WSR

What is Fed Up With Food?

The purpose of the Fed up with Food group is to provide a network of support for students who are currently suffering from eating problems.  We are dedicated to offering mutual support, reducing the sense of isolation, and providing encouragement on the road to recovery. We believe that through positive modeling of recovered students, a structured group format focusing on emotions and successes, and learning to yield to a higher power, we can foster an environment of hope and progress.

The Fed up With Food program is based loosely on the Twelve Step Program and  views eating disorders as compulsive-addictive behavior. The purpose of the groups is to find more healthy coping mechanics and change destructive thought patterns while providing a support system.

Fed up With Food Format

Support Group:

Rather than being a therapy group, Fed Up With Food is a support group, meaning that if offers the benefit of drawing on the experiences of those who have overcome the same challenges but does not dive into causes of eating problems and is not intended to explore specific details of an individual's concerns.

Mentoring:

Fed Up With Food is a group designed to pair mentors who have recovered from eating problems with students who are currently suffering.  Mentoring helps participants to better cope with their eating problem by offering a listening ear when needed and providing women with a support system to help deal with the challenges that recovery presents.

Meetings:

The group convenes each week for an entire semester/term.  Meetings are scheduled in the evening for an hour and half.  Mentors and participants also meet in pairs for an hour each week at a time that is convenient for both.  Additionally, mentors meet with a group leader for 15 minutes every other week before group sessions.

 Additional Details:

Progress cannot be achieved if group members are not committed to gaining everything they can from the group.  Participants and mentors are expected to come prepared to each session to contribute by sharing personal experiences, communicating their feelings, and telling success stories. During group sessions, members can anticipate participating in group activities to help establish goals and provide important topics of discussion. Members are expected to come to all sessions on time and bring their group manual. Those who attend need to be willing to create their own personal goals, record their progress,  and write their own reflections in their manual or a separate journal. 

Goals:

Four goals are emphasized during the group.  In the first three goals participants are supported in their search to establish peace with God, peace with themselves, and peace with others.  After these goals have been reached, the group encourages members to learn how to keep the peace tin order to maintain the health that they have achieved.

Steps:

The four goals of the group are based on the Twelve Step Program and are divided into 12 steps that outline the group sessions.  During the process of the group, members are encouraged to:

1. Admit powerlessness over the effect of the eating problem
2. Come to believe that a higher power can help them
3. Decide to turn their will over to the care of God
4. Make a moral inventory
5. Admit to God, themselves, and another person their weakness
6. Become ready to have God help them overcome these weaknesses
7. Ask God for help
8. Become willing to make amends with those who may have been harmed
9. Make direct amends to such people
10. Continue to take a personal inventory
11. Seek through prayer and meditation to improve contact with God and allow him to help
12. Share what has been learned with others 

Who Can be involved?

Participants:

Women currently struggling with eating problems may join the group as participants.  The group is intended for women who have previously received treatment for many of the concerns associated with eating problems, and who are now looking for additional support during the recovery period.  Participants must be students of Brigham Young University and agree to commit two and a half hours a week to group involvement.

Mentors:

Any woman who has recovered from an eating problem may volunteer to be a mentor.  Mentors are selected who want to help other women in similar situations to recover, are committed to devote three hours a week to the group, and who are dedicated to maintaining confidentiality and being responsible.

To Participate:

If you are interested, both mentors and participants are invited to call Women's Services and Resources to set-up an intake appointment with a group co-leader to see if Fed Up With Food is right for you.