Liberate

Welcome to Liberate

Thank you for being here. Just by arriving at this point, you’ve already shown great courage to face something that many struggle with in silence: Ultra-Processed Food Addiction.

This course will help you understand that it’s not about willpower and it’s not your fault. You are not weak. With the right tools and support, recovery is possible. While healing is your responsibility, you won’t be doing it alone.

Before you begin, please take around 20 minutes to complete the enrolment form. It will ask about your eating behaviours, cravings, bingeing, and mental wellbeing. At the end of the course, you’ll complete it again and have the option of a short call with a coach to reflect on your progress.

Enrolment Introduction

Enrolment Form - Please complete before starting the course

Liberate Workbook

EzyCourse App, Liberate Community & Support Sessions Access

Coaching 1:1 (1hr)

Laying the Foundations: Enrolment and Preparation

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this week, you will be able to:
- Understand the role of macronutrients (including essential vs non-essential) and begin to apply this knowledge to a simple food plan that supports recovery from ultra-processed food addiction.
- Recognise the signs of withdrawal, both physical and psychological,  and learn ways to plan meals that reduce triggers and support stability.
- Begin identifying personal addictive foods, triggers and behaviours, while cultivating a mindset of gratitude, intention, and willingness to change.

Willingness

Week One Summary

Freshwell Food Scanner App

Session 1 - Willingness

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this week, you will be able to:
- Build on your understanding of food triggers and behaviours, to support safer food choices.
- Recap the experience of withdrawal and reflect on the role of sweeteners in recovery, helping you make informed decisions moving forward.
- Practise using visualisation to imagine life beyond addiction, helping to strengthen the part of the brain involved in long-term change.

Humility

Visualisation Technique

Week Two Summary

Session 2 - Humility

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this week, you will be able to:
- Understand the role of insulin and how carbohydrates affect blood sugar levels and insulin response.
- Explore how stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline can drive cravings and mood changes, and how these can be supported through food and routine.
- Begin to externalise your addiction by giving it an identity, creating healthy distance between you and the behaviours you are working to change.

Hope

Ben Bikman Video

Week Three Summary

Additional Resources

Session 3 - Hope

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this week, you will be able to:

- Understand the roles of the prefrontal cortex and midbrain in addiction, and how dopamine influences decision-making, motivation and reward.
- Explore the root causes of addiction, including trauma, stress, genetics, and the impact of high dopamine-releasing substances.
- Recognise that low mood during recovery can be part of the healing process, and begin to build practical strategies for eating out and staying consistent.

Perseverance

Week Four Summary

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence with Anna Lembke 13mins 

How to Find Balance in the Age of Indulgence - Dr. Anna Lembke 19mins 

Finding Balance at the age of Indulgence Anna Lembke Talks at Google 45mins

The Chimp Paradox - Prof Steve Peters

Session 4 - Perseverance

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this week, you will be able to:

- Deepen your understanding of dopamine and how ultra-processed foods hijack the brain's reward system.
- Learn to recognise and manage emotional triggers using tools like the feeling wheel and the craving management pathway.
- Explore how the food industry influences our choices and begin refining your own recovery protection plan, grounded in your personal “why.”

Awareness

Week 5 Summary and Resources

Know Your Why 4min

UK doctor switches to 80% ULTRA-processed food diet for 30 days - BBC 10min

Here’s Why You’re Addicted to Ultra-Processed Food Chris van Tulleken 15mins

The harsh reality of ultra processed food - with Chris Van Tulleken 58min

The Glucose Expert- Dr Robert Lustig 1hr 52min

‘This is an emergency’ - Chris van Tulleken on how our diet is killing us 4 News 42min

Session 5 - Awareness

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this week, you will be able to:

- Understand how ultra-processed food affects the brain by exploring brain scans, food cue responses, and the disease model of addiction.
- Reflect on the idea that addiction is not your fault but recovery is your responsibility, and begin to take ownership of your healing journey.
- Learn how exposure therapy can support desensitisation to trigger foods and triggering food cues

Responsibility

Week Six Summary and Resources

How an addicted brain works - Yale Medicine 4min

Exposure Therapy or Systematic Desensitization 17min

Sugar: The New Addiction - Prof Selena Bartlett, PhD. 53min

Unlocking Dopamine to Break Addictions and Flourish in Life - Dr Anna Lembke 59min

Session 6  - Responsibility

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this week, you will be able to:

- Understand dopamine set point theory and how mood changes during recovery can be part of the brain’s rebalancing process.
- Recognise the risks of cross-addiction and begin to spot when one behaviour might be replacing another.
- Strengthen your prefrontal cortex by externalising it and giving it an identity, helping you build greater awareness and connection to this part of the brain.

Courage

Week Seven Summary and Resources

Session 7 - Courage

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this week, you will be able to:

- Explore information on reintroducing carbohydrates or RED foods using a harm reduction approach, guided by your own readiness and recovery journey. While we do not recommend reintroducing RED foods, we recognise your autonomy and as an addiction service we need to provide you with the knowledge to do so as safely as possible, should you choose to.
- Understand the principle of protein leverage and how prioritising protein can support satiety and long-term recovery.
- Reflect on your progress through the course, consider your next steps for continued support, and explore how you might stay connected through resources or ambassador opportunities.

Self-Discipline

Reintroduction

Protein Leverage Hypothesis

Does protein turn into chocolate cake in your bloodstream? by Dr Trudi Deakin PhD 35min

Graeme's Experience as a long term member of Overeaters Anonymous and his recovery

Overview of Overeaters Anonymous for Healthcare Professionals 23min

Week Eight Summary and Resources

Session 8 - Self-Discipline

As you reach the end of the core Liberate course, this final chapter invites you to pause and reflect on how far you’ve come. You’ll complete the same set of questionnaires you filled in at the beginning, helping you recognise the changes, big or small, that have taken place over the past eight weeks.

This is not the end of your journey, but the beginning of a new chapter. You’ll have the chance to book a brief call with a coach to review your progress, and you’ll also be welcomed into a month of continued support through the wider Liberate community. Whether you choose to stay connected, become an ambassador, or simply carry these tools into daily life, remember: recovery isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress, self-awareness and showing up for yourself, one choice at a time.

Post Course Evaluation Form

Moving Forward: Reflection, Growth and Ongoing Support

<h1 id="28724e30-370a-4e84-bfa6-b7b30f53ff18" data-toc-id="28724e30-370a-4e84-bfa6-b7b30f53ff18">Liberate: Freedom from Obsessive Eating</h1>For anyone who has tried everything but the food still calls.Liberate is an 8 session course designed for people who feel stuck in their relationship with food. Perhaps you’ve cycled through diets, abstinence, moderation, willpower strategies, or even reached a healthy weight physically, but the mental chatter, cravings, and obsession around food are still there.Liberate is different. Instead of teaching you to fight against food noise, we equip you with tools to work with it, helping you reduce its power and reclaim your peace of mind. Whether you identify as food addicted, or you simply know food takes up far too much space in your head, Liberate can help.This course is for you if:<ul><li>You’ve tried other approaches and nothing has fully worked.</li><li>You feel ashamed or exhausted by the constant mental battle with food.</li><li>You’re in recovery physically but still searching for psychological freedom.</li><li>You want to understand food addiction and find a way of living that feels sustainable.</li></ul>You don’t need to fit a certain shape, size, or age. If food is controlling your thoughts, Liberate is for you.<h1 id="044009c5-4e71-40bf-a4e5-f7ec81a771f9" data-toc-id="044009c5-4e71-40bf-a4e5-f7ec81a771f9">Sarah talks about her Liberate experience…</h1><div class="iframe-wrapper"><iframe src="https://iframe.mediadelivery.net/embed/431082/c58f424e-f618-48dc-8df6-d99878c2f225?autoplay=false" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><h2 id="e51a007d-471a-42b1-9c38-e823e3cadc9c" data-toc-id="e51a007d-471a-42b1-9c38-e823e3cadc9c">What We’ll Cover Across The 8 Sessions</h2>Each session is anchored in a guiding principle that introduces tools that help you put recovery into action:<ul><li>Understanding food addiction – what it is, why willpower doesn’t work, and why some foods keep us hooked.</li><li>Nutrition as a foundation – how a simple food plan can quieten food noise, stabilise cravings, and free up headspace.</li><li>Food noise strategies – practical exercises to manage cravings, triggers, and compulsive thoughts.</li><li>Emotional tools – new ways to respond to stress, shame, boredom, and loneliness without turning to food.</li><li>Connection and support – why recovery isn’t meant to be done alone, and how to build networks that sustain you.</li><li>Long-term recovery – relapse prevention, daily practices, and creating a future where food no longer takes centre stage.</li></ul>By the end of the 8 sessions, you’ll have a personalised toolkit you can use every single day, built around both your physical recovery (what you eat) and your psychological recovery (how you think and live).<img src="https://ezycourse.b-cdn.net/4959/cmg6mhtta022agc9n04la65pw.png" containerstyle="width: 100%; height: auto; cursor: pointer; " alt="image" style="cursor: pointer;"><h2 id="80cde386-7c00-4f16-b536-07cfabb36b21" data-toc-id="80cde386-7c00-4f16-b536-07cfabb36b21">Two Ways to Join</h2><ul><li>Pre-recorded course – Learn at your own pace, with lifetime access to videos and resources you can revisit whenever you need. Plus a month’s free access to the online community and weekly support sessions via the EzyCourse app or a web browser.</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="www.liberatetoday.org">Live sessions</a> – Join interactive groups for accountability, connection, and the energy of shared recovery, the live sessions are useful for those who want a more tailored approach and connection straight away.</li></ul>Both options give you the full Liberate programme and access to ongoing support.Liberate is for people who are ready to stop fighting food and start living life.If you’ve tried everything else, and food still feels bigger than you, it’s time to try something different.

Liberate is an 8 session course for anyone trapped by food noise. 

Combining science, psychology & nutrition, it offers tools to quiet cravings, build recovery foundations & find freedom, whatever your size, age or history.

Liberate Pre-record

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Liberate Pre-record

Ellen Bennett

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