Thursday, October 27, 2011

I Think I May Be a Food Addict

Seriously.  I think I may be addicted to food; specifically junk food.  From my upbringing I was not allowed to indulge in many things that I thought at that time would be fun.  Even when I got on my own, my upbringing stayed with me and there were some things that I just couldnt do...or get too far in to.  This didnt count for food.  I came from a family of a bunch of skinny people who could EAT!  Not to mention a mother and grandmother(s) that could cook the socks off of any iron chef!  So my love for REAL seasoned and delicable food started very young.  I didnt grow up one of those fat kids you see on Maury.  I was average.  My appetite on the other hand was not.  My parents were not big avocates on fast food often.  It as reserved as a treat, same for junk food.  So that made me crave it more and more.  So whenever I got a spare quarter or dollar...that is what I spent it on.  This went on into adulthood.  Unfortunetly, my weight caught up with my appetite.

Now that I am rebooting, I can literally feel the pull in my brain when I see "junk" food of any kind.  I WANT IT ALL!  Its not normal.  I was in my local Winn-Dixie buying some Boltshouse "Green Goodness"  and had to FORCE and I mean FORCE myself not to buy candy or chips when going through the register.  It was like I couldnt help myself.  I dont get the shakes or anything that extreme but I do have more than just a habit of eating bad things.  I can admit it.  They say that is the first step in overcoming an addiction.  BUT I DID MAKE IT THROUGH WITHOUT GETTING JUNK...so I can rejoice in that!  Woohoo! I have struggled with this last getting passed 10 lbs because of this tendency to just grab something.  The last 2 weeks, Ive cheated several times.  So I worked into my plan a "cheat" day.  Once a week.  I can have something outside of my reboot BUT it has to be a healthy choice.  So my last official cheat I had California Chicken Grill (a local place where they sell nothing fried...but its really good).  So I didnt feel so bad...and it satisfied my need to "order" food. 

One day at a time.  I know others are addicted (I can name a couple of people I know) but no one notices until they get fat or their health is compromised. 

Till Next Time
Stepping Into Freedom

15 comments:

i am the same way, I exercise just so I can eat. I'm not too sure how healthy my diet is, i just focus on calories in vs. calories out... but i have discovered that I have lost all of my will power. however, eventhough the number on the scale is going up, for some reason my clothes are fitting better! there is a light at the end of a very lonnggggggg tunneelll!!!

Well you can eat the food, just not piles of it! :) Try drinking a huge glass of water before you eat each time. Good luck to you! :)

Your body probably is addicted to the junk food. The sugar and all the stuff you know is bad for you can be very addicting and it's way easier to get addicted (to anything) than it is to break the addiction. Mine is sugar (obviously) and salt. Soda, candy bars, and chips were my biggest downfalls. I have to be very strict about even letting them near me. I went cold turkey in the spring and that helped a lot but it took almost 6 weeks to really break the major cravings. Now I can catch myself slipping and usually recover pretty quick but it's a never ending battle. Good luck to you!

*raises hand* hi, my name is Elisa, and I am a food addict.

Sugar is the devil.

My food issues came as a result of the added weight, which I've been told either caused the PCOS or was caused BY the PCOS. Gee, thanks doctors. :/ But as I got bigger, so did my appetite. For total crap. And what is better for overweight than more weight!!!

I struggle now, some. But less than I used to. I'm a 1000 calorie a day girl for the remainder of my life so I'm told (had Lapband surgery). When I have sugar, like candy, or even pasta or carbs, when it breaks down, that junk makes me CRAVE anything and everything. If I watch the sugar and carbs, I usually do much better with the cravings. That and knowing what effort I had to put in to burn off that 400 calories.. kinda helps veer me away from it. It takes what, 2 minutes to scarf some junk down, and what, an hour to work it off? It doesn't taste that durn good.

If you keep on it though, and get through those moments that you feel like giving in, the sense of pride and accomplishment though quiet.. are *priceless*. I'm so tired of those awful cycles of remorse after. It's just not worth it. The food pressure from others.. (you don't realize til it happens!!), I just..deal with. I've thrown things away. Said no politely, and sometimes even had to be a little rude about it when persistence just won't go away.

Just put one foot in front of the other, I think you're doing good to give yourself an "allowance" so that maybe you won't buck/rebel yourself quite as much and self-sabotage. :-)

Yeah, the thing about quitting heroin is that you just have to not shoot heroin. But you have to eat. That's where these silly diets like Atkins and such come in. Like, say you decided to only eat things that were orange. You could eat cheddar cheese, sweet potatoes, and carrots. You would lose weight, because you would be ruling out most food that tempts you throughout the day. Although honestly, green would be a better color.

I find that having gum and something else to distract myself with really help. For example, if I'm having a craving then instead of eating I'll call one of my friends and talk to them just to distract me. Also, if you're already chewing gum, sometimes the minty taste makes the idea of salty food kind of unappealing. Lastly, I try to monitor which other behaviors that I'm doing go with my eating habit. Do you tend to overindulge on junk when you watch TV? When you're a little tipsy? If you can catch the triggers, you can either get rid of them or at least know them for what they are and be more prepared to fight them.

You are not alone. I feel the same way. I try to keep bad stuff out of my house because if I don't then I want to eat it. There is this voice in my head that keeps saying "just a bite won't hurt". I am working on self control but its hard.

The research is pretty clear on this, some people get the same high off food that others get off drugs like cocane, its the way the chemical signals are interpreted in your brain. Its tough, I feel like this sometimes, the unbelievable urge to eat something greesy. I will lie, steal cheat and hide my fast food.

on my blog i wrote about this a while back where i opened up about how i would take shuffel money around from my joint account with my wife to my credit card or my personal account without her knowing so that when she sees the bank statement she doesnt see Mcdonalds debits. i would hit up a fast food joint on my way home, wolf the food down before i parked the car, walk in the house and sit down to dinner with the family less than an hour later.

being honest is the biggest thing, there is support groups out there, talk to your doctor about addiction, and track everything, when you see it in front of you in terms of calories, sodium, sugars and fats it really is an eye opener

I am absolutely addicted to food and worse wasting food. I will eat food just for the sake of not wasting it...even if it doesn't taste all that great! I'm working on it, but it's hard. Good luck!

Oh yeah. I'm in the same boat. I'm not too bad with sugar. My downfall is carbs. I could eat bread all day long. It used to not be a problem. I could eat anything I liked and not gain weight. But After I had my first child I guess it changed my metabolism. Its not so bad anymore. I think I broke the addiction by looking in the mirror everyday and telling myself this is what carbs do to you. Took a couple of months but now when I look at bread all I think is fat.

If your addicted to sugars, eat very little of it or none at all, this well stop the craving it. If your are addicted to breads eat very little of it within your calories, But I'd stay away from sugars and white floured foods for awhile then you can add them in slowly, if you start craving them again, back off a little from them. If you just want food and are addicted to large amounts then weigh and measure, weigh and measure.

Thu 10/27/11 08:23 AMI understand your pain. I'm currently reading this book The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person , http://www.amazon.com/Beck-Diet-Solution-Train-Person/dp/0848731735.

It uses cognitive therapy to help you control your cravings. It's not a diet, basically, you have to learn how to train yourself to resist your tempation and stop sabotaging thoughts. It's about keeping your goals fresh in your mind and realizing that you want to be thinner more than eating whatever is not on your plan by using different techniques to help you along the way. There is also a workbook. This books helped me lose 8 pounds in two weeks.

I hope this helps you. Like Tyrese Gibson says "don't get in your own way"!

Good luck !

I have been waiting for someone to post something about this because I am a total food addict. It has made this diet very hard because I am a person who will eat not because Im hungry but just because food is there! I totally understand where you are all coming from and Im glad to have a place to talk about it and know people are going through the same thing. We can conquer this! i have faith!

Totally agree with this post, you're so right! Sidenote: I love the image you found to go along with it :)

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