This is my first week on JC and I'm finding that I have cried more then I have in months. I'm being forced to actually deal with these feelings. I have struggled with addictions all my life first with ciggerettes then with achohol then with drugs. I quit all of these things about a year ago when I started going to church but I'm afriad I have replaced them all with food. I have gained 30 pounds in the last year and want so desperately to loose this weight. I come from a long line of addicts and I guess I just need another outlet to deal with these cravings! Any ideas?

I'm an addictions nurse (I supervise a methadone dispensary). Are you receiving any kind of professional counseling? From what I've seen, it takes a multi-faceted approach to deal with the physical/emotional/mental aspects of addiction - and church can't do all that. If it's helped you spritually, great...but you still have to deal with the driving forces behind what led you to use (first drugs, then food) in the first place. That's where a mental health professional with addiction treatment experience comes in handy. They can help you deal with all of that, give you guidance in how to work through those issues without becoming completely overwhelmed by them.

Are you getting any exercise? I've found that no matter what kind of crappy day I've had, when I get out and hoof it around the neighborhood and do my resistance cords routine, I feel great (albeit sweaty) afterward.

Z