Laura Dawn - Unhooked: A Holistic Approach to Ending Your Struggle with Food

unhooked

Laura Dawn offers a refreshing new look at an ages old problem. She offers down to earth, sane solutions with no gimmicks. Working with nature as her guide, Laura Dawn combines science and common sense into a comprehensive and very effective program.

Dr. Douglas Graham

Laura Dawn offers a holistic lifestyle-oriented approach to health and wellbeing that moves away from the old paradigm of diet as deprivation and helps support people to step into a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. This book will help you heal a disordered relationship with food to discover balance, health and happiness.

Marcia Weider, CEO Dream University

You are about to begin a journey into understanding the very essence of what it means to be free from the known and unknown elements that have bound you to food, and enter into a lifetime adventure in exploring a loving relationship with yourself and all the ways in which you nurture every part of your being. Laura gently weaves the science of food, environment and all elements of Body, Mind and Spirit into a masterful flow of information that will uplift and guide you into a whole new realm of nutrition that goes far beyond just the food you eat.

Lars Gustafsson, Founder and CEO: BodyMind Institute

a holistic approach to ending
YOURstruggle with food

laura dawn

N EW Y ORK

unhooked

a holistic approach to endingYOURstruggle with food

2015 Laura Dawn.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in New York, New York, by Morgan James Publishing. Morgan James and The Entrepreneurial Publisher are trademarks of Morgan James, LLC. www.MorganJamesPublishing.com

The Morgan James Speakers Group can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event visit The Morgan James Speakers Group at www.TheMorganJamesSpeakersGroup.com.

ISBN 978-1-63047-205-4 paperback ISBN 978-1-63047-206-1 eBook ISBN 978-1-63047-207-8 hardcover Library of Congress Control Number: 2014935529 Cover Design by: Rachel Lopez www.r2cdesign.com Interior Design by: Bonnie Bushman

In an effort to support local communities, raise awareness and funds, Morgan James Publishing donates a percentage of all book sales for the life of each book to Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg.

Get involved today, visit www.MorganJamesBuilds.com

When I was in third grade, my math teacher told me I would never be good at math. Ironically, I went on to graduate with a business degree and a major in finance at the John Molson School of Business. Years later, after leaving the world of finance, as I was questing for my souls desire, I sought advice from an intuitive healer. She told me in that conversation that I should never be a writer. Her voice likes to chime in at the back of my mind all too often, especially at the worst of moments. The truth is, Im not a naturally talented writer, but what I do have are two very important things: a strong desire to help others free themselves from the food struggle, as I genuinely know what its like to struggle so deeply, as well the support of incredibly loving people who have helped me every step of the way.

The one person who has always been there for me, through thick and thin, and who has gone to great lengths to help me see this project to completion, is my mother. I could not have asked to be born to anyone more loving and supportive than you. An entrepreneur, editor, and talented authorI humbly follow in your footsteps. I am also grateful to my father for raising me to believe in myself. You taught me that anything I can think up, I can achieve. It was this voice that would always counter the one saying I couldnt do it.

Thank you to my dear husband Noahyou have exemplified what it means to be in a loving, supportive marriage. Even before this book started to take shape, you believed in me. Thank you for working so hard to allow the space for me to write this book.

I would also like to give a special thank you to my ex-partner Keefer and his mother Manon. It was in your garden that I healed my relationship with food and changed my life forever. It was because of meeting you, Keefer, that I undertook this path.

Thank you to the Dream Queen herself: Marcia Wieder. You definitely helped make this dream come true, making this book a physical reality. You believed in me and supported me, and I will always be grateful for a dear friend like you. Amanda Rooker, my editor, also deserves a special thank you as you went above and beyond the call of duty and did a fantastic job helping me with this book.

Throughout the years I also had the support of my most cherished spiritual teachers in my life. Pema Chdrn, although Ive never met you, I always carry you with me in my heart. You and your teachings have helped me get through the darkest moments of my life. I hope to some day thank you in person. Also, thank you to Wayne Dyeryours were the first books on creating a new reality and understanding the power of intention that I read, many years ago now, and I refer back to them often. Thank you also to Dr. Douglas Graham. The alternative information and insights youve shared with me have forever changed and influenced my path. Youve taught me how to be a more critical thinker and to not accept the status quo at face value. You truly are a revolutionary leader in the health and wellness movement.

I would also like to thank the many researchers and authors whom I quote, ranging from the science to the spiritual, all of whom helped lay the groundwork for me to continue to understand my own relationship with food.

It was day two of a weeklong retreat I was leading in Hawaii. The floor was now open for the workshop participants to share. I could feel the emotionally charged energy in the room as I waited patiently to see who would be the first to share. Silence.

A female participant sat quietly on the couch with a cushion over her lap, protection from feeling exposed. She hesitated to make eye contact and watched her hands twirl the frays on the corner of the cushion. I think about food all the time, she finally offered in a low voice. Thoughts about food and my weight consume me every day. Ive tried so many different ways to be free of this struggle, but I cant seem to get over it. Ive been using food to cope for as long as I can remember. I think about what I