Steppin' Out Radio

Vanessa comes form a family of addicts and enablers. She claims her father brought LSD into the country for Timothy Leary to try. Her home life as a child was horrible. Her mother would withhold food and sweets, but had no problem giving her child speed when doing chores. Vanessa soon gorged herself on food out of a need to feel secure. Her weight increased too much too quickly. She would soon indulge in alcohol, drugs and illicit sex. She's now a stand-up comic who uses humor to heal, but her career wasn't always a success. She once performed while drunk, vomiting and passing out on stage.

Wendy's eating was much like an addiction to crack-cocaine. It began for her at age 2. She enjoyed eating and even after cleaning her plate she would beg for more. If she still felt hungry, she would steal food right off others' plates. She would later deal with diagnosed anorexia, bulimia, and unnecessary use of laxatives.

We first introduced Rozelle F. White, Sr., on Steppin Out Radio a decade ago. He had written 366 Days of Recovery: My First Year In Recovery, A Guide for the Recovering Person. Now, Rozelle is back to share his newest book, titled 365 Days of Recovery: My Second Year in Recovery. You Have to Fail in Order to Succeed. His books are easy to read but give graphic details of his recovery process; Rozelle attempted 17 different treatment programs before he got clean. He credits his faith in God for his desire to finally get clean. Today, he's a proud father of five, grandfather of nine, husband of 21 years to Deborah and celebrating 26 years of sobriety.

Eating was the only way Janet could feel safe and happy. Her worries vanished when she was alone with her food. She first turned to food for comfort as a child, when dealing with a mentally ill mother, Janet had to be the responsible person in the home. She ballooned to more than 200lbs and became a full-blown diabetic.

. @WillToLiveOrg "At my son's funeral, when I saw the love and support from my own "high school" friends, I realized right then what this foundation would be about. We would work hard to get the teens and young adults of our communities to realize that the greatest friends that we meet in our lives, are those that we "learn about life with." Those that we experience our 'firsts' with. Those friends that we meet as teenagers – let's understand that – let's recognize that – let's rejoice in that – and let's use that fact to always reach out to each other and not be afraid to say "I love you man" and equally and perhaps even more importantly – to not be afraid to say, "Hey Man, I'm hurting."

Andrea remembers as a little girl that she felt something was wrong with her. It began when she scarfed down a big piece of cake and asked her mother to give her more. She feels that as an overeater, the body's message of "I'm full" means "eat more." It took Andrea down a vicious path: She felt guilty about eating more, and to assuage the guilt, she ate.

Belinda is an overeater who addiction isn't marked by continual weight gain, but via increasingly crazy diets. She would bond with certain food items so fiercely she would isolate herself from other people. When it was Belinda's time to be with her candy bar, she would not spend time with another person. She was out of control and unwilling to listen to people who believed she had a problem.

Paul jokingly recalls seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965 and then waking up in 1980. In that span, Paul became addicted to heroin, committed multiple felonies, recovered through methadone treatment, became financially successful only to bottom out all over again.

George first started "using" at age eleven. He grew up the son of bar owners in the Brooklyn. His parents taught him how to mix cocktails. Drinking in his family was normal and George now considers most of his relatives to be addicts. As a teen, he and his friend would drink to get drunk. It was the 1960's, and they experimented with marijuana, hashish and hallucinogens. They would get in trouble, but not enough to the point somebody would address his addictions with him. He found himself a crack addict, living on the street.

Dion Dimucci is an American singer-songwriter who is one of the most prominent rock n' roll artists of our time. After gaining prominence as the lead singer of the Belmonts with hits such as "A Teenager in Love," and "Where or When", he established himself as a solo performer—recording back-to-back hit singles, including "Run Around Sue", "Wanderer", "Ruby Baby", and "Donna the Prima Donna." He suffered a career hiatus in the mid-60's due to an addiction to heroin.