About The Creator of The Road Less Traveled With Food~ Living Happy, Joyous and Free!
Kathy Bowes, M.S.W., earned her graduate degree from the University of Chicago with the intention of helping others break free of their overeating cycle.

She has developed this program after years of having the same experience that many who struggle with overeating have. Trying what seemed like every possible way to stop this self-destructive cycle, she was baffled often as she released and regained the same excess weight, over and over and over again.

For the past nine years, she has been able to maintain a weight that she is comfortable with and has left the confusion, depression and frustration behind.

No longer in bondage to food and excess weight, she has been given the power of choice around her eating and other areas of her life and is now up to more fun things like enjoying her blessings each day and making her dreams come true!

A Bit of My Story

Hooked on Food from the Beginning
Since I was a little girl, I was hooked on food BIG TIME! I wasn’t alone in my love of food. Much of the fun part of my family life revolved around it. My mom and dad both loved to eat and food was a way that we connected and enjoyed life with one another.

As I grew older and my father’s alcoholism progressed, my mom and I turned to food to deal with our fear and pain. We ate and talked about our problems. We escaped our home environment by going out to eat regularly. We also used food to “treat” ourselves to what we thought was fun. It didn’t really take our pain away, make our situation better, or bring us true joy—but it allowed us to get lost in something different—that tasted and felt good… for a while.

I became more aware of being heavier than my friends while growing up and by the time I was 11, my diaries were all about my fight with food and weight. Every day I weighed myself several times and noted what I weighed and what I was eating. Although always well-liked in school I wanted to be pretty and slim like my best girl friends.

Overweight and Unhappy During My High School Years
At 13, when I was preparing to enter high school, my mom and I went on a diet. We ate only grapefruit and tuna and it worked. We both lost weight and at 5’3,” I entered high school at about 108. I felt pretty and better about myself… temporarily.

When my high school crushes began to pay attention to me and ask me out, I was terrified! Brought up in a very Catholic, conservative environment, I had conflicting feelings and fears around my budding sexuality. Basically, I was scared to death! Before I knew it I was coming home from school, plopping down in front of the TV and eating all the M&M’s I was supposed to be selling for the marching band.

You Know What Happened Next!
My weight went up and I panicked. I tried to hide my increased weight in oversized sweatshirts, but when they got tight on me I felt powerless. I could not stop eating!

I was appalled by my behavior around food. It reminded me, immediately, of the way my father was with his alcohol. He always said he wanted to stop drinking—but kept on drinking anyway. He hid and snuck his alcohol. I did the same with my eating! I felt out of control, ashamed and I hated myself while in this cycle.

Searching for Freedom from the Bondage of Food and Excess Weight
My quest to get my eating under control lasted for nearly seventeen more years. During this time I desired so much to find a counselor who understood this struggle and had found a solution that worked for them, so that I could try it too. Fortunately, once and awhile I was led to professionals, groups and inpatient programs that helped me to piece things together and experience periods of recovery from my overeating cycle.

There Is an Easy and Doable Way Out!

You will learn more about my journey out of overeating in Phase I. If you relate to parts of it and feel inspired to try this approach, which works best for me, together we can move forward into Phase II, the action phase!

For now, know that I understand the pain of overeating and wanting to stop.
This has been my life-long struggle and though I’ve been slim for most of my 30’s, prior to this, I experienced what seemed like endless ups and downs.

At the age of 40, I have spent over 29 years on this particular issue and have found an easy way to eat moderately, stay at a weight I am happy with, and create a life that is about so much more than food and weight!

I pray that this program is of service to you, if you are tired of struggling with overeating and are ready to move beyond it to a fuller living experience!

The path you have traveled, so far, may have been quite painful and challenging. I would love for it to get easier for you—and for you to live more happy, joyous and free. I would love you to feel close to, loved by and guided by God and for you to feel good about yourself.

I hope that you decide to join me on this incredible, sacred journey!

You are so worthy of all good things and they are available to you as soon as you are ready to receive them!

With Love,
Kathy