your wildest dreams. And don’t worry if that sounds unattainable, my aim with The Sweet Escape is to help you create your own personal path to freedom.
Knowledge is incredibly powerful, but it’s only powerful if we use it to take action.
My journey is far from over, I still occasionally relapse and binge eat, though I now have the tools that enable me to get back on track quicker. I’m still learning what works for me and what doesn’t. I’m slowly finding my way. I have a thirst for knowledge, I’m fascinated by the workings of our minds and bodies and I’ve learned that we have way more power within us than we realise.
I’ll be posting about addiction and the science around it, the food industry, mindset, tools to help you on your journey, stories I’ve written, adventures I’m having and everything in between. I’ll also share books, blogs and other material that might be of interest to you. I’ll also be using Substack chat as a space to start conversations, share our stories and get to know one another.
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Please say hi in the comments, let me know where you’re from and if you’d like, share a bit about what freedom means to you.