My Story: Sobriety, Food, and Learning to Feel at Home in My Body

​I’ve been sober for 29 years.
That sentence still gives me pause—not because it isn’t true, but because of how much life, struggle, and growth live inside it.
When I was younger, I struggled with alcoholism. Sobriety quite literally saved my life. It gave me stability, clarity, and the opportunity to build a future I couldn’t see at the time. What I didn’t understand then was that stopping drinking didn’t mean I was finished with coping—it just meant one coping strategy was removed.
Over time, food quietly stepped in.

For many years, eating wasn’t simply about nourishment. It became comfort. Relief. Regulation. A way to manage emotions I didn’t yet have the tools to sit with. Food helped me survive when I didn’t know how else to take care of myself.
Eventually, I made the decision to have gastric bypass surgery.
At my highest weight, I was 275 pounds. After surgery, my weight dropped to 164 pounds. I’m still not at my goal weight, and I’ll be honest—some days that’s discouraging. Old expectations and self-judgments can still surface, especially in a world that tells us healing should be linear and measurable.
But there’s another truth that matters just as much.
I feel better in my body than I ever have before.
I move through the world differently now. I carry myself with more confidence and self-assurance. I feel more present, more connected, and less at war with myself. Even on the days when food and body struggles show up, they no longer define me or control my life in the same way they once did.
This blog—and my work more broadly—is where I speak honestly about the parts of recovery that aren’t always talked about.
Not just sobriety.
Not just weight loss.
But the in-between work: what happens when one coping strategy is removed and another tries to take its place. The emotional, nervous-system-level healing that’s required to truly feel safe inside yourself.
I write about recovery, transfer addictions, emotional eating, boundaries, and the slow, meaningful process of reconnecting with yourself. I write from lived experience—not because I have all the answers, but because I’ve walked this path and continue to learn from it.
If you’ve ever stopped one behaviour only to find another emerge…
If you’ve ever felt better and discouraged at the same time…
If you’ve ever wondered why doing “everything right” didn’t automatically bring peace…
You’re not broken. And you’re not alone.
I’m glad you’re here.
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