Renowned therapist, eating disorder specialist and recovering food addict Kay Sheppard has helped countless individuals win their battles over food addiction—people for whom diets, pills and purging have become a way of life. In 1993, her groundbreaking book, Food Addiction: The Body Knows, explained the illness of food addiction from the physiological origins through recovery.

Today, obesity is on the rise. In addition to the 300,000 overweight people in this country, millions more who may not look overweight are unable to control their eating. From the First Bite, offers the latest medical insights into food addiction coupled with time-tested, practical advice.

This book includes compelling personal stories and do's and don't's from other recovering and relapsed food addicts, including the author herself. It explains:

how to avoid the physiological and situational triggers that lead to relapse; how to establish a balanced food plan that eliminates cravings; and how to avoid the hidden dangers in cleverly packaged foods.

It also includes a handy Twelve-Step workbook.

Just as Sheppard’s first book broke new ground, her latest work offers a critical first step for food addicts on the road to physical, emotional and spiritual recovery.

------------- Could You Be a Food Addict?

Your answers to the following questions may help you identify whether you have a food addiction problem:

Has anyone ever told you that you have a problem with food?

Do you think food is a problem for you?

Do you eat large amounts of high-calorie food in short amounts of time?

Do you eat over your feelings?

Can you stop eating whenever you wish?

Has your eating or weight ever interfered with your jobs, relationships or finances?

How often do you get weighed?

Do you ever judge yourself by the number on your scale?

Do you often eat more than you planned to eat?

Have you hidden food or eaten in secret?

Have you become angry when someone eats food you have put aside for yourself?

Have you ever been anxious about your size, shape or weight?

How many weight-loss programs have you tried?

List all of the ways you have attempted to lose weight.

Do you manipulate ways to be alone so that you can eat privately?

Do your friends and companions overeat or binge eat?

How often do you overeat?

If your answers to these questions concern you, seek guidance. The path to recovery involves recognition, admission and acceptance. Identification of the problem-realizing that something is wrong-leads to recovery. Help can be found in treatment programs, private therapy and in self-help programs....