"Hi, my name is Annie..."

Unlike Carl, I am not ashamed, however. I was doing everything the doctors and mainstream sources of information told me was healthy. I refrained from "too much sugar," and instead went with low-fat and whole grains, very little junk food. I was a vegan for goodness sake, it doesn't get any more regimented or stricter than that! I was so disciplined with my healthy eating-no shame here.

Too bad I was only eating 1000 calories or less, spent at least an hour on chronic cardio, and was still overweight for my height. I don't feel shame, I feel bamboozled and hoodwinked and only wish the rest of the population would see the deception and jump on board with us Paleo folk!

As someone who's in recovery, this is a very interesting question! I initially started eating paleo in order to drop the weight that I gained once I stopped drinking and using drugs. As far as whether paleo people are addicts, I can't say; however, in my experience there are some interesting parallels between the relationships that alcoholics have with booze and the relationship some people have with the SAD. For example, a couple of the reasons I drank was to fit in, to feel comfortable in social situations, to silence uncomfortable emotions, and to sate what I later came to understand as a spiritual hunger. When I went paleo and became more mindful of eating with intention, I realized that I also ate a lot of the crap I was weak for (pizza, ice cream, and pastries in particular) for the same reasons: as comfort, a pass into social situations (birthday cake, anyone?) and to emotionally shut down.

I think a big difference between paleo and recovery, though, is the concept of unmanageability and powerlessness. Step one of Alcoholics Anonymous (and by extension most every 12-step group) involve admitting that you are powerless over alcohol, and that your life has become unmanageable. From my own experience eating paleo and knowing folks who also eat paleo, I don't find that most people's stories involve this particular sense of powerlessness — instead, people "woke up" to the logic and deliciousness of eating whole, natural foods and started changing their lives.

Now that you have me thinking about this, though, I can see some other comparisons. The second and third steps — coming to believe that a power greater than yourself can restore you to sanity, and making a decision to turn your life & will over to this power — reminds me a bit of the way that some folks put the lifestyle itself or figures/organizations aligned with it (Crossfit, Wolf, Sisson) up on a pedestal as the pinnacle of correct living/eating/exercising, and then devote themselves 100% to the process. I sincerely doubt that anyone is praying for Cordain to grant them serenity, though ;)

Any other folks in the program have thoughts on this?

Hi, my name is Thomas. Well, I just wanted to tell the group that I am getting in touch with my Inner Twinkie here. I know that I just need to take it one day at a time. I logged on to the Internet this morning, but now I feel like I'm in Marin County thanks to this thread :)

I don't see myself as a recovering addict even though my old eating habits mirrored addictive behaviors. Like Annie, I see myself as having been hoodwinked, lied to. A victim, basically, as is anyone else who believed even a tenth of the nutritional advice that's been disseminated all these years.

As Bill Hicks said, "Anyone here who is in marketing or advertising - kill yourself. There's no joke there." (google it)

But being wiser now, the best that I can do is continue to be skeptical of ANY information, whether from the paleo community or the media at large.

So in short, I don't see myself as a recovering addict - more like a recovering fool.

I know this is an old question, but I just had to weigh in. No, I don't see myself as a recovering addict. I see myself as someone who is making better choices in order to become a healthier person. Calling myself an addict makes it sound as if I have no choices and can't control myself. We all have choices and I think we should own them.

"Hi, my name is Carl..."

Yes, I was an addict. In fact, I feel ashamed when I think about what I used to eat. I look at certain foods today as not being food anymore (like a snack cake might as well be a brick), but other foods, like pasta and pizza, I see as a pile of the same crack I was addicted to.

I have to say that I've been very lucky in my paleo adventures. I've never been a huge food lover per say, so when it came time to start cutting out the junk, it wasn't that hard. Keep in mind that I ate like crap for a long time always trying to find what was the "right" way of eating. Now that I know I'm eating better, it's not too hard for me to walk past the reese's pieces or the peanut butter cups.